Being Queer and identifying as South Asian

This theme of this episode of Masala Podcast is ‘Queer and South Asian’.I speak to three incredible people who identify as queer and South Asian. My guests are open and authentic in discussing their early lives and how they discovered their sexuality. We talk about how heteronormative and patriarchal ideologies in South Asian culture make it almost impossible for some womnx to consider an alternative. We also discuss how our culture affects our sexuality. And the fact that while we might have rejected our culture early in our lives, we’ve found our own way of picking and choosing the bits that we like from our culture.I also talk about my own experiences, growing up in a traditional Indian family, discovering and learning to love my own body, and my sexuality. Masala Podcast is a show for South Asian women, where we talk about all those things that we’re NOT supposed to talk about in our culture. Sex, sexuality, periods, menopause, mental health, shame, sexual harassment and many more taboos.My guests on this episode: Famida Islam Queer Bengali & Muslim activisit. Co-host of London’s first queer Bengali night @odbhutqueerbangle Insta: @mercury_dunAroob Sajjad A storyteller gravitating towards raw, authentic expression through performance, photography and penmanship. Insta: @aroob95  Website: https://aroobsajjad.com/ Komal Amin Actor from London. Insta: @komalamee Website: www.komalamin.com  Producer: Hana Walker-Brown Multi-Award-Winning Documentary Maker + Composer Executive Producer at Amazon Audible www.hanawalkerbrown.com  Music Credit: Sunny Robertson @sunnyrobertsonmusic  Click here to join the Soul Sutras newsletter: http://eepurl.com/gFG3oX Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Soul_Sutras Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/soulsutras/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SoulSutrasNetwork/Website: soulsutras.co.uk  Mentioned in this episode:Inspiring feminist memoir Bad DaughterBad Daughter is my story of going from Mumbai’s slums to New York’s Billboards, with a healing stopover in Kerala. But it’s your story too. It doesn’t matter where you come from, it doesn’t matter what happened to you. You still get to have the life you want. That's the message of this book. My memoir Bad Daughter is deeply personal. I talk about growing up in poverty. I talk about my father’s violence, my mother’s murder. I talk about how I turned my pain into power, navigating mental health, sexuality, spirituality & patriarchy. If you’re looking for a book to move you and inspire you to change your own life, buy this book on Amazon: https://shorturl.at/TDC7g. Or buy directly on my website: https://baddaughter.co.uk/about/ Bad Daughter is an essential feminist book, this inspirational memoir is for every woman who wants to break free. This powerful memoir is a reminder that the courage to be your authentic self can transform your own life – and the lives of those around you.