Ultra Violet is a place for Indian feminists. It’s a place for sharing stories and views and questions. It’s a place for exploration, opinion and information. It’s a place where we can come together to understand what other feminists around the country–or around the world–are saying. If you want to write for UV, please read this. More about UV here.

We’re Talking About…

June 30, 2009

The Fear of Feminism

ON A RECENT VISIT to a Ivy League university in the US with scholars from across the Global South, we came across something strange. A book on feminism from its library had a bizarre tag pasted on it. The tag was brought to our notice by Elizabeth Weed, one of the editors of the acclaimed [...]

June 18, 2009

Feminist feed: links and a shout-out

India blacklisted for human trafficking.
Devaki Jain weighs in on the Women’s Bill.
Domestic abuse plagues India’s upper crust. What they mean is not only, but also.
Katha Pollitt on why different generations of feminists should stop fighting each other.
WTF news: Working women caused the global recession.
WTF news: The maid is to blame. The Shiney Ahuja case sure [...]

December 04, 2008

Voices in my head

By Niveditha Menon
A few weeks ago, UV was agog with discussions about the lack of clarity around a very important issue. Frankly, I found the suggestions for greater clarity of position unproblematic. It is definitely useful to be able to name things. And yet, I thought, the point of the post was the very inability [...]

September 08, 2008

Striking the Fine Balance

THE PRESSURE TO WRITE has been mounting. Guilt at not writing has been increasing steadily. But as a not-so-young mother of a small child, I am continually battling either illness of some sort or domestic issues which mean a series of chores! Add a demanding job to the mix. Sleepless nights, throbbing sciatic nerve, acidity [...]

August 18, 2008

Same-Sex Love: In Conversation with Dr Ruth Vanita

DR RUTH VANITA (b.1955), is a renowned academic and author specializing in lesbian and gay studies. Some of her acclaimed books include Queering India: Same-Sex Love and Eroticism in Indian Culture and Society (2002), Love’s Rite: Same-Sex Marriage in India and the West (2005), and Gandhi’s Tiger and Sita’s Smile: Essays on Gender, Sexuality and [...]

August 12, 2008

Feminism ‘Unlimited’

I VOLUNTEERED TO HELP at the Jaipur Film Festival and one of the films I liked most was UnLimited Girls by Paromita Vohra, which is being touted as India’s first feminist film. UnLimited Girls humorously explores engagements with feminism in contemporary India and is a must-see for those participating in this blog. Whoever said [...]

August 04, 2008

UPDATED! The Many Faces of an Indian Feminist

EVER SINCE WE started Ultra Violet, we’ve had like-minded folks visiting us, identifying themselves as feminists, supporting the cause, sharing, questioning, and playing devil’s advocate. Which is when it occurred to me that there are so many of you out there who have a point of view but not necessarily the space to air it, [...]

July 07, 2008

Feminism Remixed: An Article by Ammu Joseph

By Ammu Joseph
Originally published in VERVE (http://www.verveonline.com/), Volume 16, Issue 6, June, 2008

“You wonder why I say I’m feminist

Don’t I know that’s out of style?
Don’t I see when people don’t challenge me
Just shake their heads and smile?

You wonder why I say I am feminist
And what it really means.
Don’t I get fed up all the time
Of [...]

June 29, 2008

‘Feminism Remixed’

AN UV UPDATE: Ammu Joseph challenges the notion that feminism is passé on Verve and talks about UV in her story…
The ongoing change is evident in India, too. Take, for example, Ultra Violet, a blog initiated last year by young feminists across the country wishing to express themselves on a wide range of ‘issues, challenges, [...]

April 21, 2008

This is What a Feminist Looks Like

JUST POPPED IN to post this video from the Feminist Majority Foundation. The word ‘feminist’ comes with so much baggage and this is such a cool, smart way to dispel some ridiculous notions. It’s a simple concept but by visually representing the diverse kinds of people who are feminists, it busts some of the myths [...]