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It's considered 'shameful' to talk about - even think about - women's sexual fantasies and pleasure, a taboo that 5 college girls set out to erase with Oh My Hrithik.
It’s considered ‘shameful’ to talk about – even think about – women’s sexual fantasies and pleasure, a taboo that 5 college girls set out to erase with Oh My Hrithik.
Women, it was believed, do not have physical desires and shouldn’t pursue self-pleasure as they were primarily believed to be the objects of procreation.
Ironically, since eons women have been having sexual fantasies and have resorted to self-pleasure, even though society with its prescribed gendered norms have always kept them shackled in inhibitions.
However, we need to acknowledge and understand that this is a social reality that forms the very fabric of every woman’s life, and the sole way we can normalize and destigmatize this taboo is by having or creating a judgment-free space where women become vociferous about their desires and not become objects of public censure.
Oh My Hrithik, commonly known as OMH, is a User Generated Content platform, started by five 19-year-old young girls (Suparna Dutta, Vaishali Manek, Kriti Kulshreshtha, Kevika Singla and Mansi Jain) in Mumbai, on the 6th of March.
Oh My Hrithik team
The campaign aims to eradicate the stigma attached to female fantasies and self-pleasure and make it a normal topic to talk about. Our purpose is to talk about self-pleasure confidently, without shame; talk about our body, pleasure, fantasies, and experiences, without feeling guilty, cheap or loose, and the only way to do it is to talk about it.
Our content involves creating a digital community of girls who not only indulge in female fantasies but also satisfy themselves by masturbation. Often women feel guilty after engaging in the act because of the societal and parental pressure leading to anxiety and depression at times.
We chose the name of Hrithik Roshan because he is one of the most desired men; also this will give us a bigger audience and a connect.
The germ of the idea conceive when we watched Lust stories, wherein Sumukhi Suresh talks about female masturbation with Hrithik Roshan’s reference. Owing to his desirability and to not make the name very direct, we thought of Oh My Hrithik, and since we did not want to refer it to as Oh My God to avoid controversies, we decided to go ahead with the name of the ‘Greek God’ Hrithik as it would be easy to associate as well as identify.
We started the campaign when we realized the relevance of the stigma and unacceptance of self-pleasure amongst girls. So we decided to have a platform where girls could talk about their fantasies and the act of masturbation without any fear, aiming to make it as an antidote to all the negative feelings that usually follow.
Moreover, women need to be able to unhesitatingly express their fantasies and not harbour guilt or remorse inside them and form a distorted self-image, because seeking sexual pleasure is as normal as any other aspect of being a woman is.
Our social media is open for content from all the users, as OMH is an interface for actions as well as reactions. We plan to do more interactive sessions and open mics so that the word spreads about the campaign online but along with that, also attempt to create awareness so that people actually talk about it amongst each other as well. That is our plan for the future until now.
We plan to promote our content by sourcing content which is really good. We are going to different people and we will maintain certain content where we will not titillate but delve into our fantasies and what they mean to us. We have also contacted few people who are female influencers, like Radhika Apte, to generate content and support us. We have just started the journey and are happy with the response.
We want support from the creative community, they are the opinion makers in our society and if they recognise this issue being faced by impressionable youngsters that will help a lot. We are working towards making this effort creative. We will organise more events in the future and invite celebrities to participate in these conversations. We are creating some good content that includes poetry and graphic arts. At some point we want to give shape to an OMH book of creative content on the subject.
Besides this, we have received a lot of love and support from most of the people and we are very grateful for it. However, we did know that this would not be a subject a lot of people might want to hear about. A lot of people also seem to think that there are various other important issues to be spoken about and what we talk about is unnecessary or not needed in the society.
Fortunately, all of us have received full-fledged support and leeway from our parents for our initiative.
After our graduation, we want to be attached to this, but we also want our juniors to carry forward the mission. It’s pretty much like literary society or cultural society. We already have so many interested volunteers.
You can find us on social media here: Instagram, FB, Twitter
Image source: a still from Lust Stories
Author bio: This piece has been collectively written by all 5 girls who are the founders of Oh My Hrithik.
Suparna Dutta is someone who’s full of curiosity and love for literature. Kriti Kulshrestha is a sucker for positive vibes. Vaishali Manek is a survivor with due credits to chai. Kevika Singla loves Bollywood and all the drama that comes with it. Mansi Jain is just a sleepy head trying to get away with everything.
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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.
Women today don’t want to be in a partnership that complicates their lives further. They need an equal partner with whom they can figure out life as a team, playing by each other’s strengths.
We all are familiar with that one annoying aunty who is more interested in our marital status than in the dessert counter at a wedding. But these aunties have somehow become obsolete now. Now they are replaced by men we have in our lives. Friends, family, and even work colleagues. It’s the men who are worried about why we are not saying yes to one among their clans. What is wrong with us? Aren’t we scared of dying alone? Like them?
A recent interaction with a guy friend of mine turned sour when he lectured me about how I would regret not getting married at the right time. He lectured that every event in our lives needs to be completed within a certain timeframe set by society else we are doomed. I wasn’t angry. I was just disappointed to realize that annoying aunties are rapidly doubling in our society. And they don’t just appear at weddings or family functions anymore. They are everywhere. They are the real pandemic.
Let’s examine this a little closer.
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