LGBTQIA

Public Sex and the Police in Urban Spaces
A photo of heterosexual couple sitting cross-legged on a rampart beside the sea. The man is wearing a blue shirt and there are shopping bags beside him. Beside him, only the mid-length hair of the woman can be seen. In the horizon is the city skyline of Mumbai with skyscrapers and other buildings at golden hour.

While sex workers face repeated harassment by the police, many young couples face threats in a one-off incident if the police finds them with their partner/lover. They may face police surveillance of expressions of intimacy and affection in public.

By Shruti Arora
April 1, 2022
Public Sex and the Police in Urban Spaces
Editorial – Celebrating Sexuality
A colourful background with “100 % sexuality” written in blue with pink shadow around the text.

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
Editorial – Celebrating Sexuality
Interview – This is what you bring to the table!
A photograph of a number of multicoloured rainbows against the background of a blue sky.

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
Interview – This is what you bring to the table!
Interview – Coupledom is a mix of meanings
A photograph of colourful weaves of threads.

Coupledom may or may not be for everyone, and does not mean the same thing to everyone. Importantly, coupledom does not hold the same value or position in our lives, even in the lives of the individuals perceived to be parts of a couple structure.

By Shikha Aleya
February 15, 2022
Interview – Coupledom is a mix of meanings
What Polyamory is and what it could be
A multi-coloured kite with multiple tails flying against a deep blue sky

Practicing polyamory comes with the struggle of breaking down value systems and non-acceptance that may lead to ostracism not only from the heterosexual world but also from the queer and trans community. Claiming oneself as queer depends not only on how one identifies, but also, in society’s eyes, on who one’s partner is; being single does not qualify and neither does being polyamorous as the latter is considered ‘non-serious’.

By Abhiti Gupta
February 15, 2022
What Polyamory is and what it could be
Friendships, or, That in which we decouple coupledom from the economies of marriage
An abstract image of colourful silhouettes of multiple dancing people with squiggly lines around them

I was not simply stuck within the binaries of “same-sex” or “opposite sex,” assuming that any reference to “same-sex” is in itself already revolutionary. But the call to recognise friendship, is a call to recognise so many forms of community that are made invisible by the emphasis within a liberal or conservative framework on “marriage” as the only path to family making.

By Shweta Krishnan
February 1, 2022
Friendships, or, That in which we decouple coupledom from the economies of marriage
Conceptualising Love on the Aromantic Spectrum
An image of a vintage-style round mirror with brown frame and a pink-white dahlia with stem lying on the mirror

I now feel comfortable entertaining the thought that my ease with my selfhood does not necessarily have to be threatened by the possibility of love in coupledom. Indeed, comfort with one’s self can actually evolve into healthier forms of love towards the other(s).

By Shivani Rajan
February 1, 2022
Conceptualising Love on the Aromantic Spectrum
Interview: Shruti Arora
A photograph of a woman’s face with a mural in the background. The woman has short black hair and a nose piercing. She is smiling.

There may already be another organisation in the community to share resources with but for community-led initiatives, a shared perspective on Safe, Inclusive, Sexuality-Affirming (SISA) spaces is also important. Sometimes when the shared perspective is not there, that becomes a challenge.

By Shikha Aleya
January 3, 2022
Interview: Shruti Arora
Book Review: Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows
Book cover for Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows by Balli Kaur Jaswal. The cover depicts two women dressed in traditional salwar kameez standing on either side of a series of magenta buildings, enveloped by a silhouetted dome shape of a gurudwara with a deep bluish-purple backdrop. The margins are a dense criss-cross pattern in golden. Two short review extracts are aligned to the top left and top right corners

The story is so well told and is written with such a light, deft hand that it is almost easy to miss what makes it so quietly radical. To review it within the scope of exploring the coming together of literature and sexuality we must begin with its central cast of characters – the widows.

By Sheena D'Lima
January 3, 2022
Book Review: Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows
Navigating love, loneliness and singlehood
A photo of the throat, clavicles and shoulders against a black background. The body is highlighted with golden brown light and there is a mole at the base of the throat.

The desire for intimacy might rob one of the intimacy that one shares with oneself and thus, being with the beloved can leave one feeling even lonelier because of the continuing struggle for validation and comfort.

By Anonymous
January 3, 2022
Navigating love, loneliness and singlehood
Editorial – Play and Sexuality
An image of vibrant and colourful watercolour cakes with a palette attached.

Coupled with the tendency to approach sexuality with seriousness, play often remains absent in discussions of sexuality. Sexuality shares the elements of fun, pleasure and spontaneity that are found in play.

By TARSHI
December 15, 2021
Editorial – Play and Sexuality
The Birds and the Bees: On Play and Sexuality
A screengrab from the Hindi movie Padosan showing a man holding a pillow.

How would we see the world really, if we were open to the idea that it is not purpose but play that drives us to seek companionship, be it an orchid seeking a pollinator or a human seeking another?

By Shweta Krishnan
December 1, 2021
The Birds and the Bees: On Play and Sexuality
Interview – Manak Matiyani
Photo of a smiling man who is wearing a blue patterned shirt and standing in front of a brick wall

As we grow older, moral codes, conventions of appropriateness and shame, and the utilitarian and income-focused education we get make us lose that stability. The idea of play to me is about bringing back that ability and comfort into the lives of people so that they can actually play.

By Shikha Aleya
December 1, 2021
Interview – Manak Matiyani
Of “unapologetically flawed” women and feminism-lite: A review of Four More Shots Please!
The poster of Four More Shots Please, featuring four women in Western clothing, posing, laughing, dancing and having fun.

Four More Shots Please! moves in the right direction when it comes to women (of a particular social stratum), their lives, and feminism at large – even if it takes small, stumbling, baby steps towards it.

By Srishti Gupta
December 1, 2021
Of “unapologetically flawed” women and feminism-lite: A review of Four More Shots Please!
It’s not ‘just’ play!
An illustration of handcuffs in dull shades.

Play is not only about cocks, balls, vaginas, paddles, or anything that happens between two consenting adults in the bedroom. It’s also about what goes on in a masochist’s mind before they submit to a cane, or a whip, and before they orgasm from the pain.

By Asmi
December 1, 2021
It’s not ‘just’ play!
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