Overview
Essays by an emerging writer that touch on themes of family, culture, body image, sex, and feminism
"Elias is bold, more-so she is inquisitive. . . . This book is pithy, it's smart. I'm glad it exists." —Fariha Róisín, author of Like a Bird
Essays by an emerging writer that touch on themes of family, culture, body image, sex, and feminism
Besharam roughly translates to "shameless" in Hindi. This collection from Indian writer Priya-Alika Elias is a bold, sassy, and brilliantly written book on love, dating, body image, consent, and other issues that women today relate to and men should be thinking about.
Elias reflects on, and challenges, the ideas of how women are told by society to be humble, obedient, and ashamed of their actions and desires.
Her writing is fresh, feminist, and thought-provoking, disrupting taboos and exploring what it means to be a young woman in today's world.
Reviews
"Besharam is equal parts hopeful and heartbreaking, and despite its tenderness, calls forth the kind of rage that makes you want to set the world on fire. And I hope it inspires brown girls the world over to do just that." —Electric Literature
"The word 'besharam' translates from Urdu, Hindi, and Bangla into 'shameless,' a word used widely to antagonize and keep women small, by calling them what they lack, by shaming them. Thus, for obvious reasons, there's something so punchy, so cacophonous about watching a woman speak collective uncomfortable truths, our boring cultural stigmas, by identifying the bromides that whip us into silence. Besharam by Priya-Alika Elias does exactly this. Elias is bold, more-so she is inquisitive. Speaking about the grittiness of sex, bodies, and the perils of desire—she creates space that deserves critical attention. This book is pithy, it's smart. I'm glad it exists." —Fariha Róisín, author of Like a Bird
“The bold feminist essays of
Besharam are smart, critical, and entertaining as they explore what womanhood entails in Desi and US cultures.” —
Foreword Reviews“A phenomenal debut, ideal for readers interested in women’s issues and women’s voices.” —
Library JournalAuthor Biography
Priya-Alika Elias is a lawyer and a feminist writer. Elias has written for New Republic, VICE, Gawker, Buzzfeed, Teen Vogue, Outline, Toast, McSweeney's, Vox, Ask Men, Firstpost, and Outlook. Her writings cover a range of subjects, from feminism, race, and mental illness to dating and music videos, while her essays explore universal questions through the lens of pop culture. She was named one of the "Amazing Women to Follow on the Internet" by Paper magazine in 2016.
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