Menstruation as a Constraint,By- Alabhyaa Bhambri

Remember that workshop regarding menstrual awareness where only the girls of the school were allowed and boys were prohibited to attend? Well that is not supported here, so, everyone is welcome to read this article irrespective of their gender.

For decades, centuries, even milleniums, women have been told to keep a secret legacy. In fact, it was after the bollywood movie Padman that people started addressing this issue, and indeed, we have come quite far with the progress but a lot is yet to be done.

PROBLEMS FACED BY THE PRIVILEGED WOMEN

The constraints faced by economically well sections of the society include common things such as: not being allowed to play during periods or when women are told, “Is it that time of the month?” just for being angry with something or being told to hide sanitary pads in a black polythene/khaki paper bag. I remember hearing this story from one of my acquaintances about how she got her periods on a school trip, and thankfully she had some sanitary napkins with her but when her guy friends rang the doorbell of their room in order to check out the room and facilities, she and her roommates quickly went to hide the sanitary pads (unused). That is not all; in her one week trip she finished all of her sanitary pads in 5 days and then the girls asked for extra sanitary pads in the hotel but found none, they took special permission from their in charges to go to the market to buy some. Now this anecdote seems to be wrong on quite a few levels. Firstly, they shouldn’t have to hide their sanitary pads from their friends, it needs to be normalised. Afterall, everybody knows the phenomena and science behind periods and if they don’t, they need to, it is the surety of the tendency to continue human life! Second, the fact that the hotel facility didn’t have a spare pack of sanitary pads seems to be unfair, seeing that it is just a part of hygiene.

The role of the corporate world and advertisement is quite impactful. “Short, Shorter, Shortest” is a Tampax commercial in the UK, focused on the concept of being able to wear whatever you want during your period, emphasising their new, inconspicuous style of wrapping and emblazoning the word "Shhhhh..." across the screen. Due to which, many people who were unaware of the phenomenon of menstruation thought that a blue liquid is released during menses.

PROBLEMS FACED BY UNDERPRIVILEGED WOMEN

Now, emphasising on the issues faced by the women residing in economically weaker sections of the society, there is a lot of evidence which shows that many rural women still use cloth instead of sanitary pads. And even though there are various NGOs and volunteer organisations which work towards menstrual hygiene awareness, many inaccessible regions are still unaware about the use and benefits of pads over cloth. With the help of these organisations the people who became aware and were educated about the usage of sanitaries were not capable of purchasing them. In Scotland, sanitary napkins are available in public restrooms, universities and restaurant washrooms for free. Not only sanitary napkins but tampons are also available to maintain menstrual hygiene in an attempt to fight period poverty. Such implementations are required worldwide.

PROBLEMS FACED BY WOMEN IN GENERAL

A few common constraints faced by all the women are the prohibitions applied on menstruating women belonging to Judaism, Islam and Hinduism. Jewish scripture dictates and I quote that “she shall be in her impurity for 7 days, and whoever touches her shall be unclean until the evening”(Leviticus 15:19). Islamic law also imposes physical contact restrictions on menstruating women. The Qur’an (2:222) reads “Say it is an illness, so let women alone at such times and go not into them till they are cleansed.” According to traditional Hindu belief, it is the menstruating woman herself that is polluted. Focusing on how these cultures consider women to be impure for 1 week and declare them as untouchable raises the issue of menstrual isolation. Not only this, but multiple times, the actions of a woman portraying anger or rage are considered or often confused by the period mood swings(PMS).

Menstruation taboos and a lack of education have had a lot of real, detrimental effects on girls' daily lives. Due to a lack of information and awareness about their own bodies as a result of attaining first menstruation and puberty without enough emotional support and resources, future sexual and reproductive health has been proven to be significantly impacted. The stigma around menstruation also results in a lack of awareness and choice among young people of reusable menstrual products, and hence keeps them from various options available to them when it comes to their own bodies.

To attain the goal of normalisation of menstruation and breaking the stigma around it,change is required not only in schools, but also at homes and throughout society.