Popular Culture and Sexuality

Editorial: Popular Culture and Sexuality
picture of a high-heel shoe, it is orange in colour with patterns on it

And so, in the mid-month issue we have Shweta Krishnan examining the place of political incorrectness in stand-up comedy, Rohini Banerjee talking about how fanfiction allowed her to delve into alternative worlds, and…

By TARSHI
December 15, 2018
Editorial: Popular Culture and Sexuality
The Politics of Politically Incorrect Jokes
picture of comedian hannah gadsby with the text 'hannah gadsby, nanette' written beside her

Somewhere in the middle of Nanette, as I was crying and laughing, I thought about how political incorrectness is the soul of stand-up comedy.

By Shweta Krishnan
December 15, 2018
The Politics of Politically Incorrect Jokes
Queer Fanfiction and the Possibility of Queer Happy Endings
fanart of harry and draco from harry potter, reimagined as a queer couple

Fanfiction was more than just writing your own stories about the characters or the setting of your favourite book or TV show; it was a questioning of the dominant mainstream pop culture narrative as a whole.

By Rohini Banerjee
December 15, 2018
Queer Fanfiction and the Possibility of Queer Happy Endings
Let’s Talk About 377 | Popular Culture is Changing How India Views Homosexuality
Still from "Fire", showing two women standing together intimately, smiles on their faces

When Deepa Mehta’s Fire came out in 1996, violent protests roiled India over the depiction of romance between two female leads. There is no homosexuality in India, demonstrators declared while burning effigies in the Capital. In contrast, when Margarita With A Straw came out in 2014, it received accolades for its sensitive portrayal of queer desire in a woman with disability.

By Curated Content
December 15, 2018
Let’s Talk About 377 | Popular Culture is Changing How India Views Homosexuality
Crazy in Love? The Japanese Man ‘Married’ to a Hologram

Even in a country obsessed with anime, Kondo’s wedding shocked many. But he wants to be recognised as a “sexual minority” who can’t imagine dating a flesh-and-blood woman.

By Curated Content
December 15, 2018
Crazy in Love? The Japanese Man ‘Married’ to a Hologram
हँसे या न हँसे?
a bunch of women stand defiantly

“अगर आप उसपर हँस सकते हैं तो सब कुछ मज़ाकिया है।” – लुईस कैरोल लुईस कैरोल को अधिकार-आधारित परिप्रेक्ष्य वाला…

By Jasmine George
December 15, 2018
हँसे या न हँसे?
Bodice-Rippers and Bad Education: Do Romance Novels Lead to Sexual Mistakes?
against an orange backdrop, a man leaning down to face a woman, they are in an intimate pose

While we’ve grown used to hearing porn blamed for society’s ills, it’s now the medium’s comparatively matronly cousin – romance novels – that have come under scrutiny.

By Curated Content
December 15, 2018
Bodice-Rippers and Bad Education: Do Romance Novels Lead to Sexual Mistakes?
एक लंबी सनसनाहट

एक अलग जेंडर के शरीर के लिए मेरी इच्छा निरंतर और बेदर्द नहीं थी। ये तेज लहर सी होती और हमेशा मुझे उस शरीर के साथ काफ़ी संतुष्ट छोड़ जाती जो मेरे पास था। बृहन्नला का अवतार उस प्रकार की अस्थायी और पलटने योग्य संभावना के लिए एक संदर्भ बिंदु या आदर्श रूप बन गया।

By Aniruddan Vasudevan
December 15, 2018
एक लंबी सनसनाहट
A Tale of Four Theme Songs
poster for 'crazy ex girlfriend': a woman in a magenta dress holding up a magenta balloon

Any narrative that we construct, any single word that we use to describe a person, a relationship, an individual is bound to be incomplete.

By Danish Sheikh
December 15, 2018
A Tale of Four Theme Songs
वो घरेलू औरतें – उनकी टीवी सीरियल वाली छवि और हक़ीकत
a television set

घर के काम-काज से
निपट कर
औरतें
दोपहर में
शायद यही बातें करती होंगी

By Salil Saroj
December 15, 2018
वो घरेलू औरतें – उनकी टीवी सीरियल वाली छवि और हक़ीकत
Issue in Focus: The Script of Love
the script of love: still of a crying 'tulsi' from 'kyunki saas bhi kabhi bahu thi'

The discursive power vested in audio-visual media can prove to be emancipatory if it seeks to re-write the scripts of love, to expand it to include various subjectivities, disturb the patriarchal gendered dynamics that it is based on by introducing a story that allows the audience to imagine it in various different ways.

By Anannya Chatterjee
December 3, 2018
Issue in Focus: The Script of Love
Interview – Deena Mohamed

Deena Mohamed, Egyptian artist, illustrator and designer, speaks to us about her art and her perspective on politics, patriarchy, feminism, and gender and sexuality.

By Shikha Aleya
December 3, 2018
Interview – Deena Mohamed
Queering Silence: Sandip Roy’s “Don’t Let Him Know”
Cover of the book "Don't Let Him Know" by Sandip Roy

Using silent actions and secret fulfillment of what society considers as sin and the law condemns as illegal, the text offers an example of the silence of resistance.

By Jayaprakash Mishra
December 3, 2018
Queering Silence: Sandip Roy’s “Don’t Let Him Know”
Growing Up With Bollywood
poster for the bollywood film, 'badhai ho', where four people are trying to listen to s pregnant woman's belly

While pop culture will continue to exist in the mainstream, it also provides us the scope to create alternative narratives and/ or counter-narratives that question, challenge and unpack the existing stereotypes and norms.

By Pauline Gomes
December 3, 2018
Growing Up With Bollywood
Sheriff Callie, Doc McStuffins and Barbie Dolls
sheriff callie, the feminist children's cartoon character

In fact, once when I referred to Sheriff Callie (a cartoon character) as a man, I was sternly told she is a woman. Doc McStuffins, another of their favourite cartoon characters, is a smart girl who can fix anything. She inspires my nieces to think boldly.

By ElsaMarie D'Silva
December 3, 2018
Sheriff Callie, Doc McStuffins and Barbie Dolls
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