relationships

Invisible Women
A poster of the film 'North Country'. On the poster: in the middle, Charlize Theron's face and shoulders. She is wearing a yellow bandana and a grey-beige t-shirt. She is looking at the camera, wide-eyed. Behind her is a crowd of men, a bit transparent. The lettering under her is in white, saying NORTH COUNTRY. Above her, the lettering says, 'ALL SHE WANTED WAS TO MAKE A LIVING, INSTEAD SHE MADE HISTORY' and underneath the title of the film are details about its cast and production.
Invisible Women

I recently watched North Country on Netflix, a movie based on a true story of a woman’s fight for equality at the workplace. It is based on the case, Jenson vs Eveleth Mines, in the United States in which Lois Jenson, fought for the right to work as a miner, and the right to work free of sexual harassment. She won the landmark 1984 lawsuit, which was the first class-action lawsuit on sexual harassment at the workplace in the United States and resulted in companies/organisations having to introduce sexual harassment policies at the workplace.
By ElsaMarie D'Silva
May 15, 2021
Invisible Women
Brushstrokes: Digital security guide: How to protect yourself on dating apps
An illustration of a ruled sheet. The lines are orange in colour. In the middle is a smartphone with a woman's face and torso on the display. She has curly brown hair and is wearing a blue turtleneck. Underneath is written, Lu, 28, and the symbols of Swipe Yes or No and two other buttons as on a dating app interface. On either side of the smartphone are flowers with stems and leaves. The flowers are red, and two in each bouquet. Above, in big letters, outlined in black and coloured in bright green: How to Date Online Safely. And underneath the smartphone illustration, in black, "Online dating can be fun. But there are some risks. Malicious actors can use your profile to blackmail, hurt, or harass you. This guide contains helpful tips and resources to protect you'
Brushstrokes: Digital security guide: How to protect yourself on dating apps

Online dating can be great fun but it comes with some risks. This quirky and in-depth Digital Security Guide by Access Now on How to Date Online Safely tells us how we can engage with fellow dating-app users while making sure we are safe from harm.
By Curated Content
May 15, 2021
Brushstrokes: Digital security guide: How to protect yourself on dating apps
Editorial: Vulnerability and Sexuality
A photograph of a brown coloured snail lying on green grass
Editorial: Vulnerability and Sexuality

Vulnerability – is it a condition we find ourselves in? A state of being we choose? Let’s keep it very simple: it depends on the approach we take to defining it. In the former approach, we are ‘done to’, while in the latter we are consciously ‘doing’.

By TARSHI
April 19, 2021
Editorial: Vulnerability and Sexuality
Brushstrokes: Vulnerability and Sexuality
Sketch of two persons sitting with their heads, hands, and legs touching each other
Brushstrokes: Vulnerability and Sexuality

Her artworks illustrate discoveries, intimacies, and vulnerabilities during a time when identities are coalescing that may affect how we eventually come to become.
By Prachee Batra
April 19, 2021
Brushstrokes: Vulnerability and Sexuality
Tinderization of Feeling
Image of two dolls swaying their legs and arms. The doll on the left has long hair and is wearing a red coloured head scarf on its head and a white sweater and black pants. The doll also has makeup on its face. The doll on the rights has short hair and is wearing a white sweater with grey pants. The doll has a black woolen scarf around its neck
Tinderization of Feeling

To be without intricacies is to be without emotional boundaries, to disregard whoever whenever. Besties save you from your shit. They are your heart, and they transcend any efficiency that the Tinderization Bestie Robot attempts to offer you in its binary fantasy.
By Curated Content
April 19, 2021
Tinderization of Feeling
Why Don’t Indian Families Say “I Love You”?
A drawing of four people in a red background. Behind them are drawings of buildings and clouds. The four faces have different expressions on them- two can be seen smiling, the third person has a neutral expression and the fourth person has a sad expression. Three hearts are also drawn on the first, second and the fourth person.
Why Don’t Indian Families Say “I Love You”?

Indian families rarely say “I love you” to each other. Maybe it is an extension of the fact that parents are awkward while displaying any sign of affection to each other around their kids or elders.
By Curated Content
April 19, 2021
Why Don’t Indian Families Say “I Love You”?
Interview – Indu Harikumar
Interview – Indu Harikumar

I was watching something recently that said it was a bad thing to be vulnerable, but I don’t think it is a bad thing. I do see that there is a certain amount of power in vulnerability, it also needs courage, in my experience.
By Shikha Aleya
April 5, 2021
Interview – Indu Harikumar
Being Comfortable in My Skin
Being Comfortable in My Skin

I felt naked in front of everyone when I first came out, and I can’t stress enough how much my male privilege has helped me out here. I don’t even know if people found it serious enough to consider it my identity instead of ‘a mere sexual preference’ or ‘a phase’ (always a classic dismissal).
By Gokul KP
April 5, 2021
Being Comfortable in My Skin
Communication: A Path to Vulnerability
A black and white photograph of two children walking on an empty road. One child’s hand is on the shoulders of the other child
Communication: A Path to Vulnerability

We must all care for ourselves and be discerning about when and where and with whom we show our cards…but those who can hold our emotional and sexual vulnerability are out there, and we can find them and be all of who we are.
By Shilpa Sachdeva
April 5, 2021
Communication: A Path to Vulnerability
STAY SINGLE. STAY SAFE.
Image of mannequins with orange and pink ductapes. On one of the mannequins ‘Your body belongs to you’ is written
STAY SINGLE. STAY SAFE.

The largest contingent of voiceless, lonely women with limited agency in the subcontinent must be its married women. If they’re fortunate enough to be born and reach adulthood, a woman’s parents and society make sure she becomes an adult brainwashed into self-alienation and self-loathing.

By Nighat Gandhi
April 5, 2021
STAY SINGLE. STAY SAFE.
Circle of Trust
Poster of the Netflix series ‘The Bold Type’ Three girls can be seen standing confidently. On top of the poster, the tile ‘Bold Type is written in purple colour
Circle of Trust

None of these characters is perfect but in their imperfections we can learn more about body positivity, gender sensitivity, privilege, consent, unconscious and implicit bias, sexuality, masculinity, their intersections with class, religion, race, age, and more.

By ElsaMarie D'Silva
April 5, 2021
Circle of Trust
 Age no bar
A picture of two hands holding each other
 Age no bar

While the idea of older adults and sex is a taboo in itself, the idea of older adults exploring their sexuality, by engaging in same-sex relationships, or by experimenting with the way the look, or by becoming more sexually active, causes even greater discomfort.
By Aamena
March 1, 2021
 Age no bar
Making the most of our lives
Making the most of our lives

I realised that we are constantly thinking about the future and our life as we age, and are afraid of facing the world alone. The uncertainty of future events, of which there are many combinations, makes us feel insecure and vulnerable.

By ElsaMarie D'Silva
March 1, 2021
Making the most of our lives
Editorial: Singlehood and Sexuality
A small bird fluttering around a branch with orange berries, picking at one
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: Singlehood and Sexuality
Singlehood and the sexuality of a woman who seemingly knows it all and yet, is confused
Image of a red and yellow coloured flower on a black background
Singlehood and the sexuality of a woman who seemingly knows it all and yet, is confused

Why is it always so hard to find a place for intimacy and why do we have to lie and cheat our way into getting it? Everything related to non-committal sex was always so taboo, shrouded in secrecy, and eliciting raised eyebrows, that it turned me off.

By Sanjukta Basu
February 15, 2021
Singlehood and the sexuality of a woman who seemingly knows it all and yet, is confused
1 … 6 7 8 … 13