How to end menstruation stigma
0 Comments December 3rd, 2018 usersriyabhatta
Menstruation has been part of many of our lives as a monthly visitor, and yet it is something that probably felt at least once in our lives as something that should be ashamed of, or something that should be hidden. It is an experience more than half of our population go through, and there is a big fat label on it saying “Taboo” on it.
Simply, we need to rip off this label.
Plan International UK spoke to 1,000 girls in the UK aged between 14 and 21 found that 48% felt embarrassed about their period, this may seem high, but I will assure you that if you asked girls from struggling communities in Africa and Asia, the number would be close to 100%. The shame prevents open discussion, and open discussion is one way to remove this stigma. Let us take ourselves for example.
We are both girls who come from Hindu families, going to the temple on our period is a no go, our menstruation is an impurity to the temple.
Now this idea I’m very sure will not change in our lifetime in the Hindu community. Even I, a girl who possesses quite forward thinking has ingrained in myself from puberty that I should not go to the temple on my period, and the truth is, I’ll probably still hold that thought. I wouldn’t implement it say on others, but I know deep within myself it is a superstition that I cannot unlearn. This is the beginning of oppression of women who are on their period which is still very much the case in many Hindu, Islamic and some Jewish homes. One custom as well that I myself had to perform was one in which when I got my first period, I was not allowed to see the face of my male family members for that week. The reasoning was that I was impure, and therefore if I see or touch a man,
He will also obviously become impure and Ill too right? This was the pinnacle of my oppression, but the truth is, I’m one of the lucky ones. I’m not saying my mother who raised me was backwards minded or wanted to oppress me. This is what she did when she was a child, and her mother and her mother, even worse was that my mother wasn’t even allowed to live in her own house in that week, she had to go and live with her friend. She also couldn’t unlearn the superstition, and she passed it on to me. But really I want to talk about the extremes of menstruation stigma , as well as the smaller signs of oppression.
Chhaupadi is a tradition in the villages of Nepal which I have actually seen with my own eyes take place. It is a tradition in which girls and women are kept out of the house and are forced to live in makeshift huts or cattle shelters. This period of time lasts between ten and eleven days when a girl has her first period, and afterwards the duration is between four and seven days each month. I realised that my time as well away from my male counterparts was a reincarnation of this toxic tradition of chhaupadi.
Although the experience will never be as bad as what the girls in these villages who practice it go though, it comes down to this root. As well as this, after giving birth, women are also confined for 10 days, and during this time, women are forbidden to touch men or even to enter the courtyard of their own homes. They cannot use warm blankets and are allowed only a small rug; most commonly, this is made of jute (also known as burlap). They are also restricted from going to school or performing daily functions like taking a bath. The women are also barred from consuming dairy products such as butter, milk yogurt and cream, these items being of extreme nutritional value in rural villages where this ritual takes place, due to the fact that many believe the women will make the product impure and wasted. They are confined to eating plain rice.
Chhaupaddi in these huts often lead to carbon monoxide poisoning from fires lighted in these small huts that lack air, as well as animal attacks and rape from visitors. Not to mention the fact girls do not even go to school, and instead are participating in this toxic ritual, and women very much starve in these few days they are on their period, despite the fact that in this time they should be getting even more nutritional food. Now it may be that the practice is illegal in the country, but does that stop anyone from performing these rituals? Even in 2017 there were thousands of cases of chhaupaddi in villages, and it doesn’t look like the numbers are going to go down.
In the western world therefore we might see our own oppression with menstruation to be far less then what we see in other countries, but the fact that in the United States, 60% of girls felt that they had to hide their period and couldn’t discuss their period with their fathers. This is also is very problematic.
The fact that in TV commercials our period blood is seen as a blue liquid, and this only emphasises the impurity of actual period blood.
In mainstream media, although now coverage on periods is growing massively, there are still many shows that are watched worldwide that do not accurately present what should be the approach in handling a girl experiencing her first period. The portrayal of male family members are also unsupportive to reducing stigmatisation , and coverage on is even worse in places such as India and other African and Asian countries, where the issue might not even be talked about at all and where coverage is needed the most.
Above: New Zealand Artist Painted This Entirely Out Of Menstrual Blood
The upcoming film “Pad-man” starring Akshay Kumar is a gift to Bollywood cinema, as it highlights the absolute need for sanitation products and menstrual products in rural parts of India. The message of the film itself is a very good one, and I really do suggest that if you do decide to watch it (anyone can) please do.
Especially us Asians should show our fathers and brothers this movie, because although we watch it knowing it’s a film that spreads awareness of the need for everyone to have access to menstrual sanitation, the film also tries to combat menstruation stigma, which as it may be we do need our male counter parts to help us.
The recent “Padman challenge” has gone under fire. It is a social media challenge in which a celebrity mainly takes a selfie holding a pad. It is meant to spread awareness of the lack of support many girls in India face when they are on their period, as well as combat the taboo.
Although these kinds of challenges do promote this, it also is a promotional strategy for the movie, and lately has been criticised as celebrities are being given too much credit for taking a picture with a pad and being praised endlessly for it, despite the fact social activists only a few months ago would be criticised for actually helping disadvantaged girls, by starting up charities or by giving speeches in rural communities.
These people have built their whole career on helping these girls, and we don’t know their names do we? Yet we know that Anushka Sharma posted a picture on Instagram holding a pad a few months ago.
During the Nepalese earthquake in 2015 women pleaded for sanitation products, and of course there was much backlash as many men in particular argued that these women were being “attention seeking” and “dramatic” stating how other supplies were so much more important in the time of struggle.
So what can we do to end menstruation stigma?
Education is really the main way in which we can reduce people feeling stigmatised by menstruation. We can only reduce the stigma by teaching others how these rituals are just superstitions and nothing else.
Chhaupadi is something that can be abolished by contributing to charities such as global giving, which plans to educate people about it, I myself plan to visit these rural villages to educate the people about how the cause is detrimental and toxic in the future.
As well as this, writing letters to sanitation companies who advertise their products which may promote stigmatisation can really be beneficial to millions of girls who watch them; If you are involved in the film industry, or have contacts in the film and television industry by speaking to people about how they can implement episodes or scenes that discuss menstruation can also be a great way to spread awareness. When we look at menstruation stigma in a religious context, in which we are not allowed to prey when we are on our period, is something that will need time to combat. Many women believe that they are impure on their period, and I guess it depends on how religious you are as a person. Chhaupadi however and any other ritual like I mentioned above I feel, are just superstitions that we should just leave right now, however going to the temple or mosque on your period is something that someone should choose themselves, and it really is a very sensitive topic that we may not be able to discuss until way in the future.
“Pad-man” is also a great movie to show your family, especially male members, and just trying to constantly be aware and critical of everything you see and trying to call it out. Memes that dehumanise women especially when on thier period are very common in especially indian meme sites, and a great page “@whyineedfeminisminindia” calls out micro-aggression and dehumanisation of women in Indian humour sites.
