Picture of feminist activist Pramada Menon. She has short hair and glasses, and is wearing a black kurta and green dupatta

Categories Humour and Sexuality Interview

Interview: Throwback to Pramada Menon’s ‘Fat, Feminist and Free’

·January 18, 2016
·TARSHI Team

An excerpt from our 2014 interview with queer feminist activist and stand-up comic Pramada Menon.

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Body Image·body positivity·fat·Feminism·stand-up comedy

In Plainspeak publishes two issues with a theme every month.
A cross-cutting theme across all forthcoming issues in 2021 is how we can expand safe, inclusive sexuality-affirming spaces.

THIS ISSUE:

August – Disability and Sexuality – I Issue – August 2, 2021
In most of the world, if we fall to the left of the bell-shaped curve of statistical normalcy in terms of our physical, cognitive, emotional, social and/or relational functioning we are regarded as being disabled. In mainstream discourse, sexuality is mainly understood through the experiences of non-disabled people, overlooking the rich and complex sexual lives that people with disabilities can and do enjoy. Socio-cultural stigma around disability poses challenges to people with disabilities in being recognised as sexual beings with desires, fantasies, feelings, and expectations, and in having their sexual and reproductive health care needs met and their rights upheld. Compounding factors such as gender, socio-economic location, gender identity, and sexual orientation, amongst others, influence access to resources in material terms as well as to resources in terms of choices and opportunities. Expressing one’s sexuality in the face of such odds is an assertion of agency and bodily integrity as well as of the right to experience a self-affirming and enjoyable sexuality. The August issue of In Plainspeakexplores the intersections between disability, sexuality, and rights, and how people with disabilities may experience sexual wellbeing.

September – Intersectionality and Sexuality
Distinct and overlapping aspects of our actual and perceived identity, such as gender, age, class, caste, dis/ability, and sexual orientation, to name a few, affect how we are received in the world. In other words, our privileges and oppressions are an intricate network woven on the basis of where we are seen to be located on different dimensions. And so, whether we can assert agency in our sexual lives, access healthcare services, safely express our gender identity and sexual orientation, and in other ways enjoy our sexual and reproductive rights, depends on the interplay of multiple factors. Intersectionality emphasises the interconnections of the freedoms and opportunities we access, and our privileges and marginalisations. The September issue of In Plainspeak considers intersectionality as an evolving and dynamic concept, and explores its potential in not only cultivating safe, inclusive and sexuality-affirming spaces but also in imagining a world organised around shared values of feminist social justice.

For future issue themes, click here.

Would you like to contribute? Send an email to blogeditor@tarshi.net with your idea. Do take a look at our submission guidelines!

Interview: Throwback to Pramada Menon’s ‘Fat, Feminist and Free’

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