Kristin Francoeur and Surabhi Srivastava, Author at In Plainspeak

A father with his little daughter on a hammock, reading together from a book.

Making Sex-Ed for Parents Accessible: Let’s Start With Our Bookstores

·October 3, 2016
·Kristin Francoeur and Surabhi Srivastava

Looking for birthday gifts for nieces and nephews in a favourite, well-curated bookshop in Delhi, we were dismayed that we couldn’t find any books that told the kinds of stories that we would like for kids today to read and hear.

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A comic strip. First panel with text "me in a dress" shows a serious girl weairng a green frock, with her hands straight by her side. The 2nd panel with text "me in a dress with pockets" shows her in the same green frock, but with hands in her dress-pocket, feeling chirpy and happy.

Picking Pockets: Why Functional Clothing Matters for Feminism

·August 2, 2016
·Kristin Francoeur and Surabhi Srivastava

The link between women’s clothing and patriarchy is important to acknowledge and understand if we are to address some pertinent questions around women’s agency and ability to exercise control over their choices, bodies and sexuality – questions that feminists around the world, including in South Asia, continue to struggle with.

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Actor Ryan Gosling, bare-chested. Over the photo is written in white, "Hey girl, just want to let you know that I respect your autonomy to make your own healthcare decisions."

Toeing a Difficult Line – When and How to Talk about Men’s Relationship with Abortion

·May 1, 2016
·Kristin Francoeur and Surabhi Srivastava

Mainstream media is beginning to pay attention to men’s relationship with abortion – a welcome counterpoint to the anti-woman, anti-abortion rhetoric Men’s Rights Activists (MRAs) spew on the topic.

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A leafless tree with red umbrellas hung on its branches.

Why We Need to Bridge the Gap between Sex Workers’ Movements and Abortion Rights Activism

·April 5, 2016
·Kristin Francoeur and Surabhi Srivastava

Abortion and sex work share the distinction of being topics on which even feminist activists sometimes find it difficult to remain non-judgmental, confronting feminists with the question: to what lengths are we really willing to go to respect and enable women’s choices and bodily autonomy?

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