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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
Teaching Modules
Videos
Fun Stuff
#Politics
Post
Sex Ed Pioneers From India's Past
Today we might call them change-makers, but they were the OG pioneers of a taboo free desi conversation about sex and sexuality.
Jul 02, 2025
The Politics of Pleasure and Dr. Ambedkar
Dr B R Ambedkar was known as a lawyer, humanitarian, father of the Indian Constitution… but outside (and inside) his study, he had many interests that made the tapestry of his life colourful
Apr 14, 2025
Why Does Pleasure Matter?
Anne Philpott (Founder, The Pleasure Project) and Paromita Vohra (Founder, Agents of Ishq) discuss this in their joint editorial in the latest SRHM Journal on Sexual Pleasure
Aug 30, 2024
Pleasure Matters: AOI, SRHM and TPP collaborate for a webinar
Join us for a discussion on why pleasure politics is essential in SRHR work
Aug 14, 2024
How We Wrote The Famous Sex-Ed Book, Lal Kitaab, in 1980s India: An Interview With Indira Pancholi
"Shareer ki Jankaari" aka Indian feminist movement ki famous "Laal Kitaab" was co-created by Indira Pancholi and 75 rural women during a government-run health campaign. Read the story of how these women made a book for their own bodies, in their own language against all odds.
Mar 08, 2023
I wanted love and found it. It just wasn’t reciprocated
After each encounter, I promised myself I’d talk about my needs, be vulnerable in a smart way. Next time, I’d win
Jan 29, 2024
Pleasure Politics: Excerpts From The AOI Manifesto
Could pleasure politics include aspects of us that sometimes feel left out in sex positivity?
Nov 10, 2023
Why does talking about sex-ed make us so squeamish?
AOI unpacks the many issues at the heart of Bihar CM Nitish Kumar's statement about sex-education in the Bihar legslative assembly, and all the furore around it
Nov 09, 2023
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
7 of My Favourite Works of Art
by Abhishek Anicca
Oct 08, 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
The Agents of Ishq Approach to Sex-Ed
Yaniki why we talk about sex the way we do!
Sep 01, 2023
How Caste and Colonialism Shaped the History of STIs in India
When the firang soldiers came to India, they brought Syphilis. What happened next is the story of how caste marginalization plays out and affects health policies!
Jul 28, 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
It Took Me Two Years To Realize I Had Been Raped
A male Dalit queer person on acknowledging the many shades of sexual assault.
Jun 19, 2023
Maitri Karar: A Gujarati custom that allow queer relationships legitimacy
When polygamy was banned in 1956, the Maitri Karar was invented to allow men to support their mistresses. And then, queer couples used it to live together legally.
Jun 16, 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
Dr Alyappin Padmanabba Pillay and His Anti No-Fap Crusade in 1940's India
How one sexologist addressed the 'semen anxiety' of anxious young men in modern India.
May 12, 2023
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
Love was a stereotype. Friendship was radical. And then, I met her.
If witnessing a relationship slowly die out like a star collapsing into itself were a color, it would be tangerine.
Aug 05, 2023
"Birth Control is the only Sovereign Specific" BR Ambedkar on Contraception, Women's Right to Choice, and Accepting Sexual Pleasure
Ambedkar's thoughts on Birth Control from his speech in 1938!
Apr 14, 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
Political Parties Which Made Love a Political Platform
They wanted to win not just hearts, but elections too!
Feb 10, 2023
The Political Power of Pleasure - An AOI Manifesto (Plain Text Version)
Jan 01, 1970
The Political Power of Pleasure - An AOI Manifesto
Jan 27, 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
From Sex Work Geographies to Intimate Cities: An Interview with Manjima Bhattacharjya
Manjima tells us about the shifting landscape of sex work, and its history!
Jun 28, 2022
Reckless In Love, Powerful In Sisterhood - Vijeta Kumar Interviews Asha Kowtal
Asha was General Secretary of All India Dalit Mahila Adhikar Manch (AIDMAM) for eleven years
Jun 28, 2022
This Month at AOI - Who Is A #GrownAssWoman?
Mar 04, 2022
Fantasy, Feminism, Erotics, Politics: An Interview with Jaya Sharma
Jaya Sharma tells us about BDSM, fantasy and reality ka khel!
Feb 19, 2022
Six People on What They Learned About Vulnerability By Working At A Helpline
What listening to people at their most vulnerable moment can teach us about resilience.
Jul 07, 2021
“Without Vulnerability There is No Revolution” – Bole Toh? The AOI Chhotu Essay!
Is #VulnerABILITY just a personal maamla or something more?
Jun 28, 2022
Love x Sex x Caste: A Reading List
Will you read about love with us?
Apr 15, 2020
Sunny Leone: The Porn Star Even Your Granny Knows
How did a porn star become a household name in India?
Jan 16, 2020
More Than An Identity: How I Realised My Struggle Was With Being Sexual, Not Homosexual
My identity as a queer person became a bit of a shield from the world of love, the world of sex
Jun 11, 2019
‘Queer’ Kya Hai?
Your favourite agents are here with another #SuperSaralExplainer!
Jun 04, 2019
A Mudblood Child of a Love Marriage
From my parents’ inter-caste marriage, I learned that love was worth hardship
Nov 24, 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
Quotes from The Courts About Women and the Right to Consent!
When courtrooms recognize women as individuals and their right to choose, the quotes are bound to be dhamakedar!
Mar 14, 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
What the Law Tells Us about Relationships in India
You might be surprised – in good and bad ways.
Feb 19, 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
We Asked: Has #MeToo Changed Anything for You? Here’s What You Told Us
Nov 29, 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
How Ideas of Purity Damage Our Mental Sexual Health (And Happiness)
The unconscious sexual caste system that undercuts our relationships with self and others.
Oct 10, 2018
Sex Actually: Memories of Mid-Afternoon Sex, and Losing Friends
Oct 11, 2018
Sex Actually: Ecstasy, Anxiety and the Fear of Being Judged
Sex, as it actually is.
May 08, 2018
Sex Actually: Of Broken Vaginas and Negotiating Consent
New stories of women's unforgettable sexual encounters.
Apr 19, 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
Sex Actually 2.0 :
Stories of women's sexual experiences and thoughts... continued.
Jan 31, 2018
IT’S TIME WE STOPPED LINKING ABORTION TO THE BAD SEX RATIO
If there is a connection between abortion and female infanticide it is this: the reasons for both are mostly intertwined with sexism.
Dec 28, 2017
CHADDI PEHEN KE DUDE KHILA HAI
A history of masculinity through chaddi ads
Nov 28, 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
NIGHTS FULL OF WOMEN
Women out at night, filling it up, in the pictures of Anushree Fadnavis
Aug 10, 2017
A Long Time Ago In Our Own Country: Meet The Stars of Indian Sex-Ed
‘Modern’ India has had many doctors, activists, researchers, and writers doing very important work like beginning programmes for birth control, saying women have the right to enjoy sexual pleasure and talking about the never-satisfied public’s sex dilemmas.
Sep 05, 2017
WEIRD IDEAS PORN GAVE ME ABOUT SEX
Porn gives many ideas on pleasure & how to pleasure. In real life, sex, like everything else, can be messy, silent, and hairy.
Aug 08, 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
WHICH WAY DO WE SLICE IT?
A poem by Jaya Sharma
Sep 13, 2016
ISHQ VISHQ SEX VEX
EXPLORING TOUCH TO EXPLOSIVE TOUCH Let Manu take you on his journey of touch from naive bodily explorations with his male friends to the electric, experiences with the opposite sex, and along the way understandings about consent, mutuality and the simple pleasures of pleasure!
Sep 02, 2016
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