Queer
In Nacher Chhele, a 38 year old Avijit stands outside himself, takes a long look at his past, and writes an intense testimonio, which would resonate with many middle class Bengali queer men who grew up in the pre-global, pre-Internet city of Calcutta in the 80s and 90s.
As a queer-feminist mental health practitioner, my way to understand realities is to examine the power relations that exist in our social locations, identities and structures.
In my opinion, Ghosh was in search of a language of cinema which could be adequately expressive of queerness; he was slowly moving towards inventing that language, which would not be alienating to his conformist audiences, yet, would be intelligibly pleasurable to his (informed) queer viewers.
As I reflect on what I had actively buried and tried to constantly forget, I realise how crucial language was in defining how I viewed myself.
Why are boys afraid to cry? Why don’t people associate boxers with women? Because ‘boys don’t cry’, and fighting ‘like…
A deeply entrenched issue in Indian society, the monster of caste, as Dr. Ambedkar called it, derides, tramples upon, rips…
In November 2015, during the Delhi Queer Pride March, three individuals held up signs that read, ‘Dalit, Queer, Proud’, establishing…
Is Brahminical patriarchy present in queer spaces? How can marginalised groups effectively advocate for themselves without relying too heavily on…
I read The Failed Radical Possibilities of Queerness in India more than a year ago and it still makes me…
In the short animated film In A Heartbeat, a young man is quite literally torn between his heart and his…
Māyā Mridanga infinitely problematises the nature vs. nurture debate that is central to sexuality studies. The novel seems to suggest that a certain kind of male body – feminine, smooth, shapely – is the ideal raw material for making a chhokra out of a biological man. Ustaad Jhaksa, whose life the novel documents[2], repeatedly emphasises on this act of nurturing, moulding and pruning of a feminine male body for which he has fatherly affection as well as a lover’s lust.
This article/photo essay was originally published in Gaysi Family. In a society that heavily restricts expressions of sexuality, openly asserting…
My entire life has been a struggle of confused identities. I stood at the intersection of gay, Muslim and economic privilege.
Online dating websites and apps are one of those technological innovations that people did not think would ever do well….
Have you ever heard the old adage, “You have to love yourself before anybody else can love you”? Well, I grew up interpreting this in the absolutely most terrible way possible.