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While the Supreme Court of India gears up to take a stand on the draconian Section 377 of The Indian Penal Code, the youth of our country still appears to be homophobic, and confused about same sex love.
Youtube channel Blush recently published a video bringing forth the voice of young Mumbai women on #GirlLove
The first question that came to my mind after watching the responses in this thought provoking video is: what is the very basis of our understanding of normal and abnormal social behavior?
Why do we feel the need to quickly emphasize on the fact of being ‘straight’ when asked a simple question about girls loving girls? Against what are we defending ourselves? Why do we need to specially clarify?
What are we so afraid of?
We are afraid of being counted among the ‘abnormals’, we are afraid of being ‘outcasted’, of being looked down upon, of being the ones who do not have any right to dignity and privacy in this country. The normal-abnormal conundrum continues to haunt the LGBTQ community and will continue to do so until the youth of India frees itself from the gendered chains of patriarchy and the socially constructed ‘normal’ attitudes and behavior. This conundrum impacts the lives of many others who are perceived to be different and hence subjugated when compared from the high standards of normalcy set by our society.
The use of terms such as ‘queer’, ‘differently-abled’, ‘the weaker sex’ etc., are evident of the obstinate process of comparison that is activated whenever we come across someone who is beyond our narrow understanding of life and its various forms. We all want to be that respected and highly prized human being who is the epitome of normalcy. This age-old conservative approach has become so ingrained in our minds that we refuse to take off our blinders and want to be at a hand’s distance from those ‘others’.
But one universal feeling unites us all. Love. We all experience love in different forms and at different points of our life; no one remains untouched from this beautiful feeling. Then why do we think that love has only one color? Are we so phallocentric that our minds cannot accept the fact that to love we simply need a heart and a soul. Why do we want to restrict this emotion to only one form? Why do we want to punish those who do not follow us? Isn’t it cruel?
What if in another world your being ‘straight’ was not so normal?
Love can be yellow, orange, purple, blue, I say love is Technicolor. Stop justifying yourself as being “straight”, free your mind and heart from the burdens of orthodox norms that have been dumped on you by this meek insecure society and THINK AFRESH.
Image source: same sex love by Shutterstock.
I am a law professor who aspires and dreams to make the world a safer and better place for women read more...
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Neena was the sole caregiver of Amma and though one would think that Amma was dependent on her, Neena felt otherwise.
Neena inhaled the aroma that emanated from the pan and took a deep breath. The aroma of cumin interspersed with butter transported her back to the modest kitchen in her native village. She could picture her father standing in the kitchen wearing his white crisp kurta as he made delectable concoctions for his only daughter.
Neena grew up in a home where both her parents worked together in tandem to keep the house up and running. She had a blissful childhood in her modest two-room house. The house was small but every nook and cranny gave her memories of a lifetime. Neena’s young heart imagined that her life would follow the same cheerful course. But how wrong she was!
When she was sixteen, the catastrophic clutches of destiny snatched away her parents. They passed away in a road accident and Neena was devastated. Relatives thronged her now gloomy house and soon it was decided that she should be married off.
Being a writer, Nivedita Louis recognises the struggles of a first-time woman writer and helps many articulate their voice with development, content edits as a publisher.
“I usually write during night”, says author Nivedita Louis during our conversation. Chuckling she continues,” It’s easier then to focus solely on writing. Nivedita Louis is a writer, with varied interests and one of the founders of Her Stories, a feminist publishing house, based in Chennai.
In a candid conversation she shared her journey from small-town Tamil Nadu to becoming a history buff, an award-winning author and now a publisher.
Nivedita was born and raised in a small town in Tamil Nadu. It was for schooling that she first arrived in Chennai. Then known as Madras, she recalls being awed by the city. Her love-story with the city, its people and thus began which continues till date. She credits her perseverance and passion to make a difference to her days as a vocational student among the elite sections of Madras.
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