Author: Nikzad Zangeneh

Two women wearing full black clothing and a headscarf sitting in a cafe. The photo is taken from other side of a glass door, such that they are blurred.

A Critical View Of Sexual Health Education In Iran

·August 1, 2015
·Nikzad Zangeneh

When I was 16, I thought: ‘Some topics in physics have no benefit for students throughout their life. For instance, we had a chapter in physics regarding ‘mirrors.’ My question is how important is it to know about the type of pictures in a curved mirror, for instance? I think that these topics can be…

Stage performance of Persian dance. Two women hold a chunni above the head of a woman dancing in between them. They all wear colourful full-length, full sleeves clothing.

Brushstrokes: Persian Dance

·January 15, 2015
·Nikzad Zangeneh

Persian dance in spite of its remarkable history has become a less known form of dancing from the Middle East, perhaps because of the present political situation in the countries of Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan where it originates from. Where it is known, it is confused with and compared to Arabic dance, which is popular…

Two people wearing hijabs sit at a small table behind a foggy window

A Critical View Of Sexual Health Education In Iran

·December 1, 2013
·Nikzad Zangeneh

When I was 16, I thought: 'Some topics in physics have no benefit for students throughout their life. For instance, we had a chapter in physics regarding ‘mirrors.’ My question is how important is it to know about the type of pictures in a curved mirror, for instance? I think that these topics can be…

In Plainspeak publishes two issues with a theme every month.
A cross-cutting theme across all forthcoming issues in 2022 is how we can expand safe, inclusive self-affirming spaces.

THIS ISSUE:

January 2022 – SISA Spaces and Sexuality
Imagine a space where we are free to be authentically ourselves, to love who and how we want, to feel accepted, connected, and supported, and to assert ourselves against heteropatriarchal expectations around gender and sexuality. In a world riven with violences and marginalisations, safe, inclusive, and self-affirming (SISA) spaces in the context of gender and sexuality bring to life the shared feminist vision of sexual and reproductive health and rights, and wellbeing. Celebrating plurality, SISA spaces make room for multiple identities, lived experiences, and perspectives. SISA spaces encourage us to look within, to engage with and learn from one another, to hold space, and to evolve. In the January anthology issue of In Plainspeak, we bring you a collection of older articles around SISA spaces and sexuality, and attempt to discover newer ways of forging and expanding such spaces.

February – Sexuality and Coupledom
Wading through the dating pool, we are expected to pair off – one man, one woman, get married, and raise children. Romantic relationships within a hetero-patriarchal set-up are tangled in ideas of ‘soulmates’ and ‘forever’. Instead of The One, what if we choose to seek The Two, or even The Three with whom we can forge fulfilling emotional, sexual, and material connections? Or, being asexual, maybe no one at all for sex, but still luxuriate in intimacy? In exploring relationships outside the bounds of socio-political and cultural legitimacy by experimenting with and expressing sexuality in ways we find meaningful is an assertion of agency, bodily autonomy, and selfhood against patriarchal norms around relationships and family. The February issue of In Plainspeak attempts to examine coupledom in our social context, and unearth its possibilities.

For future issue themes, please click here.

Would you like to contribute? Send an email to blogeditor@tarshi.net with your idea. Do take a look at our submission guidelines!

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