By: Puja Gupta
With the traditions, stigma and shame attached to menstruation in India, this natural bodily process is thought as a curse for young girls and women. Female foeticide, eve-teasing and rape are a few among the myriad struggles that women are subjected to. Period shaming happens to be the oldest one.
This video is an attempt to understand society’s reaction to periods and menstruating women. One of our team members went around asking people to help her on her first accidental period.
The reaction of the public was more disappointing than shocking. People were hesitant to help and a few of them simply ignored her and walked away. But every coin has two sides, and there were also people who came out to help.
Menstruation is still a taboo and one of the least talked about topic in our country. The irony is that traditionally, we celebrate a girl’s first period as a sign of her fertility, but the same blood renders her impure. It’s probably time now that we give wings to women, and don’t bind them under the chains of baseless traditional myths and taboos.
The Uncivilised Indian tries to bring to light such sensitive issues to make people aware of these societal indifferences.