Menstruation

As a female teenager brought up in India, I have witnessed the pervasive taboo surrounding menstrual health and the lack of knowledge and hygiene products among underprivileged menstruators. Menstrual health is a serious as well as a neglected topic in our country. But I believe today's youth have the potential to bring the change needed. No more taboos and no more hush let's be vocal about periods.

Ever since my childhood, society has tried to impose certain restrictions on me such as, "That's not the way how girls laugh", "Walk like girls", "Don't speak loudly", etc were some of their famous dialogues. When puberty struck, they came with a new set of dialogues, "Don't enter the temple during those days", "Don't talk to your father or brother about it", "Wrap it in black polythene" and a lot more.

As a child, I believed and practised the superstitions surrounding menstruation but as I grew up and educated myself, I stopped. Being someone who comes from a well-educated family, even I was not immune to the superstitions that revolve around this topic and that makes me worried about the underprivileged and rural sections of the society. The fact that a huge section of our society still looks at menstruation as something shameful and considers menstruators as impure is sad.

The root cause of the problem is not talking about the menstrual cycle openly, hiding the menstrual products, etc because of which a huge section of menstruators in our society are uneducated about it and can't even get access to basic hygiene products during their periods to maintain proper menstrual hygiene. I know many menstruators who still use clothes instead of pads, yes their reasons are different, some can't afford it, some aren't educated enough about it.

I remember telling my maid about pads and she asked me about the price so I gave her a rough idea and she was like "Itne mein toh dus din ki sabzi aa jayegi, hamare liye kapda hi sahi hai.", ( Translation: We can buy vegetables for ten days in this much amount, clothes are better for us). It's quite terrifying how knowing proper facts about menstruation and getting access to period products is still considered a luxury in today's world.

Menstrual infections are real and dangerous. We need to understand poor menstrual hygiene can even lead to deaths. Eradication of myths and taboos that are rooted in our society regarding periods could be the first step towards it. Normalise menstruation talks. Let menstruators freely share their experiences, the pain and trauma they go through 7 days every month (or maybe more in many cases).

It's high time we stop treating periods as some disease or something disgusting. Menstruation is a normal biological process. Your whole existence depends on this very process. Menstrual stigma is a severe problem in our society that needs to be ended as soon as possible. Menstrual equity is very much important. All menstruators deserve equal access to proper period products and normalising menstruation talks could be the very first step towards it. I strongly believe menstruation taboos elimination will lead to the elimination of period poverty!

And to all the menstruators reading this, educate your non-menstruator friends about it. Tell them it's nothing to be ashamed of, it is as normal as breathing. Period blood isn't impure. And next time when you go to buy sanitary pads doesn't cover them in newspapers or black polythene. It is no longer a women's topic but it is a humanity topic.

Together we can make it a better place for all menstruators.

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