Voices
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 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
“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 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 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
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
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
Notes On Body and Sexuality From The Abortion Discourse
Rebecca Traister, in her recent article for the New Republic, titled Let’s Just Say It: Women Matter More Than Fetuses…
By Surabhi Srivastava and Kristin Francoeur
Not So Impervious: Borders of Migration and Sexuality
The migrant has come to represent threat on many fronts, with sexuality and sexual behaviours storming the front of fronts. This is because sexuality is in itself so threatening to so many; as a word, as a concept, it is untidy, unknown, uncontainable, like that alien substance bubbling out of its pod in the film ‘Prometheus’. Or ‘Alien’.
By Shikha Aleya
September 1, 2016
Not My Fault: Reclaiming Public Spaces Along With My Own Sexuality
The patriarchal system strictly enforces gender roles and social norms that privilege men over women. This sense of male entitlement over women and girls’ bodies have insured their confinement to spaces where they are stripped of power, threatened by harassment and discrimination, and extremely vulnerable so that men get to play the role of protectors.
By Yuleidy Merida
Not a Job for Women?
A year ago, just ten minutes after I had landed in the Punjab and Haryana High Court. I was introduced to this young lawyer – not the least bit enthusiastic, a big critic of the law, of lawyers, of the High Court, and most importantly, of women. “Let me tell you a secret: law is not a profession for girls,” said he.
By Nikita Garg
April 18, 2017
No One Even Knows Your Name Here
There’s a pregnant pause as he fumbles for his keys, and I, for a definitive answer. Packaged as an innocuous statement, there hangs a question between us: No one even knows your name here, in this remote corner of the antiquated town we’ve found ourselves in. And yet, we’re in front of a door, planning to know so much more.
By Guest Writer
March 1, 2016
No More Closed Doors
Ladakh is famous for its beautiful mountains, big monasteries and unique culture and traditions. Thousands of tourists visit every summer…
By Tsewang Chuskit
February 2, 2023
Nishit Saran: The Pioneering Indian Queer Filmmaker The World Forgot
While Nishit Saran’s iconoclasm loomed large in his lifetime, his oeuvre as a pioneering queer filmmaker and activist seems to have been largely obliterated.
By Parth Pant
February 15, 2024
Nightmares of Being Chased by an Angry Mob
My foray of offering support in both the fields of sexual wellness and mental health was unplanned to say the…
By Pooja Priyamvada
September 1, 2022