ABSTRACT
Racism gives the Northeasterner’s experience of Delhi a commonality that transcends gender. Beyond this commonality, gender differences in the experience of migration are stark. Leaving aside violence and sexual harassment for the moment, there is a strong sense that Northeast women flourish as migrants while men struggle. This divergence affects relations between men and women migrants. In this chapter I explore these relations and argue that migration from the frontier ruptures the sense of masculinity among Northeasterners. Faced with rapid change, Northeast men attempt to enact the gender norms of home. This leads to strain between men and women. As discussed in the previous chapter, Northeast women are subject to stereotypes about their looseness and sexuality. The constancy of these stereotypes in everyday interactions in the streets, in the labour market, and on campuses provokes the desire among Northeast men to protect and police Northeast women in the city.
