Language and Sexuality

Twerkingly yours
A still from a music video, showing a bunch of men dancing on the street.

While there have been many music videos objectifying women where they are shown to be given favours by men, it is amazing to note that even in a song where a woman is being refused the ‘gifts’ she seeks, the objectification of women persists.

By Almas Shamim
May 1, 2018
Twerkingly yours
The Absence of a Queer ‘Mother Tongue’

Many queer Indians who converse largely in their respective regional languages find it difficult to put a name to their queer identity in their ‘mother tongue’.

By Anonymous
May 1, 2018
The Absence of a Queer ‘Mother Tongue’
भाषा के जाल में बंधी यौनिकता

सेक्शुअलिटी को हिंदी में यौनिकता शब्द से संबोधित करते हैं, ये शब्द भी अपने आप में बहुत कुछ कहता है।…

By Shalini Singh
May 1, 2018
भाषा के जाल में बंधी यौनिकता
In the Name of the Mother….

A basic analysis of the most powerful swear words reveals that the vast majority are somehow related to sex (as in the act) or sexuality.

By Suchitra Dalvie
May 1, 2018
In the Name of the Mother….
The Sociolinguistics of Sexting

Typos are speed breakers, and autocorrect has kinky preferences

By Rajashree Gandhi
May 1, 2018
The Sociolinguistics of Sexting
Interview: Nandini Rao
Photo of activist Nandini Rao. She has white hair and is wearing a jacket and scarf.

Feminist, activist, writer, counsellor and trainer, Nandini Rao, focuses on issues of gender-based violence and discrimination, sexuality and disability and on incest and child sexual abuse.

By Shikha Aleya
May 1, 2018
Interview: Nandini Rao
Two Poems: ‘Tongue’ & ‘Names’

You speak in so many tongues to me as you journey languorously down my body.

By Damini Kulkarni
May 1, 2018
Two Poems: ‘Tongue’ & ‘Names’
Video Page: The Amorous Adventures of Shakku and Megha in the Valley of Consent
a woman in traditional "laavni" attire biting her lip

How does one negotiate the “delicate and complex” terrain of giving, receiving and respecting consent, and safely and effectively express sexual desire?

By Curated Content
May 1, 2018
Video Page: The Amorous Adventures of Shakku and Megha in the Valley of Consent
Review: Risk-averse Bollywood Tackles Taboo Issues
A still from the film ‘Secret Superstar’, showing a young girl and boy staring at each othjer, both wearing school uniforms

Several recent mainstream Hindi films have dealt with issues of sexuality and gender not usually discussed in the intended audience’s drawing rooms.

By Shaifali Agrawal
May 1, 2018
Review: Risk-averse Bollywood Tackles Taboo Issues
When ‘The Talk’ Is In Sign Language, There Is Clarity And Confusion
photo of two hands holding each other. three figures stand on top of it

On a Saturday morning, a group of adults gather in a circle in an elementary school classroom on the campus…

By Curated Content
May 15, 2018
When ‘The Talk’ Is In Sign Language, There Is Clarity And Confusion
Reclaiming My Queerness: The Piecing-together of a Broken Childhood
Against a dark background, there are a bunch of white neon lines making up a silhouette of a person lying in a reclining position.

As I reflect on what I had actively buried and tried to constantly forget, I realise how crucial language was in defining how I viewed myself.

By An kush
May 15, 2018
Reclaiming My Queerness: The Piecing-together of a Broken Childhood
Brajabuli as a vehicle of queer desires: love songs in Rituparno Ghosh’s films
Still from the film: Arekti Premer Golpo, showing a man crossdressed as a woman, wearing a cotton sareer, red blouse, and gold jewellery

In my opinion, Ghosh was in search of a language of cinema which could be adequately expressive of queerness; he was slowly moving towards inventing that language, which would not be alienating to his conformist audiences, yet, would be intelligibly pleasurable to his (informed) queer viewers.

By Kaustav Bakshi
May 15, 2018
Brajabuli as a vehicle of queer desires: love songs in Rituparno Ghosh’s films
“HOMO” and Being Gay in Manipur
boys playing football in Manipur

The Meitei queer’s tussle with sexuality continues to be a struggle jarred with discrimination, negation and moral policing through language.

By Davidson and Pavel
May 15, 2018
“HOMO” and Being Gay in Manipur
Rekhti: The Language of Women as Spoken by Men
an illustration of a man and woman facing each other, dressed in traditional medieval indian garb

It’s an entire genre of poetry known as rekhti, which was characterised by a female speaker and preoccupation with women’s everyday lives.It is counter posed to rekhta, the “literature narrated in the masculine voice”.

By Syed Saad Ahmad
May 15, 2018
Rekhti: The Language of Women as Spoken by Men
Editorial: Language and Sexuality
A photo of blocks of different colours stacked together

In the mid-month issue we have articles about the power of language to name, shame, and wound as well as articles about the subversive potential of language to turn the established order on its head and sing and dance around it.Here we mean language, as in not-just-English.

By TARSHI
May 15, 2018
Editorial: Language and Sexuality