Recently a politician from Kerala spoke very highly of women who bleed. According to him women who menstruate are impure. Perhaps as a man his knowledge about women was limited. So as a woman I thought i should enlighten him and sent him this letter.
Sir,
You remember how you got into a fight
after five drinks and found yourself
lying on your face, in a friend’s living room..there are no bruises..but you have no idea why your arms, legs, back and head aches.
That’s how it feels a week before
we bleed.
You ate potatoes for lunch and dinner
and the next morning you can’t see your feet because your stomach is in the way.
It takes three glasses of hot water and several butt tremors before shit hits the ceiling. Well, that is our first day.
I know you didn’t pay attention in your history class but there is a volcano called Krakatoa that once erupted with 13000 times the power of an atomic bomb. Do you know women spend more time cleaning toilets than using them?
Oh, how we love sliding into those crisp white sheets the smell of new spring
and pink tulips…oh, how! But are you surprised that we are lying stiff thighs pressed together without turning, and staring at our feet? You will understand it better if you have ever tried
drinking your wine, lying down.
Have you had a hangover that lasted for 5 days?
We may choose to not exercise, to not have sex, to not swim, to not fast, to not touch a pickle jar, to not wash our hair, or to not enter places of worship on the days we bleed. Or we may unchoose them. The choice is ours alone.
Dear MM Hassan, apart from the assumption that we are impure, did you know…..
88% of menstruating women in India have no access to sanitary napkins.
Around 70% of all reproductive diseases in India are caused by negligent menstrual hygiene and women continue to put their health at risk.
20% of girls do not have access to a toilet when menstruating.
Around 23% of Indian girls in rural areas between ages 12–18 drop out of school when they begin menstruating.
Did you know… It is because a woman bleeds that you are.