Race

Issue in focus
Black polka dots of different sizes against a yellow background.

Companions take many forms. Using the word very loosely here, a companion is anyone the self is connected to, anywhere, at any point in time, from a family member, to a stranger on a train. 

By Shikha Aleya
November 15, 2022
Issue in focus
Interview – Tishani Doshi
Photograph of a woman with long hair in red sari, sitting with a brown dog against a background of bushes with vines and pink azaleas. The woman is resting her chin on one hand and petting the dog with the other.

I’ve essentially thought of movement as a kind of freedom, but one that has the capacity to destabilise you in some way. My most creative moments are when I’m not moving, when I am in fact rooted and still.

By Shikha Aleya
May 3, 2022
Interview – Tishani Doshi
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
Circle of Trust
Poster of the Netflix series ‘The Bold Type’ Three girls can be seen standing confidently. On top of the poster, the tile ‘Bold Type is written in purple colour

None of these characters is perfect but in their imperfections we can learn more about body positivity, gender sensitivity, privilege, consent, unconscious and implicit bias, sexuality, masculinity, their intersections with class, religion, race, age, and more.

By Elsa Marie D'Silva
April 5, 2021
Circle of Trust
 Age no bar
A picture of two hands holding each other

While the idea of older adults and sex is a taboo in itself, the idea of older adults exploring their sexuality, by engaging in same-sex relationships, or by experimenting with the way the look, or by becoming more sexually active, causes even greater discomfort.

By Aamena
March 1, 2021
 Age no bar
Editorial: Diversity and Sexuality
abstract art showing diversity of experiences

In our mid-month issue, we have the second part of the Shikha Aleya’s interview with six different people talking about aspects of sexuality and diversity from their own particular space of personal knowledge, as well as work, advocacy, art and activism across diverse fields.

By TARSHI
May 15, 2019
Editorial: Diversity and Sexuality
How I Found Inclusivity Within Feminism
inclusivity: a diverse group of women standing together

I was focused on becoming the ‘perfect’ feminist, based on the stipulations of mainstream feminism. The result: a deeply narrow conception of feminism,and it would take years to unlearn the ‘black-and-white’ mentality and embrace intersectionality.

By Feminism in India
May 15, 2019
How I Found Inclusivity Within Feminism
Issue in Focus: Desire and the Discourse on Difference
An image showcasing the vibrance and diversity in Indian culture

Diversity, I think, can be a deceptive word. On the surface it carries the promise of plurality and multiple possibilities. Yet, it is deployed in ways that simply reinscribe normative two-gender stereotypes and heteronormativity.

By Shweta Krishnan
May 1, 2019
Issue in Focus: Desire and the Discourse on Difference
Engaging With Diversity and Sexuality in Education
Still from educational video, 'itsy bitsy spider'

From my experiences, I find that diversity is not an end unto itself. Instead, it is a tool for reflection, a mirror that shows not only who we, and the society we live in, are in the present, but what we aspire to be in the future.

By Dana Burton
May 1, 2019
Engaging With Diversity and Sexuality in Education
Brushtrokes: Representation in Comics
comics

Comicbooks sell us the fantasy of larger-than-life superheroes, the victory of good over evil, the promise of fighting for a better, inclusive world. But alas, when it comes to the characters themselves, this very inclusivity is often nowhere to be found.

By Curated Content
December 3, 2018
Brushtrokes: Representation in Comics
Issue in Focus: Beyond Ramps and Restrictions
Still from a Hindi film 'Lipstick under my Burkha'. A young woman wearing blue-coloured lehnga is dancing merrily in an Indian wedding. She has one hand on her hip, another behind her head, and is tilting upwards with her eyes closed, and lips pout.

Accessibility begins with access, enabled or denied, to concepts and ideas. At the core, beyond the architecture of the real and virtual worlds, it is about the architecture of the ways in which this access is broadened, to not only accommodate, but to nurture, the myriad expressions of human minds and bodies.

By Shikha Aleya
August 3, 2017
Issue in Focus: Beyond Ramps and Restrictions
Reel Review: “Saucy Wow” in the documentary ‘Jahaji Music: India in the Caribbean’
A black woman in a white shoulder top and white shorts dancing unfazed. She is the dancing pose where she is a little bent with her knees to the side and outward.

The boisterous figure of Indo-Trinidadian chutney soca musician Denise “Saucy Wow” Belfon has ruffled the feathers of many an Indian-origin immigrant sentiment with her song ‘Looking for an Indian Man’.

By Ishani Dey
September 15, 2016
Reel Review: “Saucy Wow” in the documentary ‘Jahaji Music: India in the Caribbean’
Oscar Winner Lupita Nyong’o’s Speech on Beauty That Left An Entire Audience Speechless
Photo of actress Lupita Nyongo speaking from a podium. She is wearing a white dress.

But a few days before her historic Oscar win (for the first movie she’s ever been in!) Lupita accepted an award for Best Breakthrough Performance at the seventh annual Black Women in Hollywood Luncheon hosted by Essence magazine. It was there she delivered a speech on beauty that every little girl should hear.

By Curated Content
May 15, 2014
Oscar Winner Lupita Nyong’o’s Speech on Beauty That Left An Entire Audience Speechless