Pleasure Archives • Page 16 of 16 • In Plainspeak

Pleasure

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Ruth Vanita standing with her arms crossed. She is wearing a blue saree, a red bindi, watch on one hand, and golden bangle on another.

Ruth Vanita: On Literature, Sexuality and the Pleasure of “Playing In The World”

Ruth Vanita is an academic, activist and author, who specialises in gender studies, lesbian and gay studies and South Asian…

By Shweta Krishnan

March 1, 2015

Ruth Vanita: On Literature, Sexuality and the Pleasure of “Playing In The World”

Video Page: Lost & Found

December 1, 2014

Video Page: Lost & Found

A picture of disability rights activist Malini Chib sitting on a wheelchair. She is has black shoulder-length hair and is wearing glasses. Her top is white with black stripes and her trousers are black. The text beside her reads 'One Little Finger, Malini Chib'

Sexless in the City (For No Fault of Mine)

If a woman likes a man, she seduces him with her charm, wit and humour. This, I have seen, works….

By Malini Chib

August 1, 2014

Sexless in the City (For No Fault of Mine)

A poster of the movie 'Accsex', with a yellow background and white doodles on it. The names of the director and the cast is printed in dark letter towards the bottom.

‘What can we do for them?’

‘How can she claim to be deaf if she doesn’t use sign language?’ ‘I’m glad this film has articulated the…

By Shweta Ghosh

August 1, 2014

‘What can we do for them?’

A still from the film 'Queen' showing actress Kangana Ranaut browsing various sex toys in a sex shop.

Sex Toys and Law – The Unexplored Opportunity

Sex toys are an exception to the basic understanding of toys. First of all, these toys are generally used by…

By Jasmine George

June 1, 2014

Sex Toys and Law – The Unexplored Opportunity

Desire Against Desire

Post the historic Naz Foundation judgment of the Delhi High Court in July 2009, a prominent English news magazine carried…

By Oishik Sircar

June 1, 2014

Desire Against Desire

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Themes

In Plainspeak publishes one issue every month, with a single theme running across two months. Our aim is to expand safe, inclusive self-affirming spaces.

CURRENT ISSUE:

February-March 2026: Digital Intimacies and Sexuality

With ever-increasing (for most of us) access to and reliance on digital modes of connecting, we are no strangers to digital intimacies – erotic, sexual, platonic, emotional – on social media, gaming platforms, dating apps, and so on. While digital spaces afford possibilities of sexual freedom and pleasure, they also hold the threat of surveillance, exposure, and abuse. So what do we do to optimise our experience? Do we use different modes of self-representation, visibility/anonymity and self-censorship on different platforms? How do factors like queerness, ethnicity, caste, a/sexuality, and disability play out in the creation and sustenance of digital intimacies? Are the sexual intimacies that digital spaces afford congruent with those in our offline lives? Must they be, or is there a particular thrill in their not being so? What is ‘authenticity’ when it comes to our online persona/e and our sexual lives? These are some of the questions that this issue of In Plainspeak engages with.

फरवरी – मार्च २०२६: डिजिटल अंतरंगता और यौनिकता

हम में से अधिकांश लोगों के लिए डिजिटल माध्यमों तक पहुंच और उन पर निर्भरता लगातार बढ़ती जा रही है, और सोशल मीडिया, गेमिंग प्लेटफॉर्म, डेटिंग ऐप्स आदि पर डिजिटल अंतरंगता – कामुक, यौनिक, गैर-यौनिक, भावनात्मक – हमारे लिए कोई नई बात नहीं है। डिजिटल स्थान यौन स्वतंत्रता और आनंद की संभावनाएं तो प्रदान करते हैं, लेकिन साथ ही निगरानी, पर्दाफाश और हिंसा का ख़तरा भी पैदा करते हैं। तो हम अपने अनुभव को बेहतर बनाने के लिए क्या कर सकते हैं? हम विभिन्न प्लेटफॉर्मों पर आत्म-प्रतिनिधित्व, दृश्यता, गुमनामी और आत्म-नियंत्रितता को कैसे अलग-अलग तरीक़ों से इस्तेमाल करते हैं? क्वीयर होना, अयौनिक होना, यौनिकता, जातीयता, जाति, और विकलांगता जैसे कारक डिजिटल अंतरंगता के निर्माण और उसे बनाए रखने में क्या भूमिका निभाते हैं? क्या डिजिटल मंचों द्वारा प्रदान की जाने वाली यौनिक अंतरंगता हमारे ऑफलाइन जीवन की अंतरंगता के अनुरूप है? क्या ऐसा होना ज़रूरी है, या फिर ऐसा न होने में एक ख़ास रोमांच है? हमारी ऑनलाइन पहचान और हमारे यौन जीवन के संदर्भ में प्रामाणिकता (ऑथेंटिसिटी) क्या है? इन प्लेनस्पीक का यह अंक कुछ ऐसे प्रष्नों पर विचार-विमर्श करता है।

UPCOMING ISSUE:

April-May 2026: The Self and Sexuality

The Self that walks around with us, that says, “This is me”, what has it got to do with sexuality? Born of body, mind, heart, spirit, and experience, the Self is what we may think of as the beingness and the whatness of a person. It occupies a context, interacts with others, and is embedded in systems and structures of culture, society, economy, politics, etc. This Self, while it encompasses caste, class, ethnic, gender, sexual and other identities, is more than all of them. What does the Self bring to sexuality and what does sexuality bring to the Self? How does the Self engage with the body, personal values, other selves, external systems and structures, and so on, in order to experience sexuality as affirming?

अप्रैल-मई २०२६: स्वयं (निजी व्यक्तित्व) और यौनिकता

जो स्वयं / निजी व्यक्तित्व (सेल्फ़) हमारे साथ रहता है, जो कहता है, “यह मैं हूँ”, उसका यौनिकता से क्या लेना-देना है? शरीर, मन, हृदय, आत्मा और अनुभव से जन्मा, सेल्फ़ वह है जिसे हम – किसी के अस्तित्व और जैसे वे है – के रूप में सोच सकते हैं। यह एक संदर्भ रखता है, दूसरों के साथ बातचीत करता है, और संस्कृति, समाज, अर्थव्यवस्था, राजनीति आदि की प्रणालियों और संरचनाओं में अंतर्निहित है। इस सेल्फ़ में, जहाँ जाति, वर्ग, जातीय, जेंडर, यौनिक और अन्य पहचानें शामिल हैं, यह इस सब से कहीं अधिक है। सेल्फ़ यौनिकता में क्या लाता है और यौनिकता सेल्फ़ में क्या लाती है? यौनिकता को पुष्टि के रूप में अनुभव करने के लिए सेल्फ शरीर, व्यक्तिगत मूल्यों, अन्य स्वयं, बाहरी प्रणालियों और संरचनाओं, आदि के साथ कैसे जुड़ता है?

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