Queer
How Queer are your Dating Apps?
Online dating websites and apps are one of those technological innovations that people did not think would ever do well….
By Smita Vanniyar
June 15, 2017
How Lesbians in India Redefine the Idea of Community
I have always loved the Internet. Its potential to provide information and connect people has always amazed and enthralled me. Hence, I decided to look at how queer women in India, lesbian and bisexual women in particular, use the Internet to meet other queer women. I looked at three dating sites in particular, PinkSofa, OKCupid and Mingle2, apart from the usual social media sites.
By Smita Vanniyar
February 18, 2016
How I Learned That I Deserve to Love Myself
Have you ever heard the old adage, “You have to love yourself before anybody else can love you”? Well, I grew up interpreting this in the absolutely most terrible way possible.
By Guest Writer
February 18, 2017
How Being A Queer Feminist Shaped My Approach To Mental Health
As a queer-feminist mental health practitioner, my way to understand realities is to examine the power relations that exist in our social locations, identities and structures.
By Curated Content
Homosexuality and the City
Representation is a tricky thing, especially when it comes to portraying minorities. It is easy to stereotype and feed into the popular image of minorities. Gay men as fashion designers or hairstylists desperate to be friends with straight women are a rather common trope. It makes gay men visible but on heterosexual terms. It takes away any individuality from the gay man; he merely survives to seek affirmation from the straight people in his life.
By Sonia Soans
January 5, 2017
For the Joy of It
Of course, I knew I wasn’t the only person in the world writing about Sherlock Holmes. I, however, thought I was the only one in the world writing about them like that. You know.
Romantically.
By Saswati
January 11, 2024
For the Joy of it
Of course, I knew I wasn’t the only person in the world writing about Sherlock Holmes. I, however, thought I was the only one in the world writing about them like that. You know.
Romantically.
By Saswati
November 1, 2021
F*** me, I am Dalit
I read The Failed Radical Possibilities of Queerness in India more than a year ago and it still makes me…
By Akhil Kang
October 3, 2017
Editorial: Singlehood and Sexuality
In this issue of In Plainspeak our contributors reflect on and reveal the myriad facets of being single – is it a choice? A condition? A state of being? Lonely? Joyful? Not one or the other, but a glorious mix?
By TARSHI
February 15, 2021
Editorial – Workplaces and Sexuality
Sexuality and the workplace are closely related, and a safe and healthy working environment is a fundamental human right.
By TARSHI
September 18, 2024
Editorial – Sexuality and Coupledom
If we are to reimagine coupledom and sexuality, we need to expand and challenge our ideas about togetherness, romance, love, intimacy, desire, sex, attachment, and so on.
By TARSHI
February 15, 2022
Editorial – Queering as a Way of Life
Queering is not about being queer but about doing queer – about going beyond binaries of gender and sexuality, questioning accepted perspectives, and challenging and upending normative ways of being in the world.
By TARSHI
July 22, 2024
Drag As Mapping Culture, Fun, And Resistance Onto Our Bodies
Drag is more than a form of entertainment or art form or a form of comedic release, it’s the realization of the fun of being queer or having a queer perspective.
By Rajeev Anand Kushwah
Don’t be a (Coyote) Dick; There Are No Classy Risqué Jokes
“Vanna-cum?” – This was a Tamil-English booty call SMS I once received from a friend with benefits (reproduced here with…
By Guest Writer
January 18, 2016
COMING UP FOR AIR: WHAT WOULD IT BE LIKE TO GROW UP QUEER?
Why are boys afraid to cry? Why don’t people associate boxers with women? Because ‘boys don’t cry’, and fighting ‘like…
By Zoya Achanta
January 2, 2018