Volumes

Sahithya: Gender, Caste and The Culture of Silence

For too long, Dalit women have been overlooked or misrepresented in literature, their voices silenced by exploitative narratives that diminish their experiences based on their caste and gender. Through their writing, these women dismantle the two-fold hegemony, reclaim agency by using language and terminology that reflect their lived realities, and emphasize the significance of autobiographical accounts in shaping Dalit female narratives. This exploration seeks to delve into these crucial aspects by drawing from various secondary sources and interviews, shedding light on the subversion of hegemony, the role of language in agency, and the value of autobiographical storytelling in Dalit women’s writing.

Adhikarita

There is an imperative need to adopt legislation and practices that are completely dedicated to eliminating gender discrimination in the workplace. For the scope of this volume, we will be analyzing multiple facets of socio-political, economic, and legal factors that affect gender minorities in the workplace. We shall be interviewing organizations and individuals bridging the gap between societal expectations of gendered identities, highlighting their value creation process, as an expression of their creativity, with an objective to highlight hitherto under-represented voices in the mainstream discourse. This volume shall be divided into three different editions, each of which will represent different contemporary themes that are affecting the dynamics of gender in the workplace.

Family as a Social Structure

While our last issue wanted to understand non-heteronomrative families within the Indian context; our current issue will delve further into the non-normative. For our second issue dealing with Familial social structures, Swabhimaan would, while exploring the queer elements of a family, also like to draw focus to certain agencies awarded to women within these social structures. From focussing on how Indian single mothers tackle their unique hardships to understanding the role of Devadasis in Indian societies, this issue aims to understand the diverse forms of family prevalent across the sub-continent.

Family as a Social Structure

The institution of family has, since time immemorial, resisted any transformation of its core assertion of marital sanctity. Despite the prevalence of non-normative families, Indian law has defined familial relations exhaustively, alienating a large group of people who do not conform to this definition. Four years after the Navtej Singh Johar judgement India still lacks laws that protect the rights of queer relationships. It is high time that the legal arena recognises that parenthood, marriage and relationships are not gendered. This issue highlights the lacunae that exist between the social reality of familial structures and its understanding of the law.

Violence as a Social Structure

This volume of Swabhimaan hopes to cover different
social structures that drive our society, to an extent,
and we begin our journey by covering structural
violence. In this issue, we aim to delve into
intersectionality, referring to the interconnected
nature of social categorizations such as race, class,
and gender as they apply to a given individual or
group, regarded as creating overlapping and
interdependent systems of discrimination or
disadvantage and bringing in a legal perspective. We try to understand queer violence by reaching out to organisations working with victims of queer violence and acknowledging the legal, societal and psychological
support extended to these victims.

Sex and the Meta

This edition examines the consequences of prevalent views on sexuality. The lack of discussion around sexuality, with a focus specifically on sex as means for heterosexual reproduction, the curriculum deprives students of understanding essential components such as consent, pleasure, body image, mutual respect, safety, sexuality, queer sex education and gender expression; the list goes on. The existing heteropatriarchal environment also at times reinforces pre-existing gender roles and negative attitudes towards women. This may also serve to provide linkages between lack of discussions around sexuality and higher, unreported instances of domestic and intimate partner violence.

S*x Education

S*x Education is Swabhimaan’s latest edition that focusses on the nuances of the heteronormative sexuality education that is imparted in schools in India. By delving into the the shortcomings and the scope for improvement in the current sex education curriculum, we explore the initiatives taken by organisations across the country to bridge these gaps. Through an educational, queer, and policy perspective, this issue intends to approach the various facets of sex education that is essential for change.

Midnight Blue

Midnight Blue is aimed at understanding sex work and rehabilitation. Through a series of conversations below, we explore the lives of sex workers that is often clouded with misconceptions and stereotypes. This edition reinforces that sex work is “work” and highlights the individuals who have dedicated their lives in fighting against its criminalisation and working towards its rehabilitation.

Beyond the Red

Beyond The Red engages with individuals driving the front toward destigmatizing menstruation and reframing policies regarding menstrual health management (MHM) in India. This issue of Swabhimaan dives into questioning the existing gaps in MHM and the solutions put forth to uproot the institutionalization of the menstrual taboo in our society.

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Meri Art Meri Pehchaan, Part 2

The focus of this edition lies on the stories of artists working as part of a more privileged, ‘organised’ working class. ‘Meri Art Meri Pehchaan’ highlights the journey of a few individuals, who have adopted a creative ‘art’ field as an important tool to transcend the limitations of ‘traditional views’, while finding a
means to express themselves through Art as a form of ‘Artivism’. ‘Artivism’ , as we observe and believe for many, is becoming an important juncture of streamlining and converging gender, identity, through art and entrepreneurial pursuits.

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