My sense of self was starting to crumble. I journaled to keep my sanity intact and to process these emotions. The idea that maybe someday I’d go bald and won’t be what one could call “conventionally beautiful”. It was a challenge to be kind to myself. I started picking out every flaw in me and made worsened my mental state on purpose. I was at a very dark place, and at this time, and I was straight up self-destructive.
Phenomenal Women: 10 Questions with Crime and Gender Journalist, Author Priyanka Dubey
Priyanka Dubey is a journalist and an author. She’s spent 11 years reporting on issues of social justice and human rights. At present, Priyanka is on a sabbatical, which she’s spending reading, traveling and dabbling in fiction writing. The Ladies Compartment asked her 10 questions.
Less Than Perfect, More Than Women’s Month
They’ll parade out feminism’s greatest hits in listicles and short profiles. We will recognise most of the names and faces, if not all. These role models of past and present that fought and won their battles. And, even those of us who brandish our tee-shirts saying “Women don’t owe you perfect/pretty/nice” will wonder: if she was able to do it, why haven’t I?
The Emancipation Of A Heavy and Weighted Heart In A Pandemic
2020 was the year I woke up to the possibility of being both fat and bald. I had the gumption to be only one of those. My PCOS was left unattended for far too long, and she was finally making me choose.
This essay isn’t a celebration of the 17 kgs I managed to plead out of my body. It isn’t a watered-down version of Chicken Soup for the Fat and Hurting Soul or another fat person inspiring you, notwithstanding their weight. I am not walking on-set, a months-old photo of me juxtaposed unto the screen, emphatically telling you that if I can, you can.
How Parenting Changed my Equation with Food
I was a one-pot meal person. Things changed, though, after marriage and parenthood. Food became a lot of things besides a means of sustenance. It became a means of bonding, a reason for earning gratitude, an outlet for creative experimentation. And many a time it even led to exasperation and boredom.
The Joy Of Sharing Food
I obsessively scroll through old videos and photos on my phone. Instagram’s stories archive feature is a torture device that repeatedly drives home how far from average the past seven months have been.
#InTheirWords: About Being A Woman
Often I wonder about being a woman, even though I’ve been one all my life. There is a poem by Kim Addonizio called “What Do Women Want?” She wants a red dress,
#InTheirWords: Women Lead Fight Against Climate Change
When 16-year-old Greta Thunberg asked “How dare you?” to adults sitting in New York at the UN Climate Action Summit-and those all over the world,
Quit Mourning Karl Lagerfeld: A Poster-Boy For Not Separating Art From Artist
The sartorial world’s King is dead, and I am not sad. Karl Lagerfeld’s death is no loss to the world —
Let’s Talk About Self-Care Sundays, Ladies
It’s Sunday; I have on my soothing sheet mask; I’m burning my Lavender essential oil from Kama Ayurveda. Later, I’ll go to a salon and indulge in a massage and a mani-pedi session.
Dear Straight People, s377 is your concern too
Oh Lord, my first orgasm. After months of pretending (poorly) to cum with my then-boyfriend, he of much porn experience,
In Their Words: Miles To Go Before We Sleep
On December 17, many trans and intersex rights activists met in Delhi, the Indian capital, to protest the government’s Transgender Persons [Protection of Rights] Bill 2016.
#InTheirWords: I Thought I Was Body-Positive Then I Gained Weight
I’m older, but not wiser, and most definitely fatter. As I turn 35, I think my empathy has grown, and I know my love handles have.