Performance and Sexuality

Brushstrokes: #100DaysofLaundry
Illustration of a naked woman in a bathtub, her menstrual blood visible in the water she's taking a bath in

But what about the “moments we don’t Instagram”? What about the uglier parts of our physical lived realities? What about the parts of our body, our identities, our sexuality we don’t perform on social media, but are still an intrinsic part of who we are?

By Curated Content
September 4, 2018
Brushstrokes: #100DaysofLaundry
Nanette: Of Universality and Difference
Black and white picture of stand-up comic Hannah Gadsby. She has short hair and wears dark glasses.

In Nanette, Hannah Gadsby’s hour-long Netflix special that transcends the very notions of stand-up comedy, forces of reclamation, protest, and rage culminate to form a darkly hilarious but heartbreaking diatribe against patriarchy, heteronormativity, violence and marginalisation.

By Anonymous
September 4, 2018
Nanette: Of Universality and Difference
How to Have Good Sex?
Against a yellow background, illustration of a silhouette of "Superman", with a red flowing cape

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?”

By Ramya Anand
September 4, 2018
How to Have Good Sex?
Interview – Alok Vaid-Menon
Gender non-conforming poet Alok Vaid Menon. They are dressed in a vibrant sleeveless dress, jewellery and makeup.

In an e-mail conversation with TARSHI, Alok Vaid-Menon talks about both performativity and poetic performance.

By TARSHI Team
September 4, 2018
Interview – Alok Vaid-Menon
BDSM Play – Performance and Beyond
Picture of a black lacy mask with a black string portruding from it

Just like sex can be happy, sad, awkward, angry and so many other emotions, rather than the mere act of pounding, so is BDSM.

By Asmi
September 4, 2018
BDSM Play – Performance and Beyond
I’m a Fennel for Now
The queer muslim experience, symbolised by a picture of three pieces of fennel, kept one beside each other. they have a light green bulbous body and dark green leaves emerging from the stem.

“I’m afraid because I bring to bed more than just one soul of a scared conflicted boy. I’m bringing to bed a whole army that not only runs the streets within me but also spills out over my body and the body of the boy next to me.”

By Abdullah Erikat
September 4, 2018
I’m a Fennel for Now
Bodies in Motion: Dance Therapy as Mode of Healing and Empowerment
silhuoette of a female figure in a dancing pose

The dance therapy project therefore squarely locates itself as a supplement to economic skill building and psychological counselling, in developing a holistic sense of self among the women beneficiaries of the project.

By Raili Roy
September 4, 2018
Bodies in Motion: Dance Therapy as Mode of Healing and Empowerment
Video Page: Baby Steps
Screengrab from "Baby Steps", a gay couple sit together in front of a laptop in an intimate pose

In the short film, Baby Steps, a seemingly mundane Skype conversation between a mother and son turns into something more.

By Curated Content
September 4, 2018
Video Page: Baby Steps
Prescriptions of Proper

In a world of prescriptions of performance and perfection, there isn’t truly that much space built in to risk non-performance, not being perfect, or to risk not fitting the prescription.

By Shikha Aleya
September 4, 2018
Prescriptions of Proper
Issue in Focus: Performance and Sexuality
Picture of a classical dance performer, face painted in yellow and black

To think of sexuality as performative disrupts the need for stable categories and identities, instead suggesting that we all reinforce and disrupt normative formations as we attempt to inhabit the world in messy ways.

By Sneha Krishnan
September 4, 2018
Issue in Focus: Performance and Sexuality
In Transit
Picture of two trains, one already present on the platform, and another approaching the platform. They are both green in colour with off-white stripes on them

I could have called it transformation instead of transitioning. But it became clear to me that transitioning does not necessarily imply a caterpillar-butterfly story but that it means a gradual acceptance of the self (and the self is ever-transitioning); of being comfortable in your own skin (even if it means shedding skin); of perfecting your act (even if it means learning a few new things).

By Rishit Wishit
September 17, 2018
In Transit
The Labor of Expressing Femininity as a Disabled Woman
A series of feminine body hair removal products - razors, epilators and so on - arranged on a pink coloured table

The nature of the labor that goes into performing femininity is that it’s invisible. Or at least it’s supposed to be. As a culture, we expect women to look glossy and shimmery and smooth. We don’t want to know about the time and money that goes into this presentation.

By Curated Content
September 17, 2018
The Labor of Expressing Femininity as a Disabled Woman
‘Don’t They Realise We are Human?’: The Uneasy Alliance Between Fashion and Feminism
Picture of author Manjima Bhattacharya. She has short white-and-grey hair and is wearing dark thick-rimmed glasses

“Historically, feminism and fashion have been pitted against one another,” writes Manjima Bhattacharjya in her book, Mannequin. It’s a dilemma the fashion industry has struggled with for decades – being perceived as flippant, or existing in a vacuum”

By Curated Content
September 17, 2018
‘Don’t They Realise We are Human?’: The Uneasy Alliance Between Fashion and Feminism
Outlander: A Review
Picture of a man and woman, in period costume, kissing.

Time and time again, Galbaldon asks us, through the character of Claire, to remember that we are travelers, we move and are moved by the interactions and environments around us.

By Dana Burton
September 17, 2018
Outlander: A Review
Editorial: Performance and Sexuality
Russian dolls

We are many selves. Or rather, like a series of Russian Matryoshka dolls nested one within the other, we perform…

By TARSHI
September 17, 2018
Editorial: Performance and Sexuality