A digital magazine on sexuality in the Global South: We are working towards cultivating safe, inclusive, and self-affirming spaces in which all individuals can express themselves without fear, judgement or shame

humour

a bunch of women stand defiantly

हँसे या न हँसे?

"अगर आप उसपर हँस सकते हैं तो सब कुछ मज़ाकिया है।" - लुईस कैरोल लुईस कैरोल को अधिकार-आधारित परिप्रेक्ष्य वाला माना जा सकता है क्योंकि वह हर किसी की हँसने की ताकत (एजेंसी) की पुष्टि करते हैं। लेकिन, हर किसी को हर बात मज़ाकिया नहीं लगती है, और ये हमें मानहानि के दावों की बढ़ती…
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Painting of a woman standing free and elegantly on top of a moving bus, at sunset. Her hair flows back and one arm and leg are raised up in a graceful motion. From her hair flows bright pink and white glitter,

Issue In Focus: A Travelling Sexuality

Travel and sexuality throws up different thoughts and feelings for us all. For me, it threw up the term travelling sexuality. I like it. Travelling sexuality. It sounds exotic or intellectual, adventurous, dangerous, depending on who you are and how you live life. A travelling sexuality could describe the way we evolve as sexual beings, shifting and changing identities.
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In Plainspeak English Audit In Plainspeak English Audit 100% 10 Painting of 3 women facing a sea. They rest their heads together, and have frogs and lizards circling their neck. Screen reader support enabled. Painting of 3 women facing a sea. They rest their heads together, and have frogs and lizards circling their neck.

The Editorial: Humour and Sexuality

“Humour is a rubber sword – it allows you to make a point without drawing blood.” Mary Hirsch, humourist Here's wishing all our readers a great year 2016! In a world where everything seems to have its place, humour is a slippery fish. Who hasn’t, after having burst into unconscious laughter in a darkened movie theatre,…
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Comedian Aditi Mittal speaking into a mike.

‘सेक्सी’ और मज़ाकिया महिलाओं से जुडी विसंगतियां

क्रिस्टिन फ्रैंकर द्वारा पिछले वर्ष, एआईबी के बदनाम नाकआउट रोस्ट के दौरान कॉमेडियन अदिति मित्तल ने कार्यक्रम के पैनल पर अपने सहयोगी अबिश मैथ्यू के बारे में मज़ाक करते हुए कहा था ““अबिश, अगर कोई लड़की आपके साथ सेक्स कर ले तो वो दोबारा कुंवारी बन जायेगी, आप तो सही मायने में कौमार्य झिल्ली ठीक…
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Drawing of a cow sitting under a tree. But the face of the cow is that of a man wearing sunglasses. The ends of a red gamcha around his neck flow in the wind.

Brushstrokes: The Sound of Laughter*

"I want to put forward laughter and detachment as ways of resisting and refusing patriarchy by which women can seek to create their own spaces from where to engage in political ways of living. I regard laughter as a response of refusal, neither active nor passive, but a refusal nevertheless." Karin Van Marle, Laughter, Refusal,…
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A group of girls wearing knee-length white dhotis, shirts, and goggles, with their hair tied back. "Women in jeans against indian culture - KJ Yesudas" is written opposite the photo. On the bottom is written "challenge accepted".

To Laugh Or Not to Laugh

“Everything is funny, if you can laugh at it.” – Lewis Carroll Lewis Carroll can be said to have a rights-based perspective as he affirms everyone’s agency to laugh. But not everyone finds everything funny, clearly witnessed by the rising number of defamation suits, speech curtailing legislations, and various groups objecting to the stereotypes that…
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Picture of British comedian Miranda Hart sitting down

Issue In Focus: What’s In a Joke?

Last January, armed gunmen stormed the Paris office of the French magazine Charlie Hebdo, killing 12 and injuring 11, because the magazine published a satirical cartoon of the Prophet Mohammed. While the world condemned the violence and mourned the death of the artists, we were also forced to ask ourselves if joking sometimes goes too…
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Abish Matthew in a white shirt and black coat speaking into ear mike on a stage.

Casually Sexist Humour and the Reasonable Limits of Feministing

In March 2015, a popular Indian comic, Abish Mathew, performed at a college festival at the National Law University (NLU) in Delhi where he made, according to a FirstPost article (more on that soon), a bunch of “average” and “sexist” jokes (as if the first compounds the gravity of the other) on politician Mayawati’s looks,…
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A man's red underwear. "Stop and smell the" written over a penis-shaped cutout in the centre.

…‘Raised on These Jokes’…

“Tell me something,” the 15-year-old asked her mother, “what is it like the first time?” “You, in your age and time,” replied the mother with a confident nod of her head, “will dance like an Amazon, swinging your undies wildly round and round over your head and whooping like a cowboy.” That made the 15-year-old…
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In Plainspeak English Audit In Plainspeak English Audit 100% 10 A photo of queer feminist activist Rudrani Chhetri. Her hair is tied up in a bun, and she is wearing a simple patterned top and jacket. She is also wearing gold earrings and a golden locket. Screen reader support enabled. A photo of queer feminist activist Rudrani Chhetri. Her hair is tied up in a bun, and she is wearing a simple patterned top and jacket. She is also wearing gold earrings and a golden locket.

Voices: Interview With Rudrani Chettri

Published on January 1, 2014
silhouette of a woman standing alone in a valley

‘हामी भरने’ या ‘मना करने’ का मेरा अधिकार

Published on March 5, 2019
poster for the 16 days of activism campaign

Why We Still Need Campaigns Like The 16 Days of Activism

Published on December 2, 2019
A person with short dark hair and silver earrings holds a sign that says "Sexual Rights To Me Means Control Over My Own Body". The photo is in black and white.

What Do Sexual Rights Mean To You?

Published on December 1, 2013
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