authenticity

Reclaiming Being Single Against Emma Watson’s Self Partnered
On a pick background with blue spots and black stripes, a photo of actor Emma Watson is superimposed with yellow lines drawn around her.

Emma Watson spoke to British Vogue about the incredible amounts of stress and anxiety that follows, “…if you have not built a home, if you do not have a husband, if you do not have a baby, and you are turning 30, and you’re not in some incredibly secure, stable place in your career, or you’re still figuring things out…”

By Feminism in India
February 15, 2021
Reclaiming Being Single Against Emma Watson’s Self Partnered
Maybe age is more than just a number?  My discovery of my sexuality and sexual preferences over the years
A photograph of pomegranates on a black background, one of them is cut.

Age is not just a number, like it is often said to be. It is a lot combined together. It is about grace, it is about exposure, it is about knowledge, it is about the ability to fight back. And yet, in endless other ways, age IS just a number.

By Asmi
March 1, 2021
Maybe age is more than just a number?  My discovery of my sexuality and sexual preferences over the years
Kun Faya Kun: Embodying Non-Conformity
A photograph of a person’s palms held out in prayer. The light is streaked with shades of pink and blue.

For a queer person, or for someone who remains single by choice, everyday existence requires strength and will. That is the embodiment of kun faya kun as a personal philosophy: to manifest the person you want to be through sheer will.

By Ghausia Rashid Salam
February 1, 2021
Kun Faya Kun: Embodying Non-Conformity
Issue in Focus: The Heart of Being
An abstractly painted image with magenta and blue and splashes of red, yellow, and black colour. In the background, two brown-black silhouettes.

To chase down our own vulnerabilities around sexuality is a short run around the corner, five minutes ago, last night sleeping alone, with a lover, a partner who lost interest, the Insta post that leaves you feeling you’re not good enough for the hug, the kiss, the cuddle and are you perhaps the A of LGBTQIA+?

By Shikha Aleya
January 3, 2023
Issue in Focus: The Heart of Being
Issue in Focus: The Heart of Being
An abstractly painted image with magenta and blue and splashes of red, yellow, and black colour. In the background, two brown-black silhouettes.

To chase down our own vulnerabilities around sexuality is a short run around the corner, five minutes ago, last night sleeping alone, with a lover, a partner who lost interest, the Insta post that leaves you feeling you’re not good enough for the hug, the kiss, the cuddle and are you perhaps the A of LGBTQIA+?

By Shikha Aleya
April 19, 2021
Issue in Focus: The Heart of Being
Interview: Sharanya Manivannan
A photograph of Sharanya Manivannan

If you are true to yourself, and attuned to your emotions and needs, you’ll invariably find that even a core belief (such as: not believing in the institution of marriage) is complicated by what the lived experience of that means (not only discriminatory experiences, but also intimate ones).

By Shikha Aleya
February 1, 2021
Interview: Sharanya Manivannan
Interview: Radhika Chandiramani on What Self-Care and Sexuality Have to Do With Each Other
A photograph of Radhika Chandiramani, a clinical psychologist, writer and editor, and founder of TARSHI.

Sexuality and self-care are related at many levels, right from the level of knowing what you want and what you don’t, how you feel about yourself, how you are able to communicate your desires and how you are able to enjoy your experiences.

By Anjora Sarangi
January 4, 2021
Interview: Radhika Chandiramani on What Self-Care and Sexuality Have to Do With Each Other
Interview –  A reflective self-questioning
A graphic design image of phases of the moon in a semi-circular form against a black backdrop dotted with white specks as stars.

It is true though that ageing has brought home realities about my body that I ignored when I was younger. It has made me mindful of what I value, and what I choose to let go of, without too much of thought or unnecessary angst.

By Shikha Aleya
March 1, 2021
Interview –  A reflective self-questioning
In Appreciation of Singlehood
A photograph of a woman facing a water body lined with blades of grass. The sky is tinged with orange and blue.

Growing up, for me, has been about accepting that the loneliness and sadness woven into the fabric of my being do not go away with entering conventional arrangements like monogamous relationships or marriage.

By Siddhi Pandey
February 1, 2021
In Appreciation of Singlehood
HOW I LEARNED THAT I DESERVE TO LOVE MYSELF
A pattern of many illustrated flowers interwoven together

“I feel comfortable with who I am,” he responded. “I’m at ease with myself. I don’t wake up and hate myself. I can’t tell you how amazing that feels.”

“I know how that feels,” I told him.

By Guest Writer
January 4, 2021
HOW I LEARNED THAT I DESERVE TO LOVE MYSELF
Freak Shows: Looking at Human Bodies on Exhibit
An illustrated poster depicting a black woman with exaggerated body parts, wearing a yellow bandana, carrying a stick in her left hand, and facing sideways. She is wearing a patterned half-robe and smoking. On her hip rests Cupid, toying with their bow, and a speech bubble saying 'Take care of your Hearte' in cursive. They are on a green path of grass.

No two human bodies are alike, and our different bodies arouse curiosity. But our fascination for the aesthetics of the perfect human body has historically created a space within art, science and religion for the examination of the ‘abnormal’ and the ‘imperfect’.  As a result, some bodies are normalised while others become oddities. Freak Shows, and to a large extent, circuses and even exhibits in medical or anthropological museums particularly stand out for dehumanising and objectifying these different anatomies, and oftentimes subjecting these bodies to violence and discrimination.

By Shweta Krishnan
June 15, 2021
Freak Shows: Looking at Human Bodies on Exhibit
Editorial: Vulnerability and Sexuality
A photograph of a brown coloured snail lying on green grass

Vulnerability – is it a condition we find ourselves in? A state of being we choose? Let’s keep it very simple: it depends on the approach we take to defining it. In the former approach, we are ‘done to’, while in the latter we are consciously ‘doing’.

By TARSHI
April 19, 2021
Editorial: Vulnerability and Sexuality
Editorial: Singlehood and Sexuality
A small bird fluttering around a branch with orange berries, picking at one

In this issue of In Plainspeak our contributors reflect on and reveal the myriad facets of being single – is it a choice? A condition? A state of being? Lonely? Joyful? Not one or the other, but a glorious mix?

By TARSHI
February 15, 2021
Editorial: Singlehood and Sexuality
Editorial: Anthology Issue – Wellbeing and Sexuality
A yellow and blue gradient close-up photograph of a water droplet creating ripples

Happy New Year! As 2021 begins and we are filled with a sense of hope and desire for better times, we resolve to find ways of sustaining ourselves while caring for others. And so, in this anthology issue we republish articles about wellbeing.

By TARSHI
January 4, 2021
Editorial: Anthology Issue – Wellbeing and Sexuality
Editorial: Ageing and Sexuality
A photograph of a lush oak tree, its branches sprawling across a field of green.

Ageing is often associated with a loss, a lack of ability and strength. When combined with sexuality, in the popular imagination, fed especially by market forces, youth is to be lauded and ageing regarded as the impending horror that must be evaded for as long as possible.

By TARSHI
March 15, 2021
Editorial: Ageing and Sexuality
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