Armana is the Desi doll stomping her way through New York City one runway at a time. The all-around creative (model, content creator, activist, DJ) will post a photo of her "phatty" laced with a Leak Your Sex Tape bodysuit with a caption calling for the protection of trans, queer, and refugee lives. Armana understands that online visibility is the means to an end. And in this case, the end is a world where someone can be both South Asian and queer.
We spoke to Armana about her relationship to hustling, how her cultural background shapes her work, and who really looks out for the girls.
✩ What borough are you in, and what tethers you to your neighborhood?
Honestly, I’m subleasing an apartment right now in Harlem. I’m coming back from an extended (much-needed) trip from Europe, but I am trying to move to Bushwick. A lot of queer people I know live there, and I’d feel better living around my people.
✩ If you were one of the train lines, which one would you be and why?
I would definitely be the 2 or 3 train. I’ve lived between Flatbush, Brooklyn and Harlem these past couple of years, so I’ve basically lived on the 2 train. I just didn’t pay rent for it. Or fare. Maybe.
✩ What’s your bodega deli order?
I don’t care what time of day it is, I love bacon, egg and cheese on a croissant at all times, a coconut water, plantain chips of course, and the doll lives for one of those cheese danishes.. as long as it’s the brand cloverhill. And no bodega order is complete without you flirting with the guy behind the counter. You know they live for the girls.
✩ How would you describe the artistic work that you do, and how did you get into it?
whoI’ve just always been a very creative girl. I’ve manifested and have visions of projects I want to do. I used to suppress these feelings because I never thought I was worthy of the spotlight, but now I step into the spotlight. I’m a content creator, model, DJ, but more importantly, I’m an activist for the queer South Asian community. That suppressed voice is now a force to be reckoned with.
✩ What is your cultural background, and how does it shape your art, if at all?
I’m a Pakistani American and it’s shaped my entire life. My art focuses so much on my queerness and my culture mixing because there are so many people in my community who say that both things can’t co-exist. They truly believe you can only be South Asian or queer. You can’t be both. I’m loud and proud about being both and I get attention for it because there’s so few of us out here strong enough to say we exist and we’re no longer hiding. My mission is for when I’m gone: they will no longer be able to say you can’t be both. Both exist, and she’s right here.
✩ What’s your relationship to hustling? How do you not get lost?
Unfortunately, capitalism runs the world, the rent isn’t decreasing anytime soon, and Eric Adams is still (somehow) breathing. Living in NYC, unfortunately, gives you no choice but to hustle. The girls need their nails done, we need our bills paid, we need a piece of bacon, egg, and cheese in the morning, and the systems aren’t designed for us to also get a massage. If girls like us want the luxury, we have to work that much harder for it. And if I get lost in the sauce, there’s a dispensary right around the corner (okay!)
✩ New York City is such a transient transplant town where people come from all over the world, but what’s your relationship to America overall?
After traveling overseas, it made me realize that life really doesn’t have to be this way. We don’t have to be in each other’s business. People can be kind to their city and care about its cleanliness. I’ve imagined moving to Portugal one day because I see how beautiful the people are and how they treat their country. Who knows, maybe my husband is in Europe!
Dating is horrible because everyone is DL, models succeed on how much they pass, fashion never cares for the dark-skinned plus-size models, and there are LGBTQ clubs that have been shut down for blatant racism at the front door.
✩ The city can be considered a “doll’s paradise,” where not only trans femmes can thrive in their personhood, but also in term of career, from fashion, to modeling, nightlife, etc. How true has that notion been for you, in your experience of working in the City?
NYC being a place where the dolls can live in their truth and thrive just like everyone else is the biggest lie, and people are still sipping that tea today thinking it’s real. New York is just as transphobic as your small town in Idaho. Dating is horrible because everyone is DL, models succeed on how much they pass, fashion never cares for the dark-skinned plus-size models, and there are LGBTQ clubs that have been shut down for blatant racism at the front door. You’ll be fine here if you have a strong backbone, know how to make money and keep your inner circle small.
✩ What’s your ideal get-ready routine for a night out?
First of all, I need music playing. Right now I’d be playing Amaarae, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, or Sherine. I need full control of the bathroom, I need my outfit picked out, and I need my lashes cut and ready. Honestly, I’m not a FQ without lashes.
✩ How do you go about finding community?
Wherever I am, I try to find where the girls are. No matter what city I’m in, I know if I find the dolls, there’s a girl that has my back. I can ask her where to go, what the scene is like, and most importantly, how to stay safe. No one keeps the girls safe the way the girls keep each other safe.
