female sexuality

‘A Promise to Stand By’: The quiet feminism of Nathicharami
Nathicharami

Nathicharami takes sexuality and sexual desire away from upper-class, Gucci-clad women and makes its viewers acknowledge its existence in the lives of women (middle-class wives and widows, in the case of this film) who are invisibilised, both in the society they live in and as subjects of popular content.

By Srishti Gupta
March 1, 2022
‘A Promise to Stand By’: The quiet feminism of Nathicharami
When Pleasure And Pain Are Confused With Basic Rights
Picture of hands tied

Though I come from a very conservative family, being open about female masturbation and watching porn didn’t seem to bother me. Yes, people have oohed and aahed at me for being so. I am still the same, proudly.

By Micky Nair
December 2, 2019
When Pleasure And Pain Are Confused With Basic Rights
The Time Machine – 5 In Plainspeak Articles that Celebrate Sexuality in its Diverse Forms!
Artificial golden stars against a blue background

The In Plainspeak team decided to time travel and re-discover previously published articles that explore the multiple ways in which people find joy and pleasure in their sexualities.

By TARSHI
March 15, 2022
The Time Machine – 5 In Plainspeak Articles that Celebrate Sexuality in its Diverse Forms!
Notes On Body and Sexuality From The Abortion Discourse
Against an orange background, the bold text reads: "Abortion Rights, Social Justice, Building the Movement for Reproductive Freedom"

Rebecca Traister, in her recent article for the New Republic, titled Let’s Just Say It: Women Matter More Than Fetuses…

By Surabhi Srivastava and Kristin Francoeur
June 1, 2015
Notes On Body and Sexuality From The Abortion Discourse
Masculinity, queer representation, and the motifs of movement in ‘Dedh Ishqiya’
A shot from the film featuring the two female leads, one is preparing a paan with the other’s face resting on her shoulder. Both the women are smiling.

The film has all the makings and trimmings of a commercial thriller – a dynamic story, song and dance, an action-packed climax – and at the same time, it is a cinephile’s film.

By Srishti Gupta
May 3, 2022
Masculinity, queer representation, and the motifs of movement in ‘Dedh Ishqiya’
Jasmine Stains
A pictures of the reddish-green leaves and branches of a plant, against a bright green background

Desire is a man’s turf, right up there with moustaches and Adam’s apples / I’m the apple, I am the snake, I am Eve / I am the vibrator nestled between flimsy, cheap lace underwear / I am the shame, of saying I came

By Malini Gopalakrishnan
January 2, 2019
Jasmine Stains
Jasmine Stains
A pictures of the reddish-green leaves and branches of a plant, against a bright green background

My hair smells like jasmine / From the wedding I went to last night / When I tethered my untameable hair with flowers,

By Malini Gopalakrishnan
August 1, 2018
Jasmine Stains
Beauty
A pair of hands with wrinkles on them holding each other. One of the hands is wearing a gold band on their ring finger

And all my life I’ve lived alone. What it means to be beautiful, I’ve never known. I’ve had partners but…

By Almas Shamim
June 17, 2015
Beauty
“Darlings”: Two Women, One Story
A poster of the movie Darlings. Alia Bhatt is blowing a kiss to a miniature Vijay Varma who is depicted hanging on the top of a syringe.
Darlings, with the narratives of Badru (Alia Bhatt) and her mother, Shamshu (Shefali Shah), illustrates the story of ordinary women in India who are struggling to change their discourse, deconstruct their reality, and imagine miracles.
By Anuja Das
September 19, 2022
“Darlings”: Two Women, One Story