attraction

A picture of two hands holding each other

Age no bar

·March 1, 2021
·Aamena

While the idea of older adults and sex is a taboo in itself, the idea of older adults exploring their sexuality, by engaging in same-sex relationships, or by experimenting with the way the look, or by becoming more sexually active, causes even greater discomfort.

A poster of the comic ‘11 Assumptions about being a butch (and why they need to stop)’ A person can be seen on the left side of the poster. There is a speech bubble next to the person with the text “People make many assumptions about me because of the way I dress.

Brushstrokes: 11 Assumptions About Being Butch – And Why They Need to Stop

·December 1, 2020
·Curated Content

The misconceptions associated with the varied manifestations of femininity can be exceedingly deleterious and reinforce gender roles, traditional patriarchal ideas, and stereotypes related to bodies, expressions and the way we experience our sexual and romantic relationships.

A poster of the film ‘Do Paise Ki Dhoop, Chaar Aane Ki Barish’. In the poster, an image of a woman glancing sideways is shown and on the right is an image of a young boy in a wheelchair and a man behind him enjoying rain.

Do Paise Ki Dhoop, Chaar Aane Ki Baarish: A platonic togetherness

·November 2, 2020
·Dr Swarupa N Kshirsagar

The movie was criticised for its stereotypical portrayal of Debu as a gay man. But, the beauty is that it also highlights the reversal of gender roles. The smiles, and the laughter sounding throughout the house, create a cheery note in the movie.

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 self-affirming spaces.

THIS ISSUE:

December 1, 2021 – Play and Sexuality
Play takes us away from our sometimes all-too-serious lives, especially as the world in which we live roils with social and political worries. Play nudges us to tread lightly, to consciously make room for delight, to explore and reveal our vulnerabilities, to bring to life our imagination, to flirt with propriety, and to trust. Our fantasies and desires, performance of our gender identity, our engagement with pleasure by ourselves and with others in expressing our sexual self and likes and dislikes, drawing boundaries, and sharing intimacy are among the boundless domains of play in sexuality. In these safe and positive spaces of play, we can experience our sexuality freely and authentically, resist convention and assert our agency and bodily autonomy. The December issue of In Plainspeak delves into the potential of play as self-affirming in the context of gender and sexuality, subversive, and physically, emotionally, and spiritually fulfilling.

January – SISA Spaces and Sexuality
Imagine a space where we are free to be authentically ourselves, to love who and how we want, to feel accepted, connected, and supported, and to assert ourselves against heteropatriarchal expectations around gender and sexuality. In a world riven with violences and marginalisations, safe, inclusive, and self-affirming (SISA) spaces in the context of gender and sexuality bring to life the shared feminist vision of sexual and reproductive health and rights, and wellbeing. Celebrating plurality, SISA spaces make room for multiple identities, lived experiences, and perspectives. SISA spaces encourage us to look within, to engage with and learn from one another, to hold space, and to evolve. In the January anthology issue of In Plainspeak, we bring you a collection of older articles around SISA spaces and sexuality, and attempt to discover newer ways of forging and expanding such spaces.

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!

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