Leeza Mangaldas is an Indian sex educator, videographer, podcaster, author, and actress. Her work focuses on female sexuality. [1] She is the author of the 2022 nonfiction educational book The Sex Book: A Joyful Journey of Self Discovery.
Mangaldas was born in Bangalore, India. [2] Her father is an architect and her mother is an interior designer and photographer. [3] She grew up in Goa and attended high school in Kodaikanal. [3] She studied English literature and visual art at Columbia University in New York, including in classes taught by Gauri Viswanathan, and graduated in 2011. [3] [4] After graduation, she moved to Mumbai. [3]
While based in Mumbai, Mangaldas worked as an actress and was a co-founder of Evoke India, [5] an organization curating speaker events. [6] [7] She had a lead role in the 2014 film W , about sexual violence against women in India. [2] [8] She also wrote a 2013 opinion article noted by The Indian Express to address themes in the film about shame and self-blame by survivors. [9]
While working as a newscaster, and with experience as a reporter that included the Indian Super League, [10] [11] [12] Mangaldas began independently posting sex education videos in 2017 on YouTube in English to help address what she felt was "a lack of easily accessible information and non-judgemental platforms to share questions and experiences, and obtain facts and resources pertaining to sex, sexuality, gender, sexual health, relationships, and the body." [13] [3] [4]
After success creating content on YouTube and Instagram, this became her full-time occupation in 2018. [4] During the COVID-19 pandemic in India, she also began creating videos in Hindi. [14] In 2021, she began the podcast Love Matters, produced by The Indian Express and Deutsche Welle. [15] In December 2021, she began the Hindi sex education podcast The Sex Podcast with Leeza Mangaldas on Spotify. [16] [4] [17] In 2023, Meta, the company operating Instagram, restricted several Indian sex education content creators' accounts—including that of Mangaldas, who then deleted some of her content to avoid restrictions after an unsuccessful appeal. [18]
In 2022 Mangaldas founded a sexual wellness brand called Leezu's which sells massagers and lubricants. [19]
Mangaldas is a member of The Pleasure Project, an NGO that has worked alongside the World Health Organization to research sexual health. [20] [21]
In October 2022, Mangaldas published her first book The Sex Book: A Joyful Journey of Self-Discovery with Harper Collins, and released an audio version on Audible. [22] [23] Scroll.in described the book as "scientifically oriented" [24] and The Hindu described the book as "an invaluable sex-education manual that helps readers navigate and celebrate their bodies, identities and relationships." [25] According to Vogue India, "Far from the grim scientific jargon and convoluted infographics of a biology textbook, The Sex Book is a breezy read. Mangaldas is like a good friend [...] No question is too stupid, no concern too small." [23]
Dia Mirza Rekhi is an Indian actress who works in Hindi films. She won the title of Miss Asia Pacific International in 2000 after being crowned Femina Miss India Asia Pacific 2000. She made her acting debut with the Hindi film Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein (2001).
Sriti Jha is an Indian television actress. She earned wider recognition with her portrayal of Pragya Arora Mehra in Kumkum Bhagya. In 2022, she participated in the reality shows Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi 12 and Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 10.
Pornography in India is restricted and illegal in all form including print media, electronic media, and digital media (OTT). Hosting, displaying, uploading, modifying, publishing, transmitting, storing, updating or sharing pornography is illegal in India.
Dr. Vartika Nanda is an Indian prison reformer and a media educator. With her experience of the industry and academia, she has dedicated her life to the cause of prison reform. She is a recipient of Stree Shakti Puraskar, the highest civilian honour for female empowerment in India and entered Limca Book of Records twice.
Aditi Mangaldas is a Kathak dancer and choreographer, who is known for her classical Kathak as well as 'contemporary dance based on kathak" repertoire. Mangaldas is hailed as one of the leading dancers in the field of Kathak in India as well as across the world.
Rakul Preet Singh is an Indian actress who predominantly works in Hindi, Telugu and Tamil films. She has won several awards including a South Indian International Movie Award, in addition to four nominations at the Filmfare Awards South.
Alia Bhatt is a British actress of Indian descent who predominantly works in Hindi films. Known for her portrayals of women in troubling circumstances, she has received several accolades, including a National Film Award and six Filmfare Awards. One of India's highest-paid actresses, she has appeared in Forbes India's Celebrity 100 list since 2014 and was awarded the Time100 Impact Award in 2022.
Malini Agarwal, also known as MissMalini, is an Indian digital influencer, TV host, entrepreneur, and author. She began her career as a radio jockey at Radio One in Mumbai, India, and later served as the head of digital content for Channel [v] India. In 2008, she established her blog, MissMalini.com, where she covers topics related to Bollywood, Indian television, fashion, beauty, and lifestyle. Aside from radio and her blog, she has also guest anchored several television shows, including CNN-IBN's Tech Toyz and UTV Bindass' Style Police, as well as several seasons of her own show, MissMalini's World on TLC, Inside Access with MissMalini on Vh1 Kya Scene Hai on Zoom, Feet Up With the Stars on Voot.
Sobhita Dhulipala is an Indian actress who works in Hindi, Malayalam, Tamil, and Telugu films. She won the Femina Miss India Earth 2013 title at Femina Miss India 2013 pageant and represented India at Miss Earth 2013. Dhulipala made her acting debut in Anurag Kashyap's Raman Raghav 2.0 (2016) and subsequently played the lead role in the Amazon Prime Video drama series Made in Heaven (2019–2023).
W is a 2014 Indian Hindi-language musical thriller film about sexual violence against women in India. The film is directed by Tarun Madan Chopra, based on a script written by Daboo Sardar Malik and Tarun Madan Chopra. The movie starred Leeza Mangaldas, Leslie Tripathy, Sonal Giani, Raaj Singh Arora, Abhey Jit Attri and Danish Pandor. It had a limited release in theatres.
Lindsey Takara Doe is a sexologist, sex educator, and host of Sexplanations on YouTube.
Suzannah Weiss is a feminist writer and sexologist. She has written for publications including The New York Times, The Washington Post, and New York Magazine and edited for Teen Vogue, Complex, and Vice. She is the author of Subjectified: Becoming a Sexual Subject, which details her journey toward sexual empowerment and lays out a framework for moving beyond the objectification of women.
Prajakta Koli, known for her YouTube Channel MostlySane, is an Indian YouTuber and actress who makes comedy videos. Her videos are focused mostly on observational comedy related to daily life situations. She is also known for her lead role in the Netflix romantic drama Mismatched.
Shreya Dhanwanthary is an Indian actress who appears in Hindi films and television shows. She got her big break in 2019 as she played Zoya in the Amazon Prime Video web series The Family Man and later gained widespread critical acclaim for her portrayal of journalist Sucheta Dalal in Sony LIV's web series Scam 1992 (2020).
Cari Elise Fletcher, known mononymously by her last name, is an American pop singer. Her breakthrough single "Undrunk" was released in January 2019 and became her first single to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, and reached number one on Spotify's Viral Chart in the United States. "Undrunk" was released on her second extended play You Ruined New York City for Me, and according to Mediabase, the song was the fastest-rising song at pop radio for a new artist since 2014.
Patruni Sastry, popularly known as Patruni Chidananda Sastry or Suffocated art Specimen is a Expressionist dancer, performance artist, visual artist, model and drag queen.
Emily Nagoski is an American sex educator and researcher, and author of books including Come as You Are. She is the former director of wellness education at Smith College, where she taught a course on women's sexuality.
Sara Nasserzadeh is an Iranian-American social psychologist, public speaker and author. She is known mostly for her educational programs on BBC World Service and Persian TV on human sexuality and relationships. She received the BBC’s Innovation of the Year Award in 2007 and was among the BBC Persian 100 Influential Women. Nasserzadeh received the People of Distinction Humanitarian Award in New York City in 2014. She is also a winner of AASECT Book Award and AASECT Professional Standard of Excellence Award.
Agents of Ishq is an Indian website about sexuality, love and desire. It was founded in 2014 by filmmaker, writer and artist Paromita Vohra, whose aim was to "create a positive and enabling conversation around sex", including different sexual orientations. The website is run by Parodevi Pictures, an independent media and arts company based in Mumbai.
Tanaya Narendra, popularly known as Dr. Cuterus, is an Indian sexual health educator, doctor, embryologist, and scientist.