Period. WHAT?
The first time I heard of “menstruation stigma” I didn’t know how deep-rooted it was in our society. I live in a city where menstruation is not much of an issue.
I experienced it for the first time when I visited my friends’ native place. I saw a girl sitting in a corner, waiting for food. The food was served in a different way too, then the plate was pushed from one corner of the room to another, to reach the girl. I was so confused! I didn’t know what was happening, that’s when my friend nudged me to let it go, she said she’ll explain it later.
I experienced it for the first time when I visited my friends’ native place. I saw a girl sitting in a corner, waiting for food. The food was served in a different way too, then the plate was pushed from one corner of the room to another, to reach the girl. I was so confused! I didn’t know what was happening, that’s when my friend nudged me to let it go, she said she’ll explain it later.
That incident occupied my mind for the rest of the day. And then my friend said, “that girl is on her period”. I couldn’t comprehend, my first reflexive reply was “So?”
That’s when the whole social stigma related to periods came to life for me and I understood the gravity of the situation.
“Women in rural India are treated as impure when they are bleeding, they’re not allowed to talk or touch anyone, their utensils are different, they are kept in a different room and they are not allowed to go inside temples!” My friend told me. “They use a cloth as sanitary napkins because their families can’t afford it. If the cloth is not washed properly, it can cause urinary tract infections!” I was clueless about this. What if the girl hides the fact that she’s bleeding, what happens then? I asked her. But the fact that girls are impure during that time is drilled to such an extent in the minds of everyone that the girl herself will not touch her mum when she’s bleeding!
I was bummed! I had no clue what other women were going through! The worst thing was that those females thought it was okay, when it was far from okay. I wanted to know more, so I started reading. And the things that I found left me thinking and in search of words.
The families that I interacted with could afford cloth and hence used cloth as a sanitary napkin. But families living in extremely poor conditions, where fabric is a luxury, guess what they must be using. They use ash and dried leaves! ASH! and DRIED LEAVES!
Can you imagine keeping ash in your underwear?!
The worst - these women think it is okay for them to use ash! It is okay for them to be treated as impure! And this is where the problem is. In this patriarchal society, women think it is okay for the men to mistreat them!
That’s what the women of our country go through, along with other things! And they still stand strong. A very sad but true reality.
The only way to stop this is to educate the women of our country, to remind them of their worth and tell them no man can mistreat them, that menstruation is one of the most beautiful things in the world!
That’s when the whole social stigma related to periods came to life for me and I understood the gravity of the situation.
“Women in rural India are treated as impure when they are bleeding, they’re not allowed to talk or touch anyone, their utensils are different, they are kept in a different room and they are not allowed to go inside temples!” My friend told me. “They use a cloth as sanitary napkins because their families can’t afford it. If the cloth is not washed properly, it can cause urinary tract infections!” I was clueless about this. What if the girl hides the fact that she’s bleeding, what happens then? I asked her. But the fact that girls are impure during that time is drilled to such an extent in the minds of everyone that the girl herself will not touch her mum when she’s bleeding!
I was bummed! I had no clue what other women were going through! The worst thing was that those females thought it was okay, when it was far from okay. I wanted to know more, so I started reading. And the things that I found left me thinking and in search of words.
The families that I interacted with could afford cloth and hence used cloth as a sanitary napkin. But families living in extremely poor conditions, where fabric is a luxury, guess what they must be using. They use ash and dried leaves! ASH! and DRIED LEAVES!
Can you imagine keeping ash in your underwear?!
The worst - these women think it is okay for them to use ash! It is okay for them to be treated as impure! And this is where the problem is. In this patriarchal society, women think it is okay for the men to mistreat them!
That’s what the women of our country go through, along with other things! And they still stand strong. A very sad but true reality.
The only way to stop this is to educate the women of our country, to remind them of their worth and tell them no man can mistreat them, that menstruation is one of the most beautiful things in the world!
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