SISA spaces and sexuality

Editorial – Sexuality and SISA Spaces
Close-up of a sunflower field and the sun rising over hills in the background.

We envision SISA spaces as non-judgmental, inclusive, rights-based and affirming spaces wherein people’s sexuality, their identities, wellbeing, choices, desires and pleasure are respected.

By TARSHI
January 3, 2022
Editorial – Sexuality and SISA Spaces
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
Hot Girls Wanted – Keeping up with the times
A section of the poster for the Netflix Original Documentary series Hot Girls Wanted: Turned On. Against a black background, there is an illustration of the waist of a human body, seemingly female, in solid pale pink. On the body, text in capitalised letters and black font reads, “ A NETFLIX ORIGINAL DOCUMENTARY SERIES”. In the next line, the text says, “HOT GIRLS WANTED: TURNED ON”. Below the title of the series is the logo for the Sundance Film Festival and the text reads, “OFFICIAL SELECTION SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL 2017”.

The film Hot Girls Wanted followed the journey of five young women aged 18-25 years as they joined the pornography industry and also looked more broadly at at women in this age group and their motivation to join.

By ElsaMarie D'Silva
January 3, 2022
Hot Girls Wanted – Keeping up with the times
Between Fear and Freedom
एक चित्रण जिसमें एक लड़की को एक सड़क के बीच में खड़ा दर्शाया गया है। लड़की ने अपने दोनों कंधो पर एक बस्ता पहना हुआ है जिसमें से एक चाँद और एक तारा बाहर निकल रहे हैं।

We are led to question what ‘safety’ really is: Will it be guaranteed by going gently, if at all, into that good night? Is it at all possible to freely and safely explore who we are and the world in which we live?

By Anjali
January 3, 2022
Between Fear and Freedom
Book Review: Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows
Book cover for Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows by Balli Kaur Jaswal. The cover depicts two women dressed in traditional salwar kameez standing on either side of a series of magenta buildings, enveloped by a silhouetted dome shape of a gurudwara with a deep bluish-purple backdrop. The margins are a dense criss-cross pattern in golden. Two short review extracts are aligned to the top left and top right corners

The story is so well told and is written with such a light, deft hand that it is almost easy to miss what makes it so quietly radical. To review it within the scope of exploring the coming together of literature and sexuality we must begin with its central cast of characters – the widows.

By Sheena D'Lima
January 3, 2022
Book Review: Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows
Navigating love, loneliness and singlehood
A photo of the throat, clavicles and shoulders against a black background. The body is highlighted with golden brown light and there is a mole at the base of the throat.

The desire for intimacy might rob one of the intimacy that one shares with oneself and thus, being with the beloved can leave one feeling even lonelier because of the continuing struggle for validation and comfort.

By Anonymous
January 3, 2022
Navigating love, loneliness and singlehood