hook-up culture

Hot Girls Wanted – Keeping up with the times
A section of the poster for the Netflix Original Documentary series Hot Girls Wanted: Turned On. Against a black background, there is an illustration of the waist of a human body, seemingly female, in solid pale pink. On the body, text in capitalised letters and black font reads, “ A NETFLIX ORIGINAL DOCUMENTARY SERIES”. In the next line, the text says, “HOT GIRLS WANTED: TURNED ON”. Below the title of the series is the logo for the Sundance Film Festival and the text reads, “OFFICIAL SELECTION SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL 2017”.

The film Hot Girls Wanted followed the journey of five young women aged 18-25 years as they joined the pornography industry and also looked more broadly at at women in this age group and their motivation to join.

By ElsaMarie D'Silva
January 3, 2022
Hot Girls Wanted – Keeping up with the times
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
Are they people or just a number?
A photograph of a smartphone on a wooden surface. The sides of the phone are black, and the display has a white background with a kissing-face emoticon in the centre and two red heart emoticons on either side.

You see, numbers are tricky, data is tricky. More importantly, data is dehumanising. Add sexuality and intimacy to this and the waters get even murkier. Maybe it’s good to leave a few things unaffected by too much data. Maybe we do not want to talk about data and sexuality. Maybe we instead want to talk about why data around gender and sexuality must not be recorded, and instead, maybe focus on why we should honour every kind of sexual preference which is within the purview of the safe and consensual.

By Asmi
May 15, 2021
Are they people or just a number?
Brushstrokes: Digital security guide: How to protect yourself on dating apps
An illustration of a ruled sheet. The lines are orange in colour. In the middle is a smartphone with a woman's face and torso on the display. She has curly brown hair and is wearing a blue turtleneck. Underneath is written, Lu, 28, and the symbols of Swipe Yes or No and two other buttons as on a dating app interface. On either side of the smartphone are flowers with stems and leaves. The flowers are red, and two in each bouquet. Above, in big letters, outlined in black and coloured in bright green: How to Date Online Safely. And underneath the smartphone illustration, in black, "Online dating can be fun. But there are some risks. Malicious actors can use your profile to blackmail, hurt, or harass you. This guide contains helpful tips and resources to protect you'

Online dating can be great fun but it comes with some risks. This quirky and in-depth Digital Security Guide by Access Now on How to Date Online Safely tells us how we can engage with fellow dating-app users while making sure we are safe from harm.

By Curated Content
May 15, 2021
Brushstrokes: Digital security guide: How to protect yourself on dating apps
Editorial: Risk and Sexuality
On a black background, yellow tulips are blooming.

In our mid-month issue, we add context to our perceptions of and dealings with risk in our day-to-day lives. Collating and interpreting responses we received on a survey taken by small group of random individuals, Shikha Aleya looks at the transactions around risk foregrounded on the interplay of our location on the axes of gender and sexual identity, disability status, belief systems, and availability of support, amongst others.

By TARSHI
October 15, 2020
Editorial: Risk and Sexuality
Brushstrokes: 5 Fantastic Ways to Engage in Feminist Hookup Culture
Film poster of ‘Someone Great’

While navigating hook-up culture, we may exercise our agency to express our sexuality but at the same time, may face risks to our safety and bodily integrity as well as obstacles engendered by misogyny, rape culture, heteronormativity, and double standards.

By Curated Content
October 5, 2020
Brushstrokes: 5 Fantastic Ways to Engage in Feminist Hookup Culture