Body Image
A tempestuous affair
The simple truth is that my body and I are having an affair. We each obsess about the other, ask questions and desire each other so much, that it often borders on the shameless. My body is more in love with me, I suspect, than the other way around.
By Pramada Menon
June 1, 2023
Sins that can’t be washed away
Like some perverted Pavlovian desire,
the wafting smell of fresh soap
that fills up the air in the bath
has my pupils dilate when walking out.
By Hritvika Lakhera
June 1, 2023
Things other than maths I tried doing, and failed miserably
Waxing my body for the first time last year to have silky skin like the women on Veet’s box but ended up with rashes instead.
By Greeshma
Video: Trans People Talk Body Image and Body Positivity | Feminism In India
For transgender persons the body is a very critical juncture where a lot of trans politics happens, given the fact that a lot of our identities in terms of gender do not match how we see our bodies.
By Curated Content
Special Feature: The Body – Your Genitals Are Normal | Excerpt from ‘The Sex Book’ by Leeza Mangaldas
Since we get to see hundreds of thousands of faces over the course of our lives, we know that facial features can take all kinds of shapes and colours and textures and combinations. We don’t see people’s genitals nearly as often.
Editorial – Sports and Sexuality
Cricket, football, hopscotch, whatever the game, we have all wanted to be included for the sheer joy not only of exercising body and mind but also of being part of a team, of being noticed and celebrated. Sports and athletics offer us a playground to explore and express parts of ourselves that may otherwise forever lie dormant.
By TARSHI
April 21, 2023
Serving Looks: Encounters with the Aesthetics of Tennis
I discovered that tennis is not only about having the privilege to buy a racquet and specialised tennis shoes and access a tennis court. It is also about how one performs and expresses oneself, requiring players to follow a particular aesthetic that enforces gender binaries.
By Chitrangi Kakoti
April 21, 2023
Lost and Found
From today’s vantage point I see that I missed an opportunity to use PT and sports in school as a way to get to know and move my body. This in turn held me back from viewing myself as a sexual being.
By Kajol Hinduja
April 6, 2023
Issue in Focus: The Heart of Being
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
Interview – Raj Mariwala
Self-care is influenced by the environment we inhabit, the way we relate to others, the way we negotiate with other living beings or structures. Self-care is also interlinked with other types of care – whether that is in community resources, psychosocial support, engagement with medical and health care institutions, and of course in collective agency and solidarity.
By Shikha Aleya
January 3, 2023
Extra Large
“Large will not fit you.” / She is scoping me, up and down, eyes / Flicking fast and darting away…“Try extra-large instead.”
By Damini Kulkarni
January 3, 2023
The Chronicles of the Changing Room: Reclaiming the Cubicle of Doom
I pride myself on being a fast learner. Yet it took me an embarrassingly long time to realise that shopping,…
By Sanskriti Bhardwaj
September 19, 2022
High Heels and Loose-fitting Clothes: Movement Unfettered
As I reached puberty, well-meaning family members said that I should start being more ladylike; I believe that this is…
By Taniya Mondal
Editorial – Celebrating Sexuality
100 issues, 8 years! Thank you, dear readers and contributors! As we planned for this issue to put on our…
By TARSHI
March 15, 2022
Interview – This is what you bring to the table!
In this write up, we’d like to share a sense of what emerges from a compilation of these responses. This is based on the thoughts and feelings that come through for those of us here at In Plainspeak who have had the joy of reading the original responses as they came in to us. (Some of the quotations that follow have been slightly edited for flow and to help connect themes.) We know that most things in the realm of art, information and ideas lend themselves to a wide range of inferences and insights depending on the individuals making the inferences.
By Shikha Aleya
March 1, 2022