According to a legend, angry Lord Indra severed the head of Vishwaroopacharya (the teacher of Gods) because Indra was not able to pronounce his name. Ultimately, Lord Indra was cursed by a Brahman. However, he disposed of the curse by distributing it among lands, trees, and women. Since that day, women started menstruating every month.
Would a logical mind believe this? Do you still not cross the road if a black cat crosses your way? Do you still not cut your nails at night?
Indian tradition is ripe with such beliefs.
Period shaming has been an integral part of a woman’s life, both urban and rural. Many mothers hesitate on giving menstrual education to their children. We need to start giving menstrual education to both boys and girls. Doing so will ensure the society that it is time for a change. Girls not only feel ‘dirty’ because society has kept it a hush-hush, but it is also the fear induced in us from the menarche.
There’s a cycle to the period of shame. It begins all with the communication within the family, or shall I say miscommunication? When the family refuses to talk about such a crucial aspect of a girl’s life, they then deny understanding the changes and development in one’s body and mind. Haven’t you ever been in a situation where the channel was changed because an ‘inappropriate’ advertisement about tampons and sanitary pads popped up? Well.. you are not the only ones. You see, this is how the problem arises. With no specific information or knowledge of any kind, the child will be at a loss of confidence because she was deprived of something so important as to what is happening to her. Puberty is a time of change in a girl’s life, both mental and physical. When you can’t provide a safe and positive environment to the girl, she will be scared of not being accepted in society. So how can we then expect openness and confidence from a girl when she has learned to hide herself from being treated as a disease?
Women bleed each month to make humankind a possibility. Sadly very few times it is seen that way. In older civilizations this blood was considered holy, in some, it still is but a majority of people, societies and communities shun this natural process. Especially in a society like ours where we see it as something too dirty, a sick burden as if the process is any less natural than breathing itself. As if menstruation does not inculcate love, labor, life, and a world strikingly beautiful as this. We must hence, sit back and question our beliefs on a fundamental concept like menstruation.
-Heet Dhawale & Bidisha Dam
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