Voices

On Pleasure in the City and the Contestation of Public Space – I
Two women cycling together on a derted street lined with trees
On Pleasure in the City and the Contestation of Public Space – I

Within the urban sphere, feminist discourse has for the past few decades centred on the constant anxiety and anticipation of violence, which permeates all of women’s movements within South Asian cities. However, something unusual is happening to that discourse in this cultural moment. Feminists are systematically and strategically shifting their attention from the anticipation of violence to the active search for pleasure in public space.

By Moulshri Mohan
March 1, 2016
On Pleasure in the City and the Contestation of Public Space – I
On Feminism, Sexuality and Disability
1857 painting. Eight women showing personifications of dementia, megalomania, acute mania, melancholia, idiocy, hallucination, erotomania and paralysis in a garden of a hospice facility in Paris.
On Feminism, Sexuality and Disability

  Bula was not happy at being offered a bath and fresh clothes. Food, she would gladly take – but…
By Gunjan Chandak Khemka
November 1, 2015
On Feminism, Sexuality and Disability
On Confinements & Coexistence: Perspectives on the Impact of Covid-19 on the Mental Health of Women
A photograph of a room with one window. The photo showcases the room as semicircular and has a black floor with a window reflected, and brown-white brick walls with a sunlit window.
On Confinements & Coexistence: Perspectives on the Impact of Covid-19 on the Mental Health of Women

Pandemics have a profound psychological impact. They are known to disrupt one’s sense of safety, security, certainty, control, concordance, and…
By Ansha Patel
July 5, 2021
On Confinements & Coexistence: Perspectives on the Impact of Covid-19 on the Mental Health of Women
On Being Gay and Muslim
Its a a painting of a maze madeof acrylic using pride colors.
On Being Gay and Muslim

My entire life has been a struggle of confused identities. I stood at the intersection of gay, Muslim and economic privilege.
By Aersh
July 15, 2017
On Being Gay and Muslim
Of ‘Kinkfests’ And Forbidden Fantasies: The Subversive Potential of Erotic Fanfiction
Still from the popular show Supernatural
Of ‘Kinkfests’ And Forbidden Fantasies: The Subversive Potential of Erotic Fanfiction

In a society where queer sexuality had been demonised in not just mainstream fiction but also mainstream culture, the erotic fanfiction that emerged out of kinkfests became an important source of queer sex-positivity.
By Rohini Banerjee
July 15, 2019
Of ‘Kinkfests’ And Forbidden Fantasies: The Subversive Potential of Erotic Fanfiction
Of ‘Kinkfests’ And Forbidden Fantasies: The Subversive Potential of Erotic Fanfiction
Of ‘Kinkfests’ And Forbidden Fantasies: The Subversive Potential of Erotic Fanfiction

This article was originally published here. It is a summer night in 2010 and my parents are asleep in the…
By Rohini Banerjee
January 3, 2022
Of ‘Kinkfests’ And Forbidden Fantasies: The Subversive Potential of Erotic Fanfiction
Of Words and Worlds
A little child smiling on a blue swing
Of Words and Worlds

Words weren’t always needed – we were content in each other’s quiet company, letting stillness speak. It took me years to realise that their home was my first classroom, and love was the language we spoke.
By Taarina Therese Chandiramani
June 17, 2025
Of Words and Worlds
Of Socks and Sexuality
An anti-suffragette cartoon. A man washing laundry. On the wall, a board reads, "Everybody works but mother: she's a suffragette".
Of Socks and Sexuality

I grew up with a book cupboard where Paul Gallico’s Love of Seven Dolls rubbed shoulders with Germain Greer’s The…
By Shikha Aleya
November 1, 2015
Of Socks and Sexuality
Of Shame, Silence and Technological Innovations
A brown girl is holding the Flo toolkit that supports girls living in poverty to wash, dry and carry reusable sanitary pads. It has a ball-type shape in the middle, and a string on both ends. The girl is stretching the string as if to give the central part a spin.
Of Shame, Silence and Technological Innovations

A movement back to reusable cloth pads or even towards the use of menstrual cups aims not only to create ways of dealing with menstruation that are healthier for the body and the environment, but also to open up a dialogue regarding the taboos and inhibitions regarding menstrual blood that stem from culture as well as paid media.
By Oshin Siao Bhatt
July 1, 2016
Of Shame, Silence and Technological Innovations
Of Mothers and Playgrounds
A close-up of a field of daisies, small white flowers with thin petals arranged radially around yellow centres.
Of Mothers and Playgrounds

“City-living gave me talons and claws, but now I want to put those away. I want something else. I want softness. I want grass under my feet. I want the fist in my stomach to slowly unclench. I want the garden of my childhood to get lost in play while letting sunlit hours pass over to rosy dusk.”
By Sheena D'Lima
February 2, 2023
Of Mothers and Playgrounds
Of Mothers and Playgrounds
A close-up of a field of daisies, small white flowers with thin petals arranged radially around yellow centres.
Of Mothers and Playgrounds

“City-living gave me talons and claws, but now I want to put those away. I want something else. I want softness. I want grass under my feet. I want the fist in my stomach to slowly unclench. I want the garden of my childhood to get lost in play while letting sunlit hours pass over to rosy dusk.”
By Sheena D'Lima
January 13, 2025
Of Mothers and Playgrounds
Of Monsters and Men: Why We Need to Excavate Feminism
A photo of a protest with a focus on a placard that says in bold and all caps, "Rapefugess not welcome" with words "rape" and "not" in green, and the rest in black. In the middle is drawn a woman running away from a three men who are holding daggers in their hands, running towards her.
Of Monsters and Men: Why We Need to Excavate Feminism

While Islam was loudly decried a religion of molesters, the European far right – not exactly known for their commitment to gender equality and women’s rights – now appoint themselves the protectors of ‘their’ (i.e. European white) women against an ‘onslaught of Muslim rapists’.
By Lucie Bernroider
September 1, 2016
Of Monsters and Men: Why We Need to Excavate Feminism
Of Braille, Fighter Pilots and a Sexuality-Informed Approach to Science
Braille text.
Of Braille, Fighter Pilots and a Sexuality-Informed Approach to Science

I spent time reading up the basics of gender-neutral design to understand the connect between science, society and gender. Sometimes, some people try to prove that there are ‘scientific’ reasons for inequality and injustice, for depriving one set of people of the same choices and opportunities that another set of people enjoy. This is not true. Times are changing. ‘Biased technologies’ are being altered.
By Shikha Aleya
July 1, 2016
Of Braille, Fighter Pilots and a Sexuality-Informed Approach to Science
Obedience, the Greater Good and Self-Exploration
On a peach background is the illustration of a girl who is reaching out backwards towards a heart-shaped mirror with one hand. The other hand rests elegantly on her shoulder. Beside her are flowers in different colors, seemingly growing from the ground.
Obedience, the Greater Good and Self-Exploration

I distinctly remember an adult male member of my extended family saying, “Cover up your chest with a dupatta. You…
By Taniya Mondal
September 1, 2022
Obedience, the Greater Good and Self-Exploration
Nothing for us without us: Young People and Development
A meme of a woman with her finger pointing outward speaking angrily. Text written reads, "Meaningful youth participation means involving young people in decision making process, not just making them as decoration!"
Nothing for us without us: Young People and Development

There are many mechanism, agendas and processes such as the post-2015 mechanism in development to ensure gender equality and ‘to…
By Sarah Soysa
September 1, 2015
Nothing for us without us: Young People and Development
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