A digital magazine on sexuality, based in the Global South: We are working towards cultivating safe, inclusive, and self-affirming spaces in which all individuals can express themselves without fear, judgement or shame
लिहाफ़ कहानी न केवल उस समय की अनकही सच्चाई का वर्णन है बल्कि इस कहानी ने महिला यौनिकता के निषेध समझे जाने वाले विषय और विषमलैंगिक विवाह सम्बन्धों के सन्दर्भ में भी महिलाओं की यौनिक इच्छा के विषय को लोगों के सामने उजागर कर दिया।
I think the best thing we can do as we take this conversation forward is to consider this multifaceted breadth of desire as erotica; to include and not exclude in our definitions, and to accept desire wherever it lives, and in whatever form.
Namita Aavriti, writer, lawyer, feminist, and coordinator and editor for GenderIT.org, focuses on issues related to gender, ICT and internet rights. Namita is also the co-curator and organiser of the Bangalore Queer Film Festival (BQFF).
Porn is able to express the ‘yummy yucky’ nature of many of our fantasies. I use the term ‘yummy yucky’ because I feel it captures a mix of that which is both “hot and disturbing”
Erotica, which according to statistics is largely a women dominated genre, often creates a platform where women across space and time can connect and don’t feel alienated in their sexual needs when they find a heroine with the same desire, or when they read about a plot situation which resonates with their own.
Ellie’s writings are mostly BDSM-centric. Some set in an imaginary world, others in our world with fictitious characters, and some even in a supernatural world. However, almost as a rule, all these stories include elements of BDSM, fantasies, fetishes and even some mildly taboo subjects.
In our mid-month issue, Amit Timilsina writes about the role class plays in the decisions that young people make, and what he himself, as a young person and a youth leader, had to do to gain access to resources and to professional acceptance.
हमें इस तरह से ढाला गया है कि तथाकथित ‘विकल्प’ जो हमारे संबंधों को परिभाषित करते हैं, वे भी हमारे लिए हुए विकल्प नहीं बल्कि समाज द्वारा सृजित हैं। हालाँकि, जैसा कि हमने देखा है, इन सभी चुनौतियों के बावजूद, महिलाएँ, जब वे खुद को व्यक्तियों के रूप में महत्वपूर्ण मानने लगती हैं, तो वे अपने परिवेश और परिवार के सदस्यों के साथ बातचीत करने की रणनीति तैयार करती हैं।
Class is a very important factor if you want to associate with “smart” company. Your looks, your fashion sense, your taste in music, your knowledge about international issues and celebrity gossip become very important to belong to “that” bunch of people.
He sighs and says – aapko apni dil ki baat bataane ka mann kar raha hai (I want to tell you a secret, a matter of my heart). I nod and encourage him to do so. Aap bura toh nahi maanengi? (You won’t feel offended, will you?) Confused and immensely curious, I assure him that I will not take offense. Asal mein, mera mechanic ka kaam tha aur who theek hi tha lekin mere dost ne auto drivering karke ye seekha ki auto drivering karne se sex karna bahut easy ho jaata hai (In reality, I was working as a mechanic and everything was going fine but one of my friends who became an auto driver soon learned that it was very easy to have sex this way).
But TikTok is giving young people – particularly women – in South Asia a new avenue to showcase their talents. While for the majority of women using the app their fame is exclusive to TikTok, an increasing number are able to use it to get paid work. And for many, the platform represents a scarce opportunity for bodily autonomy, and a chance to carve out space as a performer in the face of film and fashion industries that shut them out.
अधिकांश पूर्णकालिक (और यहाँ तक कि अंशकालिक लोगों के मामले में भी) घरेलू काम के लिए रखी महिलाएँ जो पैसे कमाती हैं वह उनके काम की तुलना में न के बराबर है, और जो फायदे उन्हें दिए जाते हैं (छुट्टियाँ, स्वास्थ्य देखभाल, पेंशन) वो काम पर रखने वाले की उदारता और अधिकतर उनकी मर्ज़ी पर निर्भर है।
Fouzia Azeem, more popularly known as Qandeel Baloch,was called Pakistan’s Kim Kardashian. Madiha Tahir, a journalist and filmmaker who is interviewed in the documentary,questions this comparison. To quote her: “She (Qandeel) is not Kim Kardashian at all. She is not famous for being rich. An upper-class woman would have her class protection and it’s unlikely that an upper-class woman would be supporting her family from these social media videos.”