Being Child Free, Sexual Pleasure and Sex Education in India With Leeza Mangaldas
In this episode, Hannah is joined by Leeza Mangaldas, who is one of India’s foremost digital content creators focused on discourse around sex, sexuality, sexual health, pleasure, and the body. Leeza discusses her own non-existent experience of sex education growing up in India but how having a family who were open about sex and bodies helped her feel safe to talk about it, as well as the stigma that still surrounds women’s sexuality and bodily autonomy in India and how she is using her platform to talk about sexual pleasure. She and Hannah talk about 100 Stories of Pleasure, a platform Leeza created to celebrate the stories of women and queer people’s pleasure, and the importance of sharing examples of joy instead of only narratives about shame and fear. Finally, Leeza speaks about her choice to be child free, navigating the pressure of Indian culture to become a wife and mother, and why she wants to hear more nuanced presentations of motherhood, rather than just always putting it on a pedestal.
Read the episode transcript here!
QUESTIONS FROM LISTENERS
Who are some Indian sex activists that are pushing boundaries?
I tried to give cunnilingus to my girlfriend, but she denies it. How should I explain that I want to give pleasure.
How do you trust your own mind about not wanting kids and not feeling bad about that?
What to tell your parents when they say "Just wait, someday you'll have children"?
USEFUL LINKS
This Be The Verse by Philip Larkin
Kali Sudhra
MORE ABOUT LEEZA MANGALDAS
Leeza Mangaldas is one of India’s foremost digital content creators focused on discourse around sex, sexuality, sexual health, pleasure, and the body. Given how shrouded in stigma sex remains, Leeza started creating Sex Education content on YouTube and Instagram in 2017, with the intention to normalize these conversations. She now also has a popular Hindi podcast exclusively on Spotify called The Sex Podcast with Leeza Mangaldas that provides scientifically accurate, judgement free answers to commonly asked sex questions in a bite sized audio format. From consent to contraception, from masturbation to orgasms, she constantly seeks to push boundaries approaching important topics that are widely considered taboo for public discussion. Leeza is a recipient of The Pleasure Project’s Pleasure Fellowship this year. She was named one of GQ’s 25 Most Influential Young Indians in 2021. She was also the recipient of the Google x SheThePeople Digital Women Award for Content.
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