Walking down the street of Delhi as a woman is a culmination of second stares of judgement every step of the way, to be a person with sparks of sexual expression is something one has a hard time to even think of. Perhaps, this is an ordeal of more than the woman in India. Of sexual expression and basics of sex education, the education system is yet to move above the hush hush tones every time ‘that time of the month’ is alluded to and the morbid dangerous, ‘pad’, is mentioned. Say it out loud and there shall be eyes with the same second stare - god forbid, I mention the c-word. With little to no education, sex is then treated to be forbidden, which again, is a peculiar paradox for a nation in line to be the world’s most populated. The consequence? Educating oneself through unethical platforms, often either degrading to women or indifferent to them.
Students, such as us, are then fed into the narrative of what sex and sexuality is through a platform designed to feed into insecurities, patriarchal notions and more. One grows ideas of how one must look, must behave, must do - not the most ideal, is it? Dr. Tanaya recognises this.
With the world now squeezed into the virtual interface, social media such as Instagram is one where most youngsters, even adults find their answers. It has become a platform of expression of all kinds, an exchange of knowledge, definitely a victim of misinformation, toxicity and more however, a few people amongst the crowd let us have a sigh of relief.
Dr. Tanaya (@dr_cuterus), is one of those. An oxford graduate who understands the necessity of improved sexual health and wellness in India. Hopping onto the millennial trend of IGTVs, Stories, Reels & more, she makes basic sex education accessible with little censorship and no hush. Her content is fun, simple and easy to understand but above all, she answers questions that we have all been too scared to ask out loud. Oh, and she is an ally!
From breaking the patriarchal and misogynistic notion of a broken hymen determining one’s virginity to the basics of how the discolouration of your underarms are totally normal, she has become a must-follow, if we may say.
Why is this such a big deal?
For college students such as us, sex is rather normal however, we are barely educated in it. Dr. Tanaya is changing it, bringing the basics to you every single day and how! Regardless of the platform constantly curbing a woman’s free speech, calling educational content “sexual inappropriation”, being sent unsolicited pictures in her inbox of strange men, for being a woman who doesn’t embraces sexuality, she has never fallen back. Instead, she keeps going - with truth, honesty and awareness.
If perhaps, the world is to turn virtual, we might as well find what shall work positively amongst the ocean of negatives.
Find her on Instagram here!
Written By Paromita Sarkar
English Honours, Bharati College, University of Delhi
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