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We give
sex
a
good
name
About us
Partners & Collabs
Sections
Sex-Ed Basics
Self-Help / Self-Love
Personal Stories
Our Erotic India
Family, Society and Philosophy
Sexual Etiquette and Consent
Relationships and Dating
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Fun Stuff
#Gender
Post
Pleating My Desires In Amma’s Sarees
As I grew older, Amma’s cupboard became a battleground—her trying to control, maintain a boundary and social roles, me rebelling and trying to connect with my forbidden desires
Aug 25, 2025
The Dil Lootne Waale Tomboys – AOI’s Sexy Saturday Songs
Bollywood has long celebrated the boisterous, adventurous, gender-bending tomboys – sometimes in complete songs, and sometimes in hard-to-forget glimpses
Mar 30, 2024
One day I was wearing shirts and whistling in class. And the next, I was told I was a girl and had to act like one.
The responsibilities of being a girl and an older sibling meant I had to wear shalwar kurtas and keep my legs neatly tucked.
Mar 25, 2024
I was prepared to sulk, until I saw a tiny girl with a hockey stick
A serendipitous meeting with a movie character changed everything I had so far been told girls could be
Mar 18, 2024
What's The Controversy Around Gender Testing In Sports?
What is the deal about it really? Why is it being challenged by athletes across the world? Read on to know
Aug 29, 2022
Tomboy! A Thrilling History of Gender — Bole Toh? The AOI Chhotu Essay!
The Tomboy versus heterocapitalism.
Mar 08, 2024
The Tomboy March
Kuch yaadien, kuch sawaal aur dher saara pyar... All that is in our pitaara this mahina
Mar 01, 2024
He Had Sex With Me. Then Told Me I Wasn't Man Enough
A train journey and a sexual encounter with a closeted man makes Vibhu Vasudev ask why men hold rigid ideas about masculinity.
Nov 06, 2023
Peg, Peg Karne Laga: The Mazedaar History of Pegging and Why It Matters
How the term ‘pegging’ came to be and the larger questions it raises about gender roles and sex
Nov 03, 2023
How Much Of A Man Is A Disabled Man?
What does disability reveal about the idea of masculinity?
Oct 06, 2023
Why Are Most Contraceptives Only For Those Who Can Get Pregnant? The Gender Discrimination in Contraception
If there was a male birth control pill in the market, would you use it (or ask your partner to use it)?
Sep 26, 2023
Why Do We Talk About Histories of Ishq and Sexuality?
What do stories of Rukhmabai, Pillay, Lal Kitaab enable for us in the present?
Sep 15, 2023
Chocolate: A Hindi Book On Homosexuality That Caused Much Debate In The 1920s
Written by Ugra, aka Pandey Bechan Sharma, the book was a a bestseller, but its critics were many too #HindiDiwas
Aug 14, 2023
Teachers Across India Share The AOI Material They Used And How Their Students Reacted To It!
#HappyTeachersDay
Sep 05, 2023
Fucking Trans Women! How Mira Bellwether, a Trans Woman Wrote A Sex-Ed Guide For Her Lovers
The 80-page zine teaches you how bodies experience pleasure in unique ways far beyond the norm.
Jun 25, 2023
How the Phule's Home Became A Space Where Widows Were Safe from Sexual Exploitation
This International Widows’ Day, we ask why society seeks control of women’s lives (even today), by curbing their access to pleasure.
Jun 23, 2023
From Sapphic Seasides to Political Pyaar! A Lesbian, Bisexual, Trans History of Mumbai
Where did the LBT Mumbaikar go for politics, party and pyaar!
Sep 21, 2022
Why did 13000 sugarcane cutters in Maharashtra 'choose' to have thier uterus removed? A History of Hysterectomy in India
A brief history of women's reproductive health, sterilization and choice in modern India.
May 10, 2023
"Conscious Uncoupling is more about emotional freedom from the negative patterns of the past" An Interview with Dr. Suchitra
Dr. Suchitra tells us how to end relationships in an empowered and dignified way!
Mar 09, 2023
How We Wrote a Sex-Ed Book in 80's India: An Interview with Indira Pancholi
The story behind "Shareer ki Jankaari" and the women behind it!
Mar 07, 2023
Somewhere Between Mills & Boon, Assault and A Dutiful Husband - I Discovered That Sex Is Power
It was only during my honeymoon that I realised that sex could be painful.
Mar 04, 2023
Sorry Thank You Tata Bye Bye - A Music Video About Age of Marriage In Collaboration With Oxfam India
Jan 31, 2023
“Leisure is like an answer to oppression”: Interview with Surabhi Yadav
What happens when women let themselves be completely at rest? Read more to find out.
Jan 13, 2023
To End Violence Against Women, We Need To Talk About Pleasure! #16DaysOfActivism
Why #PleasurePolitics is necessary to take the conversation on gender-based violence forward!
Nov 25, 2022
Healing, Not The Law, Gave Me My Justice - This is My Survivor Story
M tells us a complex story about violence, justice and ideal victims!
Jun 28, 2022
The Many Journeys of an Old-Fashioned Butch: An Interview With Dr. Shruti Chakravarty
Dr. Shruti Chakravarty talks to us about queerness, gender, labels, community and love.
Mar 22, 2022
Bodies in Pain: Reclaim, not Shame
Angel's journey of accepting that her period pain was real, not imaginary or inconsequential.
Apr 30, 2022
Dilbadar: A Dating Manifesto Minus The Bad Advice
Putting the pleasure back in online dating!
Dec 11, 2021
Where is my Education? A Transman’s Story
The everyday struggles of a trans man attending university.
Nov 01, 2021
Stories From A Survey: Manju's Story
Nov 01, 2021
My Mother’s Lost Friendships
How can marriage and family expectations slowly bleach friendship out of a woman's life?
Aug 15, 2021
How Vulnerability Can Fill Our Lives with Love!
#PyaariVulnerability
Jul 28, 2021
5 Laws and Policies That Were Meant To Help Adolescents - So Why Didn't They?
Do these laws #Care for Indian adolescents? Or do they just seek to #Control?
Jun 24, 2021
Love Was Not A Cure For My Masculine Anxieties
“Pyaar ka sitam means love comes to us with great promise, to fill our lives, but the truth is it can only fill very little of us,” says Anand Yadav, battling with the pressure that the idea of ‘love’ brings with it.
May 21, 2021
Ten Tashan-Filled Tales On Being Trans : AOI’s Reading List for Transgender Day of Visibility
Ten books on being trans in India!
Mar 31, 2021
What Is Heteronormativity And How Does It Decide What's Normal? An Explainer
A saral explainer of a complicated system!
Mar 07, 2021
Things You Wanted To Know About Polyamory, But Felt Too Cool To Ask!
Polyamorous Pyaar ki Basic Jankaari!
Nov 23, 2020
BOSOMS - A Poem
A poem about a little girl's desire to have big breasts
Nov 15, 2020
A Prostitute and A Saviour: A Diary
A trans-person's journey through sex-work and back
Nov 17, 2020
Why Does Guilt Follow Pleasure - An Investigative Documentary About Me
Moving from guilt to satisfaction in sex!
Nov 09, 2020
NON BINARY PEOPLE'S DAY - A PRIMER
Oct 21, 2020
Sunny Leone: The Porn Star Even Your Granny Knows
How did a porn star become a household name in India?
Jan 16, 2020
Prime Time Porn – An Information Striptease
Your doubts on porn, dispelled based on the book 'Cybersexy' by Richa Kaul Padte
Jan 07, 2020
As A Man Am I Condemned To Choose Violence Over Love? Maybe Not.
I hit her. The realisation of what I did, and the guilt it brought is unbearable even now.
Oct 15, 2019
The AOI Guide on How to Say No
Sounds simple, but we all know it's tricky in real life!
Aug 22, 2019
100 Things in My Body
What else do we have in this world apart from our bodies?
Jul 25, 2019
Masculinity and Femininity Are Up For Grabs! - An Interview with The Patchworks Ensemble
A conversation with theatre artists Puja Sarup and Sheena Khalid on how they used the form to expand the ideas of gender and sexuality.
Jun 25, 2019
How Can You Escape from the Body Image House of Mirrors?
#SexEdFundas about body image and how we can tackle problems related to it
Jul 03, 2019
Remembering the Life of Sweet Maria Through Art
A unique monument to the murdered trans activist reminds us of her life as well as the violence that trans people face in India
Jun 19, 2019
Finding Queerness Everywhere
Time for a new Sexy Saturday Songs playlist, this time by Vikram Phukan!
Jun 15, 2019
‘Queer’ Kya Hai?
Your favourite agents are here with another #SuperSaralExplainer!
Jun 04, 2019
Caster Semenya, Hormone Fallacies and Some Not-So-Sporting Double Standards
Is everything we think we know about gender wrong?
May 06, 2019
Personal Life aur Political Empowerment Linked Hai Kya?
The stories of these five women show us how they reimagined their adult lives
Apr 24, 2019
Amma, I Wonder If You Had Orgasms
I have always wanted to ask you this. Can you tell me about your orgasms?
May 12, 2019
Main Apni Sabse Favourite Hoon: Chronicles of an Instaspam Queen
What is it about being a woman on Instagram that is so joyous, so satisfying – and so annoying to men?
Apr 25, 2019
Know These 19th Century folks and Their Hatke Ideas on Marriage, Sex and Women?
Here's some people who stirred up the the debate on child marriage and women's rights!
Mar 09, 2019
I Make the Kind of Goddesses that I Want to See
A Brooklyn-based artist and sculptor on six works that mean a lot to her
Mar 07, 2019
I Faked Orgasms to be Polite
You know how we’re taught that good kids don't go for second helpings of food? I carried that training into my sex life
Mar 05, 2019
Muh Bole Rishte - 6 People Describe Their Chosen Families
Society might say “Only family is forever”, but here are stories of 6 people forming their closest bonds, beyond blood.
Feb 20, 2019
How My Relationships Made Me Question Pyaar, Azaadi aur Accountability
Is ‘demanding accountability’ just a euphemism for trying to control someone?
Feb 26, 2019
Things Young Men Say to Me During Sex-Ed Workshops
From ‘What is a clitoris?’ to sharing stories of heartbreak, a sexuality educator tells us some of the burning issues on men’s minds
Jan 15, 2019
Wondering Why People are Protesting the Anti-Trafficking Bill? Here’s a Quick Guide
In past days you would have seen that people are protesting the Anti-Trafficking Bill alongside the Trans Rights Bill. The two Bills are flawed on their own. But they are also connected in some ways.
Dec 29, 2018
Not Sure Why People Are Protesting the Trans Bill? Here's A Quick Guide
Many amendments have been made to the Bill since it was drafted, but activists say it is still discriminatory, mainly for the following reasons.
Dec 26, 2018
A Crowd Sourced List On Consent
A crowd sourced list of important material on consent.
Dec 02, 2018
We Asked: Has #MeToo Changed Anything for You? Here’s What You Told Us
Nov 29, 2018
The Masculinity Detox Diet
Easy tips to cleanse your system of toxic masculinity.
Nov 22, 2018
My Male Friends and I Talked About Sex Constantly, But Not How We Really Felt About It
I’m trying to unlearn everything I’d absorbed in predominantly male spaces. It’s making me a better person.
Nov 13, 2018
If You're Unsure What POSH, LoSHA, ICC & Other Terms Are, This Is For You.
Some common terms being used in the #MeToo conversation, explained.
Oct 20, 2018
My First Time Taught Me How Not to Have Sex
Jan 24, 2019
Who can tell you how to please a woman better than a woman?
More women should be writing about sex
Sep 21, 2018
Have You Watched This Sweet Film About Anshuman Travelling on the Metro?
The film is a lovely portrait of it sparkling protagonist finding his way in the world
Sep 14, 2018
Changing the Conversation on Consent with A Nayi Emotional Bhasha
Have you seen Love in the Garden of Consent/Ishq ke Baagh mein Marzi hai Minimum yet?
Sep 02, 2018
What My Live-In Relationship Taught Me About Consent
She wanted to say no, but felt compelled to say yes. She would signal how she truly felt, but he would pretend not to understand. Consent proved tricky and elusive, until she developed the muscle she needed to say 'no'.
Aug 02, 2018
Inside the World of Puu – A Beautiful Comic about Love
Puu is a webcomic about Saboor and Jameel, two housemates in Chennai, and other people whose lives intersect with theirs.
Jun 26, 2018
Being Equal, Being Queer Rozana
May 17, 2018
How Dancing Helped Me Fix My Broken Heart
There is no gender in dance. Pick your gender for today and tomorrow if I ask you to switch you should be able to do it .
Apr 29, 2018
I Stopped a Man From Harassing a Young Boy on a Bus, Because it's Happened to Me Too
Think about all the hotel rooms, offices, malls, streets, building blocks and so many other places all over the world where similar things might be happening at this very moment.
Apr 03, 2018
Why Flirting Without Agenda Matters: Lessons from the Caribbean
There is a way to verbally and non-verbally gauge another person’s interest without harassing them. It’s called flirting
Mar 13, 2018
What Is It Like To Have Sex and Love With Both Men and Women
Sex with men and with women is actually very different but it’s difficult to articulate the difference in sensation.
Mar 22, 2018
Sex Actually 2.0 :
Stories of women's sexual experiences and thoughts... continued.
Jan 31, 2018
CHADDI PEHEN KE DUDE KHILA HAI
A history of masculinity through chaddi ads
Nov 28, 2017
What Men Talk About When They Talk About Sex
As boys grow up and start having their first experiences, the conversation is similar to sharing newfound facts about sex in childhood: “You won’t believe what I did!” “how did it feel?” “this is how it is.”
Nov 17, 2017
Mard, Mann Aur Jealousy: 5 Men Talk about Dealing With Unusual Jealousies
Unusual jealousies men experience and how it affects the way they look at themselves as sexual beings.
Nov 16, 2017
What Intersex People Wished Everyone Knew About Them
Simple FAQ's to familiarize yourself with body beyond binaries.
Oct 26, 2017
WHAT DOCTORS (REALLY) THINK ABOUT SEX, ABORTION AND VIRGINITY
A doctor’s account of gender and moral biases that are rife in the health care system.
Oct 24, 2017
Jugni Songs and the Traveling Sparks of Freedoms
Freedom has no fixed address. It’s meanings are always changing, always on the move. Like Jugni.
Aug 15, 2017
NIGHTS FULL OF WOMEN
Women out at night, filling it up, in the pictures of Anushree Fadnavis
Aug 10, 2017
Things People Tell Me About Sex: Diary Of A Gynaecologist
A gynaecologist gives us an insight into how (little) sex is understood even in marriage
Aug 01, 2017
For 25 Years I've Stayed Faithful To A Husband Who Refused Me Sex
Do I need sex? Well not really but I’d definitely like some.
Jul 17, 2017
How To Get Naked In Front Of Another Person And Be Cool With It
We feel suspense, anxiety, uncertainty, excitement and maybe even a little fear about what getting naked will mean. Should we? Shouldn’t we?
Jun 02, 2017
Watch Me As I Fall In Love: 5 Trans Persons Talk About Dating
Love is supposed to be the simplest thing, but it isn’t.
May 17, 2017
HOW NORMAL IS YOUR SEX DRIVE? (PROBABLY VERY NORMAL)
May 16, 2017
WHAT INDIAN MEN FEEL ABOUT THEIR PENIS
Apr 26, 2017
Don't Miss These Nine Stories About Young Girls' Periods!
What if we could move on to talking about periods as just another part of our lives?
Oct 03, 2016
MARDON WALI BAATEIN: Things Boys Told Us About Their Feelings
We tried to unpack what the young men felt about love, sex, relationships, society and a man's place vis-a-vis these things.
Sep 21, 2016
WHAT INDIAN MEN FEEL ABOUT THEIR PENIS: RESULTS OF THE GREAT INDIAN PENIS SURVEY
Jun 28, 2022
MAIN AUR MERI BODY
A video about how bodies are made. How babies are made, how gender is formed, how attraction happens, what puberty is about. Made by kids for kids and adults too – in full blast Bambaiya ishtyle by Agents of Ishq in collaboration with SNEHA.
Feb 03, 2016
Multiling Biscuit
What is sex? What is gender? What is queer? Are these separate categories or overlapping ways of being that are part of us all?
Jun 28, 2022
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