No doubt, menstruation is a big-time taboo in India. Social research was done to see how many people are accepting the taboo openly through the #PadmanChallenge.
I saw a video where a girl intentionally drops a paper in front of a group of guys and th e men bent down to help her pick it up. In the next scene, they showed another incident where a pad is dropped, the guys see and behave as if they saw nothing! Weird right?
Today, we have this movie based on true story of a man, Arunachalam Muruganantham, who in real life is an innovator/social entrepreneur. Muruganantham is hailed for pioneering the manufacturing of low-cost sanitary napkins in India and also kickstarting a menstrual hygiene movement in the rural areas where it was the need of the hour.
But still, what do the number have to say? According to data, 43% of India’s 355 million menstruating women do not have access to a menstrual pad (SNs). Thousands of women still use shocking alternatives like unsanitised cloth, ashes and husk sand. Incidents of Reproductive Tract Infection (RTI) is 70% more common among these women. When it comes to the rural areas, the number is in single digit.
I don’t know if people know it or not, but do you realize that once a pad is opened, you can’t put it back in? It simply goes to waste. And trust me, the brands we are posing and taking pictures with, are pretty expensive. Yeah, the challenge would have been better if you would have posed with one and may be given one to someone who could use it. Or better still, just give it to them and then take the picture.
The best out of these would be to use environment-friendly products like cups or reusable pads. I posed with one too, but I used it afterwards, so it wasn’t really a waste! I’ve also started delivering menstrual products on MRP. I initiated this movement so that no one has to suffer in public for that reason!
The response out of the #padmanchallenge is huge, but with that, there is still no change in the price of sanitary napkins in the market or a change in how villages and cities look at this as a taboo. The dropout ratio of girls hasn’t changed too. So is there any point to this?
Celebrities who have posed for photos can do so many things with this awesome challenge going on. They can probably distribute pads to the ones in need, or maybe find other solutions.
In my opinion, the challenge could have come out way better, if people did more than just posing with an open pad.