sexuality Archives

The Anti-Climax of Coming Out on Social Media and What it Taught Me About Queerness

Is my queerness invalidated by my lack of the conventional experiences expected of queer folks? Do I need to perform my queerness, or is the fact of it enough? Did I need to look and behave a certain way to meet some standard of queerness? A year into coming out, I’ve somewhat found the answers to these questions.

Usri Basistha July 29, 2016

Love and Sex

The Sex Education I Never Received

For the longest time, my absurd theories on sex and intercourse were influenced by the taboos associated with it. Incredibly, even the ‘sex education’ available on paper, only held me back, as it does scores of other children in this country.

Sumedha Pal July 28, 2016

Love and Sex

Porn, Curvy Women, Deep Voices: The Visually Impaired Have the Same Sexual Desires as You and I

It is a misconception that it doesn’t matter what a blind person’s companion looks like because they can’t see them. My research work led me to interact with visually impaired youth – a romantic boy who loved curvy women, a teenage girl who was curious about porn.

Devika Sharma July 27, 2016

Love and Sex

Pyaar Ka Pandemic: How Indian Women are Redefining the Rules of Lockdown Sex

Over months of India’s extended lockdown, devoid of the excitement of casual Tinder-ing and Bumble-ing, many women have explored alternate routes to channel their sexuality. New vocabularies are building, toys are being explored, conversations about previously private topics like “pleasure” are coming to the public fore.

Oishorjyo July 10, 2016

Gender

Hey Indian Men, Let’s Talk About Enthusiastic Consent

Over the last weekend, a number of men who spoke the right language, were equipped with the right vocabulary to express the right kind of views on liberal issues were named as sexual harassers. None of these progressive men seemed to know about the concept of enthusiastic consent.

Jackie Thakkar June 15, 2016

Love and Sex

Diary of a 4-year-old Masturbator

At age four, I was unaware of the ramifications of self-pleasure. I was masturbating because it felt good, just like any other kid would enjoy the sensation of being on a Ferris wheel or a roundabout.

Dee Dee May 29, 2016

Bollywood

Bulbul Can Sing Reminds Us of the Price Girls Pay to Experience Adolescence

When boys come of age, they enjoy the freedom that permits them to make mistakes. But patriarchy doesn’t afford the same luxury to young girls. Rima Das’s Bulbul Can Sing argues that when girls come of age there is some trauma attached to it.

Poulomi Das April 20, 2016

POV

Anne Frank, My First Bisexual Hero

Anne Frank’s tentative forays into her feelings about girls, blurring the lines between the closeness of female friendships, and the desire for something more, mirrored my own. If other girls had felt this way since forever ago, did this mean there was nothing to be confused about? Frank, who made her last diary entry on August 1, 1944, taught me that I didn’t necessarily have to choose.

Kahini Iyer April 14, 2016

Love and Sex

Hi Boys, I am a Woman’s Orgasm. Here’s How You Find Me

There is so much information out there on the female orgasm, it’s overwhelming. Still three-quarters of the world’s women seem to be somehow stranded on an orgasmless island. Men, it’s time for you to start taking notes...

Krupa Joseph April 1, 2016

First Person

My Father Sexually Abused Me as a Child. But I Still Can’t Hate Him

I was 12 when my father first touched me inappropriately. It took me reading about Lolita, more than a decade later, inciting and luring her stepfather into intimacy to realise that my first experience of any form of sexual pleasure came from my own father.

Vaishnavi March 30, 2016