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
अनीता जो महाराष्ट्र में एक देवदासी हैं, के इस आत्म कथ्य से पता चलता है कि सहमति और हिंसा के मुद्दे हमेशा स्पष्ट और सीधे रूप में सामने नहीं आते। अनीता का कथ्य बताता है कि जीवन की कई परिस्थितियों में वो अपना रास्ता खुद मर्ज़ी अनुसार चुन पाई हैं ।
गाने अक्सर फिल्मों से अधिक लोकप्रिय होते है और अपने अलग ही मतलब का निर्माण करते हैं। इनका मतलब उनता ही विविध है जितना इनको सुनने वाले लोग। मैं यह बिल्कुल नहीं मानता कि हम जो फिल्म और चित्र देखते है उसका हमारे जीवन पर सीधा असर पड़ता है। हिंसक या अन्यथा मूर्खतापूर्ण कार्यों के लिए दोषी वह ही हैं जो यह कार्य करते हैं और वे जो उन्हें बेहतर शिक्षा दे सकते थे पर उन्होंने ऐसा नहीं किया। शिक्षा और बातचीत से हम युवाओं को सही समझ और बेहतर निर्णय लेने के लिए सक्षम बनाते हैं।
How does one negotiate the “delicate and complex” terrain of giving, receiving and respecting consent, and safely and effectively express sexual desire?
Irrespective of the gender or sexual orientation of the people involved, the only way the scales of power can be balanced in favour of everyone involved, is through explicit, well-informed consent.
In this issue of In Plainspeak, we interview Madhu Mehra, lawyer and feminist activist. She is a founding member and the Executive Director of Partners for Law in Development (PLD), a legal resource group on women’s rights.
I think that the level of power that law makers, opinion builders and stakeholders wield over the more vulnerable and younger people in society is enormous. Yet, these actors have chosen to focus only on building a policy regime of sexual violence, even to the extent of allowing juvenile offenders to be treated as adult accused – without any corresponding effort to build a sex positive culture within which they may exercise agency.
I am a feminist, sex-positive and LGBT affirmative Clinical Psychologist. Having that openly and publicly stated means that my clients feel very safe discussing some of the more taboo topics, especially ones that we are made to feel ashamed of. One of these is the topic of the rape fantasy.
During my interaction with students as a part of sexuality education classes in schools, one frequently asked question by boys is,“How to charm a girl?”
But here is the thing. In heterosexual relationships, how are women and men going to learn to see women’s desires if the world does not see them? If the world is shaped to conform to a certain type of man’s desires only? Where is consent without a diversity of desires and a galaxy of desirability?