The Feminist Times Nov 20, 20215 min readMy Battle with Menstrual StigmaPeriod - A word that denotes a very natural biological process, where a girl or woman hasher monthly menstrual flow, which is when blood and tissue leave her body through hervagina. While having periods every month is a very normal process but it is still viewed as ataboo associated with superstitious beliefs or a topic which cannot be openly discussed inmany parts of India. Coming out of a whirlwind of many traditions, rituals, socio-culturalrestrictions, rules, there are a lot of restrictions that bind Indian women both physically aswell as mentally, and their consequences can last longer than we think.My prolonged battle against period stigma:Period rules and restrictions create nothing but shame and stigma, leading to limit the scopeof opportunities for a lot of young women, be it educational opportunities or else wise . Thisshame and stigma created around menstruation is passed on from generations togenerations till date. This stigma ultimately creates a kind of struggle with our own bodies asmuch as our basic human rights. I fought such a similar battle against menstruation stigma inmy childhood as well as my early teens. I remember when I had my first period at the age of11 I was still a kid who had no idea about whatever was going on with her. I remember beingconfused searching for answers when I was not being told or educated about anything inproper details to me.I was just told to follow all the rituals and rules without questioning them for half an entiremonth whilst so many new things were happening with me, with my body, and everywherearound me. The changes in my body were new and were confusing me with what washappening with me. Along with all the confusion, also came life-wrecking unbearable crampsin my lower belly and lingering body cramps that often refused to go away for nights andprolonged days. And in such bodily pain, I had to spend almost 14 days to half a month in aseparate room other than my bedroom in my own house and was made to sleep on the floor.I was also made to avoid eating some particular food which included avoiding eating some ofmy favourite food items. I was not allowed to go to other rooms or touch any thing other thanmy temporary bed on the floor and the utensils that I was provided food in. I was not allowedto touch my belongings and was not allowed to wear certain clothes as well.On menarches, period rituals and patriarchal restrictions that makes girls missopportunities:In order to follow the ‘so-called rituals’, I was also not allowed to step out of my home or goanywhere but spend half a month within four walls of the house as if I was totally deprived ofmy freedom and liberty to do anything that I wanted. I also had to miss my school and skipmy classes for half a month. For a young kid like me that I was back then, first skippingschool came as an exciting news since missing school meant I did not have to do anyhomework for days, but it did not take me long to realise the amount of opportunities andimportance of classes as well as education that I was missing on because of the isolationthat I was put into. I soon started to get fed up of the uncomfortable daily days on the coldfloor, doing nothing but laying down uncomfortably on floor in immense abdominal pain andbody ache, confusion, waiting to be free again and live a normal life again with my libertyback to myself, where i can touch things other than the floor and my temporary bed on floorand where I don’t have to feel isolated and be fearful of breaking any rule or anything.All of this is disheartening enough? Raging enough? What is more disheartening is that Ihave to follow some of the same rituals till date like not going to kitchen, sleeping in separateroom, in a separate temporary bed on the floor, not touching anything important.Amusing enough? Or maybe not? Because all of this has happened with many of us, most ofus and it continues happening with many of us till date. So unfortunately, it might seemsomewhat normal to some people. It has been normalised in such a way in somehouseholds that mostly if someone questions these rituals then they are often unheard andeducation, healthy discussions about the topic of periods often misses its place in schoolcurriculums, household spaces among elder family members. Be it urban or rural places, thegenerational stigmas knows no boundaries.How is it impacting our health?Such isolation, mental pressure and unscientific logic behind the period rituals often affectphysical health as well as mental health of young girls and women. I personally had to gothrough the same isolation every month if I lived at home, due to the COVID-19 restrictionsas well as absence of offline classes, my stay at home has been prolonged than ever, whichmeans following the period rules of isolation every month without fail.People in rural areas who still use clothes instead of sanitary napkins during their periodscan be infected with urinary tract infections (UTIs) and other problems for using clothes,sand, etc. Every social grouping in the world has specific traditional cultural practices andbeliefs, some of which are harmful to a specific group, such as women and other minorities.Harmful traditional practices are carried out till date in different countries of the world such asAfrica, where practices such as female genital mutilation (FGM); forced feeding of women;early marriage; the various taboos or practices which prevent women from controlling theirown fertility; nutritional taboos and traditional birth practices; early pregnancy are shadowingthe overall development of women population living there.Menarche and gender expectations are interrelated:Women’s identities are constructed and connected to the social construction andconceptions of motherhood and reproductive viability. An adolescent girl’s menarche (firstmenstruation) is a ‘social marker’ or social acceptance of a girl’s entry into womanhood. Thesubjective experience of menarche is not only important for understanding adolescents’ first-hand viewpoint, but also important from a societal standpoint for understanding howmenarche is treated as an opportunity to reinforce gender expectations and roles.How can we fight it together?Menstrual practices and beliefs are often constructed from gender, religion and culture. Itreaffirms the need for equal human rights for women and men in society and in the familyspaces. Blind adherence to these superstitious practices and state inaction with regard tothese customs and traditions have made possible large-scale inequality against women. Itobliges state parties, calls for government initiatives to take action against the social causesof gender inequality, menstrual hygiene and management; and it calls for the elimination oflaws, stereotypes, practices and prejudices that impair women's well-being. It calls for us asa society to move forward from harmful traditions such as Chhaupadi where women andyoung girls are made to leave their house temporarily and are made to live in a makeshiftdwelling known as a menstruation hut with full isolation and lack of hygiene, for theduration of their period.Access to education by itself is not enough to eliminate blind values held by society, for suchvalues are in most countries are deeply entrenched and passed on since generations aftergenerations. There should be awareness programmes in schools and societies that shedslight on existing social discriminations, deep-rooted cultural and religious superstitionsamong women, debunking the menstrual myths for people and young students, sheds lighton gender inequalities and on why is it high time to stop such rituals, stereotypes indifferent areas of the country, both rural and urban. Gender sensitisation sessions andworkshops, creation of safe spaces, awareness around menstrual hygiene andmanagement, need for gender neutral washrooms for non-binary students, accessibility tofree period products such as tampons and pads for both female students and for otherpeople belonging to different minority genders who menstruate should be made available indifferent workplaces and most importantly in higher primary schools so that the studentsdon’t have to drop out of school because of lack of sanitary napkins and other necessitiesduring their monthly periods. Targeted education and awareness is what we need to makechanges and balance between cultural and social practices during menstruation.Literacy rate has grown leaps and bounds in India over the past couple of years, buthowever a large population remains unaware and uneducated about menstrual hygiene andawareness, propelled forward by a pandemic that had children and young students learningmore on their screens and less inside classrooms.- Pallabi Dutta
Period - A word that denotes a very natural biological process, where a girl or woman hasher monthly menstrual flow, which is when blood and tissue leave her body through hervagina. While having periods every month is a very normal process but it is still viewed as ataboo associated with superstitious beliefs or a topic which cannot be openly discussed inmany parts of India. Coming out of a whirlwind of many traditions, rituals, socio-culturalrestrictions, rules, there are a lot of restrictions that bind Indian women both physically aswell as mentally, and their consequences can last longer than we think.My prolonged battle against period stigma:Period rules and restrictions create nothing but shame and stigma, leading to limit the scopeof opportunities for a lot of young women, be it educational opportunities or else wise . Thisshame and stigma created around menstruation is passed on from generations togenerations till date. This stigma ultimately creates a kind of struggle with our own bodies asmuch as our basic human rights. I fought such a similar battle against menstruation stigma inmy childhood as well as my early teens. I remember when I had my first period at the age of11 I was still a kid who had no idea about whatever was going on with her. I remember beingconfused searching for answers when I was not being told or educated about anything inproper details to me.I was just told to follow all the rituals and rules without questioning them for half an entiremonth whilst so many new things were happening with me, with my body, and everywherearound me. The changes in my body were new and were confusing me with what washappening with me. Along with all the confusion, also came life-wrecking unbearable crampsin my lower belly and lingering body cramps that often refused to go away for nights andprolonged days. And in such bodily pain, I had to spend almost 14 days to half a month in aseparate room other than my bedroom in my own house and was made to sleep on the floor.I was also made to avoid eating some particular food which included avoiding eating some ofmy favourite food items. I was not allowed to go to other rooms or touch any thing other thanmy temporary bed on the floor and the utensils that I was provided food in. I was not allowedto touch my belongings and was not allowed to wear certain clothes as well.On menarches, period rituals and patriarchal restrictions that makes girls missopportunities:In order to follow the ‘so-called rituals’, I was also not allowed to step out of my home or goanywhere but spend half a month within four walls of the house as if I was totally deprived ofmy freedom and liberty to do anything that I wanted. I also had to miss my school and skipmy classes for half a month. For a young kid like me that I was back then, first skippingschool came as an exciting news since missing school meant I did not have to do anyhomework for days, but it did not take me long to realise the amount of opportunities andimportance of classes as well as education that I was missing on because of the isolationthat I was put into. I soon started to get fed up of the uncomfortable daily days on the coldfloor, doing nothing but laying down uncomfortably on floor in immense abdominal pain andbody ache, confusion, waiting to be free again and live a normal life again with my libertyback to myself, where i can touch things other than the floor and my temporary bed on floorand where I don’t have to feel isolated and be fearful of breaking any rule or anything.All of this is disheartening enough? Raging enough? What is more disheartening is that Ihave to follow some of the same rituals till date like not going to kitchen, sleeping in separateroom, in a separate temporary bed on the floor, not touching anything important.Amusing enough? Or maybe not? Because all of this has happened with many of us, most ofus and it continues happening with many of us till date. So unfortunately, it might seemsomewhat normal to some people. It has been normalised in such a way in somehouseholds that mostly if someone questions these rituals then they are often unheard andeducation, healthy discussions about the topic of periods often misses its place in schoolcurriculums, household spaces among elder family members. Be it urban or rural places, thegenerational stigmas knows no boundaries.How is it impacting our health?Such isolation, mental pressure and unscientific logic behind the period rituals often affectphysical health as well as mental health of young girls and women. I personally had to gothrough the same isolation every month if I lived at home, due to the COVID-19 restrictionsas well as absence of offline classes, my stay at home has been prolonged than ever, whichmeans following the period rules of isolation every month without fail.People in rural areas who still use clothes instead of sanitary napkins during their periodscan be infected with urinary tract infections (UTIs) and other problems for using clothes,sand, etc. Every social grouping in the world has specific traditional cultural practices andbeliefs, some of which are harmful to a specific group, such as women and other minorities.Harmful traditional practices are carried out till date in different countries of the world such asAfrica, where practices such as female genital mutilation (FGM); forced feeding of women;early marriage; the various taboos or practices which prevent women from controlling theirown fertility; nutritional taboos and traditional birth practices; early pregnancy are shadowingthe overall development of women population living there.Menarche and gender expectations are interrelated:Women’s identities are constructed and connected to the social construction andconceptions of motherhood and reproductive viability. An adolescent girl’s menarche (firstmenstruation) is a ‘social marker’ or social acceptance of a girl’s entry into womanhood. Thesubjective experience of menarche is not only important for understanding adolescents’ first-hand viewpoint, but also important from a societal standpoint for understanding howmenarche is treated as an opportunity to reinforce gender expectations and roles.How can we fight it together?Menstrual practices and beliefs are often constructed from gender, religion and culture. Itreaffirms the need for equal human rights for women and men in society and in the familyspaces. Blind adherence to these superstitious practices and state inaction with regard tothese customs and traditions have made possible large-scale inequality against women. Itobliges state parties, calls for government initiatives to take action against the social causesof gender inequality, menstrual hygiene and management; and it calls for the elimination oflaws, stereotypes, practices and prejudices that impair women's well-being. It calls for us asa society to move forward from harmful traditions such as Chhaupadi where women andyoung girls are made to leave their house temporarily and are made to live in a makeshiftdwelling known as a menstruation hut with full isolation and lack of hygiene, for theduration of their period.Access to education by itself is not enough to eliminate blind values held by society, for suchvalues are in most countries are deeply entrenched and passed on since generations aftergenerations. There should be awareness programmes in schools and societies that shedslight on existing social discriminations, deep-rooted cultural and religious superstitionsamong women, debunking the menstrual myths for people and young students, sheds lighton gender inequalities and on why is it high time to stop such rituals, stereotypes indifferent areas of the country, both rural and urban. Gender sensitisation sessions andworkshops, creation of safe spaces, awareness around menstrual hygiene andmanagement, need for gender neutral washrooms for non-binary students, accessibility tofree period products such as tampons and pads for both female students and for otherpeople belonging to different minority genders who menstruate should be made available indifferent workplaces and most importantly in higher primary schools so that the studentsdon’t have to drop out of school because of lack of sanitary napkins and other necessitiesduring their monthly periods. Targeted education and awareness is what we need to makechanges and balance between cultural and social practices during menstruation.Literacy rate has grown leaps and bounds in India over the past couple of years, buthowever a large population remains unaware and uneducated about menstrual hygiene andawareness, propelled forward by a pandemic that had children and young students learningmore on their screens and less inside classrooms.- Pallabi Dutta
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