3+ hour ago (666+ words) In India, matrimonial apps " for caste or region specific " have now become interwoven in the very fabric of the marriage marketplace. From Rishta To Risk: Scams And AI Morphing Fueling Gendered Violence On Indian Matrimonial Sites Online romance scams have evolved into a pervasive and damaging type of cybercrime, exploiting the emotional and social vulnerabilities of single women seeking connections online. These scams highlight the disturbing influence of patriarchal systems and misogynistic behaviours in the digital space, further entrenching harmful gender norms and stereotypes. In India, matrimonial apps " for caste or region specific " have now become interwoven in the very fabric of the marriage marketplace. Yet, at the heart of these potential profiles lies a darker reality. Fake profiles, morphed or AI-generated images, and identity theft are some of the growing tools of technology-facilitated gender-based violence, hampering women's digital and…...

4+ day, 2+ hour ago (1199+ words) Dharanesh Ramesh is a native of Coimbatore and a postgraduate student of Gender and Development Studies at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Hyderabad. Rooted in the belief that stories shape structures, his study and work explore the intersections of gender, caste, and public policy through an intersectional feminist lens. He is particularly drawn to understanding how power, privilege, and policy weave together to define inclusion and equity in everyday life. Inquisitive by nature, Dharanesh often turns to drawing, painting, photography, and writing as extensions of his reflective practice. His work seeks to bridge thought and experience, analysis and art, in the pursuit of justice and representation. The Emotional Politics Of Digital Masculinity "Power is not merely something that one possesses, but something that one enacts through repeated behaviour", Judith Butler's insight from Gender Trouble captures precisely how masculinity operates…...

4+ day, 3+ hour ago (352+ words) When we look past the backlash and outrage to dissect the core of what the opinion piece is targeting to achieve, it becomes evident that feminist thinkers today have to address the elephant in the room " can feminism and conservatism go hand in hand?" Meanwhile, feminism as a political ideology falls on the left of the political spectrum and advocates for political, social, and economic equality between genders. Feminism, through its various waves, has consistently advocated for equity and equal opportunity, adapting to the changing nature of the world around us." At first glance, conservatism and feminism seem to have very little in common. However, Conservative Feminism, as a response to Liberal Feminism, has existed since postfeminism. The core belief that conservative feminism holds is that men and women are different and thereby can never be equal. Further, it believes…...

5+ day, 3+ hour ago (313+ words) On the 18th of November 2025, UN Women published a piece on growing digital violence against women and girls, and the pressing need for protection against such abuse. They have dedicated this year's '16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence' campaign'to raise voices against online harm. While acknowledging such experiences of targeted violence, it is also important to reveal a small but persistent source of hope " the opposing end of the spectrum, where technology is being used for empowerment, not vehemence.' It is within this broader continuum of care that some observations began to take shape. Working closely with women who perform this labour in digital spaces can make one realise how emotional work is unfolding over phones and screens. All the counsellors are women " a deliberate choice rooted in the belief that majority of clients seeking SRH support may feel safer opening…...

1+ week, 3+ hour ago (513+ words) TW: Mentions of sexual assault, rape, violence, misogynistic language Members of the incel community casually employ terms and phrases that are deeply disturbing. Their language is used to dehumanize women, perpetuate misogynistic stereotypes, and normalize violence, reflecting the community's underlying opinions on women, gender, sex, and sexuality. What underlies this violent behaviour is deep-rooted misogyny and an inflated sense of male superiority. These acts of violence reveal the extremism festering within such subcultures, but what is even more disturbing is the casual acceptance of intense hatred towards women. This deep-seated animosity is most evident in the language used within the incel community. Over the next few years, the project grew into a small online community, where women, and even men, shared their feelings of loneliness with each other and sought support. Gradually, Alana started distancing herself from this community as…...

1+ week, 5+ day ago (427+ words) Naina's digital presence insulates her from the very violence that structures women's experiences in online spaces. Feminist scholars have long argued that the female body is a site of resistance as well as control. But AI avatars remove that tension altogether. Feminist scholars have long argued that the female body is a site of resistance as well as control. But AI avatars remove that tension altogether. There is no ageing or desiring body behind Naina. As bell hooks argues in Black Looks: Race and Representation, dominant visual culture turns the racialised and gendered body into a spectacle to be looked at, judged, and consumed visually. The claim that AI is the future conveniently conceals the deeper truth, that this future is being imagined, designed, and monetised by a small, privileged demographic. In that sense, Naina Avtr is merely an artefact…...

2+ week, 3+ hour ago (427+ words) Beyond the obvious rhetoric of the question, I have found myself pondering over this time and again. Spurred on by a recent experience, "fun" as a woman in India became a topic of reflection. It makes me wonder, in a country like ours where even basic access to public transport and opportunity remains abysmally low, how accessible is fun to most women? Even today, it is largely normalized for women to be at home or be in public only with a specific purpose of going somewhere. Either way, most women are indoctrinated to feel a sense of belonging only at their destinations (homes/workplaces) and never during their travels or at places of recreational outings either due to safety concerns or a general sense of exclusion. "The rhetoric of consumer citizenship has all but drowned out the faint voices that…...

2+ week, 3+ day ago (601+ words) In what appears to be the dedication of Steinbeck's East of Eden, the author writes, You came upon me carving some kind of little figure out of wood and you said, "Why don't you make something for me?" I asked you what you wanted, and you said, "A box." "To put things in." "What kind of things?" "Whatever you have," you said. Well, here's your box. Nearly everything I have is in it, and it is not full. Pain and excitement are in it, and feeling good or bad and evil thoughts and good thoughts- the pleasure of design and some despair and the indescribable joy of creation. And on top of these are all the gratitude and love I have for you. And still the box is not full." The words are tender and audacious'an artist admitting that their…...

2+ week, 5+ day ago (740+ words) Our world is one in which carelessness reigns," are the opening lines of The Care Manifesto by The Care Collective. Their words echo in today's digital world, where attention is currency and empathy often feels automated. Sociologist Beverley Skeggs once described care as the backbone of capitalist societies. It is essential to carry out the work, but it is undervalued." Content creation on sexuality education is highly gendered. Talking about pleasure, sexuality, orgasm gap, menstrual health, and gender identity, especially for women, is historically overlooked. Within the online public sphere, education on sexual health and women's pleasure reflects this age-old, undervalued labour that women do." This difference reveals how gendered norms of respectability and expertise shape the public legitimacy of sexuality educators. When women talk about sex, it violates the moral codes of modesty. Men talking about sex is not…...

2+ week, 6+ day ago (292+ words) So, when watching the recent film "Bad Girl" (Tamil, 2025, directed by Varsha Bharath), it seemed legitimate to question whether the space called women-telling-women"s-stories needs to take some bold steps forward, precisely because of the stories already being told on social media by real-life women. One is tempted to state "unpopular opinion" as a disclaimer at this point, as is often done when people go on to share relatively safe and commonplace opinions on the internet. Suffice to say, Ramya S., the protagonist of "Bad Girl", is not the bad girl she is made out to be. While the film is entertaining and well-made, it does make one wonder why Ramya is a bad girl at all. The filmmaker probably wants to make that very point: all women are bad girls in this patriarchal reality. But can the bar for being…...