Author: Noopur Raval

Abish Matthew in a white shirt and black coat speaking into ear mike on a stage.

Casually Sexist Humour and the Reasonable Limits of Feministing

·January 4, 2016
·Noopur Raval

In March 2015, a popular Indian comic, Abish Mathew, performed at a college festival at the National Law University (NLU) in Delhi where he made, according to a FirstPost article (more on that soon), a bunch of “average” and “sexist” jokes (as if the first compounds the gravity of the other) on politician Mayawati’s looks,…

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Four cups of different flavoured teas kept in a row horizontally. Next to each is kept corresponding dry tea leaves.

Of Green Tea, Weight Loss, and Living As #PCOS4Ever

·October 1, 2015
·Noopur Raval

"You know, most healthy girls get this disorder if they don't lose weight easily," chimed my high school best friend whose mother had recently informed her of some disorder related to irregular periods that bothered so many girls around us. Of course, at age fourteen, my biggest worry was of having to live with regular…

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In Plainspeak publishes two issues with a theme every month.
A cross-cutting theme across all forthcoming issues in 2021 is how we can expand safe, inclusive self-affirming spaces.

THIS ISSUE:

October – Labour and Sexuality – II Issue – Oct 18, 2021
What we are expected to do and how, and the compensation and recognition we receive for our labour are influenced by socio-cultural attitudes around gender, disability, caste, class, and so on. And because our parameters to assess labour and to reward it, such as productivity or recompense, do not take into account the infinite permutations and combinations of our unique location in our context and therefore whether or not we can exercise agency, enjoy choice and freedoms, and have access to opportunities, not all aspects of our labour – be it sitting at a desk for eight hours or being in the fields at the crack of dawn, or cooking and cleaning, or even lending a patient ear – are considered ‘useful’, ‘productive’, or ‘work’ at all. The October issue of In Plainspeakattempts to tie together physical, domestic, reproductive, emotional, creative, and other forms of labour with sexuality, and explore its interplay with leisure, bodily autonomy and integrity, interpersonal relationships, and sexual and reproductive health and rights.

November – Fandom and Sexuality
Fandom is a community forged around shared enthusiasm for a particular aspect of popular culture, be it literature, film/television, music, art, sport, and what have you! Fandom is a space of belongingness, of unrestrained expression, of subverting conventions, of exploring the taboo, and of resisting hetero-patriarchy and imagining, in its place, a world vibrant with an array of gender identities, sexual orientations, and expressions. Scaffolded by an interest of its members in the canon, i.e., the original/source material, fandom brims with creative avenues of engagement in fanfiction, fanart, videos, songs, cosplay, and so on, where anything and everything is possible – from the romantic and the erotic, to the spiritual and the magical. In the November issue of In Plainspeak, we explore the potential of fandom as a safe, inclusive, and self-affirming space in the context of gender and sexuality

December – Play and Sexuality
Play takes us away from our sometimes all-too-serious lives, especially as the world in which we live roils with social and political worries. Play nudges us to tread lightly, to consciously make room for delight, to explore and reveal our vulnerabilities, to bring to life our imagination, to flirt with propriety, and to trust. Our fantasies and desires, performance of our gender identity, our engagement with pleasure by ourselves and with others in expressing our sexual self and likes and dislikes, drawing boundaries, and sharing intimacy are among the boundless domains of play in sexuality. In these safe and positive spaces of play, we can experience our sexuality freely and authentically, resist convention and assert our agency and bodily autonomy. The December issue of In Plainspeak delves into the potential of play as self-affirming in the context of gender and sexuality, subversive, and physically, emotionally, and spiritually fulfilling.

For future issue themes, 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!

Author: Noopur Raval

Casually Sexist Humour and the Reasonable Limits of Feministing

Of Green Tea, Weight Loss, and Living As #PCOS4Ever

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