A digital magazine on sexuality in the Global South: We are working towards cultivating safe, inclusive, and self-affirming spaces in which all individuals can express themselves without fear, judgement or shame

Voices

Wall-art of a face till the bridge of the nose. The face is coloured in peach, grey, and shades of blue. The eyes, green, are lined in black and have spots of yellow, brown, and blue colour around them. Under the left eye, there are yellow dots. The hair is streaked with purple and blue.

Probing the Screen: Pleasure in the Virtual World

The virtual world allows me to challenge the hold of patriarchy on my ‘effeminate’ body; in a sense, it allows me to evade the policing of desire that my body shares with another, its flows and slippages, the messy and the unkempt. While virtual sex offers a window to revisit the sensual, it is also not immune to limitations and insecurities.
Read »
A photograph of an individual with a book. Their face is not visible. They are flipping through a seemingly old book, and are turning the page using two fingers. They are wearing a cream top with a brown scarf and a ring on their finger.

Finding Feminism

As I began to read about feminist methodology in academic research, it felt like I finally found words to articulate my experience. Feminist methodology addresses problems in traditional forms of scientific and social research, such as giving high regard to objectivity and rationality, and the power equation in the researcher-subject relationship.
Read »
A photograph, against a dark background, of a zoomed-in fence with a square lock hanging. The lock is painted red, left un-coloured in a heart shape in the middle.

Should I Say I Love You?

Being vulnerable helps boost our self-esteem and self-worth by pushing us out of our comfort-zone. It provides us with an opportunity to overcome obstacles and reach deep down within ourselves to find strength and confidence to keep going even when the odds are against us.
Read »

There I sat down and wept

“Be yourself, Sarah. Awkward smiles, empty silences, weird laughter, and all. It’s just a part of being human. Loving someone physically is never not awkward. Even if it’s a monogamous relationship. It’s only the comfort of familiarity that makes you think otherwise.”
Read »

Reclining Vulnerability

Through multiple maquettes, I finally came across (since I myself did not know what the result of the form or figure would be) the Reclining Lady. She represents confident femininity and vulnerability. The feeling one has after taking a bath and sitting in the nude, drying oneself in unabashed nakedness.
Read »
Image of mannequins with orange and pink ductapes. On one of the mannequins ‘Your body belongs to you’ is written

STAY SINGLE. STAY SAFE.

The largest contingent of voiceless, lonely women with limited agency in the subcontinent must be its married women. If they’re fortunate enough to be born and reach adulthood, a woman’s parents and society make sure she becomes an adult brainwashed into self-alienation and self-loathing.
Read »
A low angle photograph of whitish coloured pillars/columns on a building

Constructing Pillars

Unbiased academic                                                                  Pillars   Stand rock hard and Straight-shoot to the sky.                                                         Pillars   My teacher tells me all study Is academic, we leave no one out.                                            Pillars We walk hand in hand. We queue From tall to short and other arrangements Of categorisation. Pillars On the day they spill juice on me –…
Read »

Murderously simple thing

"She rightly read the moment while I stumbled through a second-hand text." – Jeanette Winterson   But second-hand texts lay out generations of patterns and internalised mess How else to mitigate effect other than read, analyse, process and beware. Be vigilant Words Words that compress Hide, elide, oppress But words Words that can also be…
Read »

Jessica Singh’s Poetry

SPREAD. BUT NOT READ   I feel like you walk over me, all over me, Your gait was long and my expanse vast, I lengthened to measure up to you, To bear you is what I knew. Every step you needed, kneaded me, Every step you beaded, pleaded with me. I sniffed the passion you…
Read »
A photograph of an old tree, its roots spread out on the surface, entwined.

Being of Queer Age

The conversion of the noun (adult) into the verb form (adulting) implies that ‘adulting’ is more performance than inevitability. Which is to say, there is no intrinsic understanding of ‘adulting’; it is something that can be learnt over time.
Read »
Older Entries
Most Read
In Plainspeak English Audit In Plainspeak English Audit 100% 10 A photo of queer feminist activist Rudrani Chhetri. Her hair is tied up in a bun, and she is wearing a simple patterned top and jacket. She is also wearing gold earrings and a golden locket. Screen reader support enabled. A photo of queer feminist activist Rudrani Chhetri. Her hair is tied up in a bun, and she is wearing a simple patterned top and jacket. She is also wearing gold earrings and a golden locket.

Voices: Interview With Rudrani Chettri

Published on January 1, 2014
silhouette of a woman standing alone in a valley

‘हामी भरने’ या ‘मना करने’ का मेरा अधिकार

Published on March 5, 2019
poster for the 16 days of activism campaign

Why We Still Need Campaigns Like The 16 Days of Activism

Published on December 2, 2019
A person with short dark hair and silver earrings holds a sign that says "Sexual Rights To Me Means Control Over My Own Body". The photo is in black and white.

What Do Sexual Rights Mean To You?

Published on December 1, 2013
x