relationships Archives • In Plainspeak

relationships

Date Name

Desc Asc

Trans Lives and Futures in India and South Africa, Part 2

Are trans-formations physical or spiritual or both?

By Kanika Batra

May 18, 2026

Trans Lives and Futures in India and South Africa, Part 2

A street painted with the queer pride stripes of colour

Is Queerness Natural or a State of Mind?

My sexuality is not a testing ground for them to bet on.

By Writika Manocha

May 18, 2026

Is Queerness Natural or a State of Mind?

A black and white collage of a woman in different motions

This Self? Or That One?

Self is you in a state of becoming at all times…

By Shikha Aleya

April 15, 2026

This Self? Or That One?

An illustration of a woman sitting under a tree, a cat walking towards her, and another character sitting below a tree at the background

Like Telling a Caged Bird to Soar Higher

Change those worlds, and sexuality stops echoing limits.

By Ratnaboli Ray

April 15, 2026

Like Telling a Caged Bird to Soar Higher

Light streaks on a black wall that says "Stay Home"

When Staying Is Not a Choice

My gender, I have been told, can wait.

By Vihaan

April 15, 2026

When Staying Is Not a Choice

Yellow light waves against a black background, evoking flowing energy and connection

The Beaming Waves We Once Were

Why do I love you?

By Abdullah Erikat

April 15, 2026

The Beaming Waves We Once Were

an illustration of a hand holding a phone with text exchanges of love

Editorial – Digital Intimacies and Sexuality

We humans are sometimes able to squeeze kindness out of a stone. And love out of nowhere.

By TARSHI

March 17, 2026

Editorial – Digital Intimacies and Sexuality

a black DSLR camera on a table with a phone, and laptop in the background

I and We. Digital and In-person!

…people want to be themselves.

By Shikha Aleya

March 17, 2026

I and We. Digital and In-person!

An iPad and phone interface, showing the online intimacy of friendships maintained through streaks and likes

Lost and Found on the Internet: Reimagining Intimacy, Risk and Survival

Maintaining the streak meant maintaining contact

By Niv, Vanshika Gupta, Anjani Chadha

March 17, 2026

Lost and Found on the Internet: Reimagining Intimacy, Risk and Survival

Digital Intimacies, Gendered Exposure, and the Violence of Virality

Intimacy – whether sexual, emotional, or relational – cannot be treated as raw material for consumption without consequence

By Daraa Patel

February 17, 2026

Digital Intimacies, Gendered Exposure, and the Violence of Virality

Close-up of a black keyboard with blue keys

The Soft ‘Bloop’ of Discord

Here, intimacy arrives without spectacle…

By Chitrangi Kakoti

February 17, 2026

The Soft ‘Bloop’ of Discord

Screenshot of a chat window featuring a playlist with the song "I Only Have EYes For You" by The Flamingoes playing.

Can’t Help Blending With You

…something truer than thought starts to climb upwards.

By Taarina Therese Chandiramani

February 17, 2026

Can’t Help Blending With You

Two osprey birds of prey soaring high above the earth against the wispy purple sunrise and half crescent moon. Shot from underneath as they flew together across the sky.

Body-doubling in the Digital Age

My mother will be so ashamed of me for ‘dying for sex’.

By Apoorva Ravi

February 17, 2026

Body-doubling in the Digital Age

light streams and fog in a forest clearing

Dasain of Lovers

Couple haru ko dasain is here –
the festival of lovers.

By Lungmying Lepcha

February 17, 2026

Dasain of Lovers

a blue heart shaped object on a black background

Streaming a Utopia

The heart finds warmth in glowing screens

By Shruti Sharma

February 17, 2026

Streaming a Utopia

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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:

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?

UPCOMING ISSUE:

June-July 2026: Information and Sexuality

We value information and trust it to be based on fact. But today, with a surfeit of information, we are often hard put to sift facts from fiction, and truth from purposefully concocted lies. Misinformation (inaccurate information) and disinformation (deliberately created untruths) affect not just political elections and our responses to global events, but also how we think about sexuality in our daily lives. Our sexual behaviours, choices and actions are influenced by the information swirling around us, be it through the ‘news’ we receive, the papers/books we read, social media posts and AI or LLM-generated content we consume, or the stories we repeat or hear from our friends. From malicious deep fakes at one end to beautifully presented fact-based information at the other, information can be manufactured by anyone these days. Information is power, and in the control of information lies the control of power. For this issue of In Plainspeak, we ask: in the realm of sexuality, who puts out information? For what purpose? Who controls it? What does information do? Does it empower us? Confuse us? Paralyse us into inaction, despair? What sorts of information, and from which sources, affirm our sexuality, improve our health and nurture our wellbeing?

जून-जुलाई 2026: जानकारी और यौनिकता

हम जानकारी को महत्व देते हैं और उस पर भरोसा करते हैं कि वह तथ्यों पर आधारित है। लेकिन आज, जानकारी की भरमार के चलते, हमारे लिए अक्सर तथ्यों को कल्पना से और सच को जान-बूझकर गढ़ी गई झूठी बातों से अलग कर पाना मुश्किल हो जाता है। ग़लत जानकारी (ग़लत सूचना) और भ्रामक जानकारी (जान-बूझकर गढ़ी गई झूठी बातें) न केवल राजनीतिक चुनावों और वैश्विक घटनाओं पर हमारी प्रतिक्रियाओं को प्रभावित करती हैं, बल्कि यह भी प्रभावित करती हैं कि हम अपनी रोज़मर्रा की ज़िन्दगी में यौनिकता के बारे में कैसे सोचते हैं। हमारे यौन व्यवहार, चयन और कार्य हमारे आस-पास मौजूद जानकारी से प्रभावित होते हैं – चाहे वह हमें मिलने वाली ‘ख़बरों’ के ज़रिए हो, हमारे द्वारा पढ़े जाने वाले अख़बारों/किताबों के ज़रिए, सोशल मीडिया पोस्ट और एआई यानी आर्टिफिशियल इंटेलिजेंस (AI – कृत्रिम बुद्धिमत्ता) या लैंग्वेज लर्निंग मॉडल (LLM – भाषा को समझने और बनाने वाला बड़ा मॉडल) द्वारा तैयार की गयी सामग्री के ज़रिए, या फिर उन कहानियों के ज़रिए जिन्हें हम अपने दोस्तों को दोहराते है या उनसे सुनते हैं। आजकल कोई भी जानकारी बना सकता है। ऐसी जानकारी जो एक तरफ़ नुकसान पहुँचाने वाले नकली डीपफेक वीडियो होते हैं, और दूसरी तरफ़ सही तथ्यों पर आधारित, अच्छे से पेश की गई जानकारी। जानकारी ही ताकत है, और जानकारी पर नियंत्रण में ही ताकत पर नियंत्रण छिपा होता है। इन प्लेनस्पीक के इस अंक में हम निम्न सवाल उठाएंगे। यौनिकता के क्षेत्र में जानकारी कौन देता है? किस मकसद से? इसे नियंत्रित कौन करता है? जानकारी हमारे साथ क्या करती है – क्या यह हमें सशक्त बनाती है, उलझन में डालती है, या हमें सहनशीलता और निराशा में धकेल देती है? किस तरह की जानकारी, और किन स्रोतों से मिलने वाली जानकारी, हमारी यौनिकता को स्वीकार करती है, हमारे स्वास्थ्य को बेहतर बनाती है और हमारे समग्र ख़ुशहाली को सहारा देती है?

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