Talking Bodies and Sexualities

Bivishika Bhandari begins from the difficulty of speaking plainly about bodies and sexualities in Nepal. Euphemism and silence are often defended as modesty, but they also limit access to health information, make harassment harder to name, and teach women to experience their own anatomy through embarrassment. Conversation becomes a material feminist resource rather than a matter of personal openness alone.

Her work links bodily knowledge with livelihood and public participation. Women cannot exercise autonomy if reproductive health, menstruation, desire, and violence remain unspeakable, nor if economic dependence makes refusal dangerous. Community programs, performance, and women-led enterprise can create settings where discussion is attached to practical support rather than isolated awareness.

The language of empowerment should still be tested against caste, class, disability, rural access, and queer or trans experience; not everyone gains safety simply by speaking. The talk’s strongest contribution is to reject silence as culturally neutral. What cannot be named is difficult to contest. Feminist education must therefore build both vocabulary and conditions of protection, so that speaking about the body expands choice instead of exposing individuals to punishment.