Sexuality
Snippets from the Indian LGBT Movement: Extracted from Records in SAATHII Calcutta’s LGBT Support Centre Reference Library
As an organized political movement the Indian LGBT movement is still quite young, having taken its first steps only in the early 1990s. However, it is not as if the movement started overnight. Rather it was a result of several visible and invisible developments taking place over the years in the world and Indian contexts.
By Curated Content
Slut Shaming and The Friend Zone: Two Sides of The Objectification Coin
“’Slut’ attacks a woman’s right to say yes. ‘Friend zone’ attacks a woman’s right to say no. And ‘bitch’ attacks her…
By Feminism in India
February 15, 2018
Sita Sings the Blues
Rama and Sita are no longer placeholders for chastity and virtue, but are human and they make excessive demands on each other, they are callous and take each other for granted all the time.
By Lekha Sridhar
January 2, 2019
Sita Sings the Blues
“For every incarnation of Rama, there is a Ramayana”, says AK Ramanujam in his essay ‘Three Hundred Ramayanas’. So, too, there…
By Lekha Sridhar
January 15, 2015
Sins that can’t be washed away
Like some perverted Pavlovian desire,
the wafting smell of fresh soap
that fills up the air in the bath
has my pupils dilate when walking out.
By Hritvika Lakhera
June 1, 2023
Silencing love: Negotiating Sexuality In School Life
My experience of school, as I remember it, was quite conflicted. As a child I lacked the vocabulary to describe…
By Meghna Bohidar
June 1, 2015
Sign Language, Language, Sexuality and Innovation
In a recent class, I asked Kanika and Tincy, our ISL teachers, how we could sign sexuality, and they asked, “How do you explain sexuality?” I wondered how I could sign ideas like attraction, pleasure, gender, values, and so on, but tried nevertheless, using my limited vocabulary, apologetic about being reductive.
By Vani Viswanathan
August 14, 2020
Shubh Mangal Saavdhan – A Contemplative Reflection
The movie Shubh Mangal Saavdhan was a commentary about perversions in our society – the denial of the truth about sexuality, that sex is normal, that sex could be just another physical need, that sometimes sex can be boring, that sometimes sex can frustrate.
By Shreya Varma
September 2, 2019
Shouldn’t The World Be Big Enough?
We live in a world where resilience is celebrated and given priority over attempting to resolve factors that force one to be resilient. Campuses shouldn’t aim to merely be inclusive of diverse individuals – they must strive to not only affirm them but also celebrate them.
By Mythili Menon
April 18, 2022
Short Film: Oruvannukku Oruththi? (A Man For a Woman?)
Our sexuality is often in flux – being manoeuvred (sometimes in ways we cannot control) by the crashing waves of societal expectations, circumstances, and our own choices and experiences. But the world continues to uphold a fixed, rigid idea of sexuality, and continues to confine us within this idea, and therein lies the conflict.
By Curated Content
August 1, 2019
Shifting the Gaze: How women wish to experience desire
This awareness of the status ascribed to women – the status of being the objects of men’s desires – affects every aspect of a woman’s life. Desire then, in particular, becomes an aspect of a woman’s life where navigation becomes tricky.
By Gitanjali
March 17, 2023
Sheriff Callie, Doc McStuffins and Barbie Dolls
In fact, once when I referred to Sheriff Callie (a cartoon character) as a man, I was sternly told she is a woman. Doc McStuffins, another of their favourite cartoon characters, is a smart girl who can fix anything. She inspires my nieces to think boldly.
By ElsaMarie D'Silva
December 3, 2018
Shamed and Sidelined For Too Long, Plus-Size Women in Pakistan Are Now Speaking Up
“I realised plus-size acceptance is neither a movement to eat whatever you want nor is it about placing restrictions,” Amina said. “It’s about being kind to your body and realising you are not defined by the size of your waist.”
By Curated Content
Sexy Crip Desires
Many disabled people in India live with their parents and any expression of sexuality is suppressed as a rule within the confines of their homes. Sexual desires of persons with disabilities are seldom a priority issue for families or civil society. More is said through silence than words. Be grateful that you are alive. Isn’t that enough?
By Abhishek Anicca
February 4, 2023
Sexuality: What Does It Mean To Be Human?
Sexual rights include the right to express one’s sexuality freely, without discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation, and to have access to provisions in the legal framework that are all-inclusive and offer protection whenever the need arises.
By Sanya Talwar
December 2, 2019