Review
Reel Review: Desire and Conciliation in Raj Kapoor’s Satyam Shivam Sundaram
Satyam Shivam Sundaram (Truth, God, Beauty) is the story of Rupa (Zeenat Aman), an archetypical abhagan (wretched girl), whose misery begins at her birth when her mother dies. She is immediately declared an accursed child and is shunned by others. Later, a freak accident results in scalding oil splashing across one side of her face, leaving her permanently scarred. Nevertheless, she goes about her daily life – alone, yet content.
By Syed Saad Ahmad
Review: ‘The Yellow Book: A Parent’s Guide to Sexuality Education’
In a country with a burgeoning population that still doesn’t believe in talking about sex openly, the book wants to help parents and teachers deal with uncomfortable questions rather than brush them under the carpet. To ensure that young children are not dismissed, distracted, or confused by adults who are too awkward or even (gasp!) ignorant of biology.
By Mad Momma
Reel Review: “Saucy Wow” in the documentary ‘Jahaji Music: India in the Caribbean’
The boisterous figure of Indo-Trinidadian chutney soca musician Denise “Saucy Wow” Belfon has ruffled the feathers of many an Indian-origin immigrant sentiment with her song ‘Looking for an Indian Man’.
By Ishani Dey
Reel Review: Romance Across Age and Race in ‘Ali: Fear Eats the Soul’
Emmi Kurowski (Brigitte Mira), a widow in her sixties, walks into a bar to take shelter from the rain. She is met with hostile stares by a mixed group of Moroccan immigrants and Germans. As a joke, one of his friends challenges Ali (El Hedi ben Salem m’Barek Mohammed Mustafa), a young strapping Berber man, to ask her for a dance. He agrees, and thus begins a romance across the taboo lines of race and age.
By Syed Saad Ahmad
September 15, 2016
Review: What Does Clothing Have to do with Sexuality in the Media?
There’s always another way of presenting a look, attire, accessories and bodies; of presenting the way we feel about ourselves and our sexuality, of presenting an acceptance of diversity.
By Shikha Aleya
Review: Tamil Cinema’s Women Scientists – Sassy, Nerdy, and Still Tamil
Looking through the prism of Tamil cinema, a female scientist distorts the simplistic, straightforward portrayal of women that most movies adopt. Her knowledge and authority on a subject enable her to challenge the hero (gasp!) in areas that he may not know about. Often, she flaunts her sexuality; it’s brash, open and departs from norms.
By Vani Viswanathan
Review: Art in the Age of Maintenance Work
Written in one sitting in Philadelphia, Ukeles’ manifesto was a manifestation of the rage she felt when she was pregnant with her first child and a male mentor proclaimed, “Well, Mierle, I guess you know you can’t be an artist now.”
By Niyati Dave
June 5, 2016
Review: What Sex Work Taught Feminism: Tales of the Night Fairies
Note: Five sex workers – four women and one man – along with the filmmaker/narrator embark on a journey of storytelling. Shohini Ghosh’s Tales of the Night Fairies explores the power of collective organising and resistance while reflecting upon contemporary debates around sex work. The labyrinthine city of Kolkata (Calcutta) forms the backdrop for personal and musical journeys.
By Moulshri Mohan
Review: The Gaysi Zine is Envelope-Pushing, Occasionally Flawed, and Gorgeous
At the Delhi launch of the fourth edition of The Gaysi Zine, on January 21st at Max Mueller Bhavan, a…
By Guest Writer
Review: The Absurdities of Sexy and Funny Women
At the now infamous All India Bakchod Knockout roast last year, comedian Aditi Mittal told this joke about her fellow…
By Kristin Francoeur
January 4, 2016
Book Review: Birth in the Age of AIDS: Women, Reproduction, and HIV/AIDS in India
Cecilia Van Hollen’s 2013 ethnography (published by Stanford University Press) of low caste, low-income women living with HIV in Tamil…
By Kristin Francoeur
Book Review: Come As You Are
You should venture to read Emily Nagoski’s book, Come As You Are in public. Not because you want to make…
By Shweta Krishnan
November 15, 2015
Review: East Side Sushi (2015)
Time: 1hr 47min In English, Spanish and Japanese, with English subtitles “One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if…
By Kristin Francoeur
October 1, 2015
Progress towards universal access to SRHR: A review of the MDGs and the SDGs
The year 2015 is a momentous year as it marks the target date for reporting the achievements of the Millennium…
By Sai Jyothirmai Racherla
September 15, 2015
Review: Sexuality in Moral Science and Adolescent Education Textbooks
Textbook Regimes: A Feminist Critique of Nation and Identity is a book published by Nirantar that explores the linkages between…
By Nirantar