Sexuality
Issue in Focus: Naturalising the Normative
Societal norms that are contested, especially around body and sexuality, are often passed as the ‘natural order’ of things. The objective study of ‘nature’ that science claims to do induces society to seek scientific explanations to verify naturalness. It has been shown in many cases that the questions that scientists ask, and the methods they use, are coloured by norms of society. Yet, the ‘scientific answers’ thus got help determine what is natural. In the process, the normative gets naturalised.
By Chayanika Shah
July 1, 2016
No Means No
It began in the third year of my PhD. I had just returned from India and a fellow classmate sent me an e-mail. The e-mail was about his feelings for me, asking me to consider a relationship with him.
By Divya Swaminathan
July 1, 2016
Through the Non-Heteronormative Looking Glass
No one ever really talks about how queer people in STEM fields navigate hostile spaces. ‘STEM’ stands for ‘Science, Technology, Engineering, Math’. We Indians, of course, are well aware of what these fields entail because our parents, neighbours and teachers often push us towards them. Pursuing a career in the humanities/arts means deviating from the norm, so it makes sense that sexualities and gender identities which are considered ‘deviant’ often flourish in these fields.
By Kavya Kartik
July 1, 2016
Surrogacy: A Gift for Whom?
The two people involved in the transaction of surrogacy occupy different positions of power. The surrogate who bears the child is not a woman with similar economic and social standing as the one who receives the child.
By Ashima Mittal
July 1, 2016
The Editorial: Work and Sexuality
Sexuality can be said to influence and be influenced by every aspect of our lives. Talking about sexuality, however, is widely tabooed, especially at the workplace. Anything that evinces sexuality is at once mired in controversy – from clothing choices (of women, especially) to sexual harassment cases, from gender role-challenging career choices to sex work. Why is anything to do with sexuality seen as taking away the gravitas of work?
By TARSHI
June 24, 2016
What Happened to the Women Who Graduated from IITs in the ’90s?
Several hundreds of women have presumably enrolled at India’s other IITs in the past 20 years, although none of these schools keep records of the gender of their students. Where did all these women go ‒ and why aren’t they leaders in Indian industry today?
By Curated Content
“Everything needed to be changed. Fortunately, we have already started”
The feminist classic sex work vs prostitution debate was played out in this context in a way that was different from what happens in cis feminist spaces. In the eyes of this narrator, cis feminists who have never engaged in sex work have a lot to learn from travestis and trans women. First of all: the respect.
By Curated Content
Issue in Focus: Hackers and High Heels
Adeanna Cooke:
International model, featured in Playboy,
Established hacker and amateur computer programmer.
By Shikha Aleya
June 5, 2016
Video Page: A Day in the Life of India
A short movie with a twist ending, Belle de Jour (meaning ‘Beauty of the Day’, and this one is not the 1967 film by Luis Buñuel) begins by showing a stereotypical middle-class Indian woman who goes to work after taking care of her household.
By Curated Content
June 5, 2016
Review: Art in the Age of Maintenance Work
Written in one sitting in Philadelphia, Ukeles’ manifesto was a manifestation of the rage she felt when she was pregnant with her first child and a male mentor proclaimed, “Well, Mierle, I guess you know you can’t be an artist now.”
By Niyati Dave
June 5, 2016
And He Said, ‘I Love You, Masti’
One morning at the programme, I found he was ignoring me. I was also busy with my assigned work so I was not able to follow up with him until the break. During the break, he came and sat next to me, came closer and suddenly kissed me on the cheek.
By Smriti Dhingra
June 5, 2016
हिंसा और कानून; कार्यस्थल पर महिलाओं का यौन उत्पीड़न
काम करने वाली जगहों पर महिलाओं का यौन उत्पीड़न एक कड़वी सच्चाई है। यह महिलाओं के अस्तित्व, उनकी सेहत और श्रम को चोट पहुंचाता है; साथ ही उन्हें रोज़गार छोड़ने तक पर मजबूर कर देता है। महिला श्रमिकों को यह मौका ही नहीं मिलता कि वो पुरुषों की तरह बराबरी से अपना योगदान दे सकें। इस गैर-बराबरी की वजह से संस्थाओं, फैक्ट्री, और कम्पनिओं और इन जैसी तमाम काम करने की जगहों को, समाज और देश की अर्थव्यवस्था को काफ़ी नुकसान हो रहा है।
By Partners for Law in Development
June 5, 2016
नो सेक्स इन ऑफिस – अगर प्यार सच्चा है तो अलग बात है!
इन प्लेनस्पिक के इस काम व यौनिकता के मुद्दे को सुनने के बाद पहला विचार मन में आया कि मैं कार्यस्थल पर होने वाली यौन हिंसा के बारे में लिखूंगी। फिर ऑफिस में रोमांटिक रिश्तों व लव स्टोरी के बारे में याद आया जो हम सब अपने काम के आसपास देखते या सुनते आये हैं और यह बॉलीवुड फिल्मों का भी पसंदीदा मुद्दा रहा है। मुझे ये बड़ा ही रोमांचक लगा, और जब मैंने लिखना शुरू किया तो एक सवाल मेरे दिमाग में आया – क्या कार्यस्थल पर इस मुद्दे से सम्बंधित कोई नीति है?
By Reena Khatoon
June 5, 2016
The Editorial: Relationships and Sexuality
Is there a relationship at all that cannot be defined by love? And, if we were to begin talking of relationships other than romantic love, how would we speak of sexuality? Upon this deliberation, we realised that our Love and Sexuality issue seemed to revolve around romantic love and sex. The departure this issue on Relationships and Sexuality makes is to try and incorporate forms of relationships that might not be about romantic love but have their own kind of romance, and facets of sexuality that might not be about sex per se but will place its interest in alternate relationships to it.
By TARSHI
May 16, 2016
यौनिक सम्बन्धों में चयन का अधिकार
आली द्वारा प्रकाशित आली द्वारा 6 राज्यों में (जिसमें उ.प्र., म.प्र., हरियाणा, महाराष्ट्र, पश्चिम बंगाल व केरल शामिल हैं) इस विषय…
By Association for Advocacy and Legal Initiatives (AALI)
May 16, 2016