Walking a Tightrope: Saintliness, Gender, and Power in an Ethnographic Encounter

Abstract

This is an account of my stay with a female renunciant. In spite of her contemplative lifestyle, I suggest that Anand Mata sought to teach me about the meaning of renunciation by instructing me to negotiate social interaction with the male head of her ashram (hermitage) in such a way as to balance contradictory goals. These include treating others with compassion while remaining detached and avoiding exploitation. This narrative describes the problems of gender among Hindu ascetics, illustrates the complex subject positions that define most ethnographic encounters, and ponders the nature of feminist ethnography.