SISA spaces

This is how we do it
An abstract illustration of multi-coloured swirling patterns
This is how we do it

We need to recognise that mental health stressors that queer people face are not because something is inherently wrong with them.
By Shruti Chakravarty
September 1, 2022
This is how we do it
There I sat down and wept
There I sat down and wept

“Be yourself, Sarah. Awkward smiles, empty silences, weird laughter, and all. It’s just a part of being human. Loving someone physically is never not awkward. Even if it’s a monogamous relationship. It’s only the comfort of familiarity that makes you think otherwise.”
By Anna Lynn
April 19, 2021
There I sat down and wept
The ‘Aunty’ Body And All That Follows
A photograph of a pen-and-paper illustration of two women, depicted as stereotypical ‘Auntys’ in the Indian context, talking to each other.
The ‘Aunty’ Body And All That Follows

The issue with the ‘Aunty’ body arises from a deeply misogynistic and dehumanising understanding of women. In this imagination the woman, whom the world now addresses as ‘Aunty’, has basically served her purpose of marriage and child bearing, and is hence rendered useless.

By Feminism in India
March 15, 2021
The ‘Aunty’ Body And All That Follows
The Villainised Other: Understanding Portrayals of Female Masculinity in Bollywood
A still from the film Geeli Pucchi. There are two woman sitting on the steps of a park where one is taking a photo of the other.
The Villainised Other: Understanding Portrayals of Female Masculinity in Bollywood

Apart from the masculinity portrayed in commercial films with heterosexual tropes, Bollywood has produced movies portraying distorted female masculinity.
By Soumili Paul and Tiyasha Purohit
April 17, 2025
The Villainised Other: Understanding Portrayals of Female Masculinity in Bollywood
The Unbearability Of Desire
A hand is intimately holding a heart illuminated in red neon light
The Unbearability Of Desire

Intimacy can never thrive in an environment of rigid certainty. Intimacy requires surrender – not in the sense of submission – but in the willingness to be with another person without detachment or defences.
By Shaifila Ladhani
March 17, 2025
The Unbearability Of Desire
The Tree on Which Orchids Grow Safe
Sunlight pours in through a forest thicket
The Tree on Which Orchids Grow Safe

I’ve never known the answer to childhood questions…
By Lavanya Arora
August 19, 2025
The Tree on Which Orchids Grow Safe
The Time Machine – 5 In Plainspeak Articles that Celebrate Sexuality in its Diverse Forms!
Artificial golden stars against a blue background
The Time Machine – 5 In Plainspeak Articles that Celebrate Sexuality in its Diverse Forms!

The In Plainspeak team decided to time travel and re-discover previously published articles that explore the multiple ways in which people find joy and pleasure in their sexualities.
By TARSHI
March 15, 2022
The Time Machine – 5 In Plainspeak Articles that Celebrate Sexuality in its Diverse Forms!
The Side People
A glass of blue margarita
The Side People

We all are members of ‘The Side People’. No, we don’t sit around a table every Saturday to cry.
By Sonakhya Samaddar
October 15, 2025
The Side People
The Risks and Gains of Coming In
An illustration of a woman walking on an empty street at night, with a backpack from which a crescent moon and stars are emerging.
The Risks and Gains of Coming In

I had risked so much already, not just by loving another woman, but by acting on my desires. By allowing myself to feel intimacy and connection with another queer person. Despite feeling guilt and shame, this risk had become increasingly vital to take.

By Sweta
October 15, 2020
The Risks and Gains of Coming In
The Queerness of Fandom in Bollywood
Poster of Bollywood movie ‘Ek Ladki ko Dekha toh aisa laga..’ Two women in traditional Indian attire are hugging a man in a white suit. The women are facing the front, while only the back of the man can be seen. The title of the movie “Ek Ladki ko Dekha toh aisa laga” is written in the bottom center, followed by text that reads “Directed by Shelly Chopra Dhar.”
The Queerness of Fandom in Bollywood

People looking for queer plots in Bollywood are sometimes disappointed, as the focus on marriage in many films seems to suggest that Bollywood is a conservative genre invested in sanctifying reproductive heteronormativity.
By Ulka Anjaria
November 1, 2021
The Queerness of Fandom in Bollywood
The Masques Of Masculinity
A hand-drawn comic that shows a man setting up his date that he met on Grindr
The Masques Of Masculinity

Z is forced to wear the mask of masculinity, a mask made of the various tropes of stereotypical masculine energy…
By Hardik Jain and Shrusti Mulgund
April 17, 2025
The Masques Of Masculinity
The Mask of Age
An image of a mobile phone's screen with the Facebook app open. The letters 'faceb' are visible in white on a blue background.
The Mask of Age

As advocates of safe, inclusive and sexuality-affirming spaces, we can explore different ways to ensure that the people we are interacting with on dating platforms are legal adults and are not merely wearing a mask of adulthood.
By Andy Stephen Silveira
August 3, 2020
The Mask of Age
The many hues of connections
A photograph of a mosaic pattern in hues of red and one streak of green. At the centre of the pattern is a circle surrounded by a semi circle.
The many hues of connections

Connection, to my mind, is one of those profoundly entrenched concepts manifesting itself throughout our lives. It is difficult to let go of.

By Adsa Fatima
October 17, 2022
The many hues of connections
The Machines Are Not All Right: Rethinking (Artificial) Intelligence
an image of a white circle with spiral black patterns around it
The Machines Are Not All Right: Rethinking (Artificial) Intelligence

Human beings are not brains in jars, but are fundamentally shaped by their perception of and interaction with the worlds around them, through their physical bodies and their sensory encounters.
By Padmini Ray Murray
July 16, 2025
The Machines Are Not All Right: Rethinking (Artificial) Intelligence
The Legend Of The Invisible Lesbians
An illustration of three women against a blue background with bubbles in white. The three women are looking in different directions and close together. The front-most woman has long purple hair and is wearing a black top. Her face is turned towards the left. The woman behind her has short yellow-blonde hair and her eyes are not visible. She is wearing a black top too. The woman behind both is staring into the camera and has purple eyeshadow. She has short copper hair. On the right-most corner, in white letters, is written "(gaysi)"
The Legend Of The Invisible Lesbians

Of course, one needs to acknowledge that this word did not magically turn up in the vocabularies of the ‘good girls from good families’ that came to a convent school to learn ‘good things’ everyday. The extensively gendered environment which promised to manufacture highly-marriageable ‘young ladies’, aided by the insistence of middle-aged spiteful teachers to absolutely destroy any kind of existence that does not constantly bow it’s pretty, two-plaited head to the heteronormative male gaze, created a suffocatingly toxic atmosphere.

By Curated Content
June 15, 2021
The Legend Of The Invisible Lesbians
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