bodily integrity

Probing the Screen: Pleasure in the Virtual World
Wall-art of a face till the bridge of the nose. The face is coloured in peach, grey, and shades of blue. The eyes, green, are lined in black and have spots of yellow, brown, and blue colour around them. Under the left eye, there are yellow dots. The hair is streaked with purple and blue.

The virtual world allows me to challenge the hold of patriarchy on my ‘effeminate’ body; in a sense, it allows me to evade the policing of desire that my body shares with another, its flows and slippages, the messy and the unkempt. While virtual sex offers a window to revisit the sensual, it is also not immune to limitations and insecurities.

By Neel
June 15, 2021
Probing the Screen: Pleasure in the Virtual World
Media and the Power of Responsible Representation
Abstract art, coloured in shades of olive green, black, peach, pink, yellow, orange, and purple. It appears to show two silhouettes, to the left are distinct parts of a woman's face and to the right a darker silhouette looking at these parts.

It is the winter of 2013, and my father and I are sitting at an awkward distance from each other…

By Rohini Banerjee
June 15, 2021
Media and the Power of Responsible Representation
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
Is Digital Colonisation Redefining the Understanding of Agency, Bodily Autonomy, and Being Human?
An image of a part of the Earth as seen from outer space. Only a semicircular part of the Earth has been captured, with a black background. On the surface of the Earth that is visible are golden branch-link lines and patches of golden light to indicate connectivity.

Apart from systematic exclusions faced by individuals, evidently the mandatory use of a biometric-based digital ID has also reshaped the understanding of an individual’s agency and right to bodily autonomy. Gender and sexuality seem to no longer be matters of an individual’s right to privacy. With digitisation, disclosure of one’s gender and sexuality has become a hindrance to accessing one’s rights.

By Brindaalakshmi. K
May 15, 2021
Is Digital Colonisation Redefining the Understanding of Agency, Bodily Autonomy, and Being Human?
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
Interview – Srinidhi Raghavan
A photograph of disability rights activist Srinidhi Raghavan. She is wearing a blue top with a white pattern, black-rimmed spectacles, and a yellow hair-band.

Disabled people might not have many spaces where they can speak openly about their sexual experiences or even sexual curiosity. There is a heavy monitoring of disabled young people especially, and this can mean that exploration, which is often how many of us discover sexuality, can be limited. Moreover, since the experiences of disabled people are not seen in popular media such as films, we can (and probably do) imagine we will have the same or similar experiences as non-disabled people  – which is often not possible.

By Shikha Aleya
August 2, 2021
Interview – Srinidhi Raghavan
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
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: Disability and Sexuality
A photograph of a purple-coloured board on grass. The board, in white, has a symbol for a person using a wheelchair and underneath it, the typography: Step free Route. Below it is an arrow pointing to the right.

Both sexuality and disability are complex terrains, offering a realm of possibilities that are often made unnecessarily complicated and unattainable by the mental maps we draw of them and the artificial barriers we erect.

By TARSHI
August 16, 2021
Editorial: Disability 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
Does Your Period Tracking App Ask You About Your Sexuality Or Your Contraceptive Pills?
A graphic design. A white iPhone on the right and a pink screen-like background on the left. On the iPhone display, a big red dot saying 'Day 5' in white text and a calendar at the top. On the left, there are three blue chat bubbles with white text. The first says, 'Track my cycle' and under it, 'Don't plan to get pregnant right now'. The second bubble says, 'Trying to conceive' and under it 'Favourable days are important to me' and the third says, 'I'm pregnant' and under it, 'Want to track my condition'.

Period tracking applications can also inform you about your general reproductive health and also caution you in case of an anomaly with respect to it. As menstruators in our undergraduate years, the primary reason I saw my friends using period trackers were to keep a track of when to carry menstrual products to college or avoid the risks of pregnancy.

By Curated Content
May 15, 2021
Does Your Period Tracking App Ask You About Your Sexuality Or Your Contraceptive Pills?
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