Let’s not start with what “Period” is. We all are mature enough to know what it is. But for those who do not know, monthly cycle or a menstrual period is the intermittent shedding of the lining of a woman’s uterus. If this definition is making you uncomfortable, it’s perhaps because our society is yet to accept that this process is hygienic.
From all the research and google searches I have read and discovered, I can see a very small percentage of women and girls who are properly educated on bodily issues of any kind—periods being the most ignored. What is the reason for something so typical and hygienic to get ignored? There might be a lot of reasons, which are considered a social taboo.
First things first, as girls and women, we are still under certain societal boundaries that have been passed down ever since the establishment of patriarchy. This combines with women not receiving education about anything, including health and hygiene, because villages in India still consider it to be wrong.
I want to bring to your attention that young girls in India are suffering from social barriers because of periods. They are considered impure when this happens. But why? What could be the reason? People keep debarring us from temples, whereas they worship a goddess inside that temple. Funny, isn’t it? Durga, Lakshmi, Saraswati, Kali are all goddesses everyone worships, yet women are impure for a certain amount of time? I think this is just an excuse to show that patriarchy still controls us.
A bit of research helped me discover that this happens only in Hinduism. Churches and Mosques allow women to enter the holy place when they are on their periods. So please tell me what the reason for not allowing this is? It is a biological process that every woman has to go through. The fact that it makes women impure is a total myth.
Women still suffer due to the high costs of tampons and sanitary pads, whereas condoms for men are available at a low price. All of this is so barbaric and frustrating for women that they feel like they do not have a voice, and even if they did, it is being ignored. I hope this clears up soon, and it is not a problem anymore.
Most of you have seen the movie, Padman, right? Did you see how the subject of periods made everyone treat the protagonist of the story? If you think that it only happens in the movies, you are wrong. What they had portrayed still goes on in some villages where education or technology has little to no reach at all.
To the society that always looks down upon women and creates myths and taboos out of anything that a woman goes through, please wake up and look round. Help the girls, educate them. One day, this debarring and barbaric act could be held against your mother, daughter, and sister, what will you do then? I hope I was able to reach out to those who have friends and sisters who have no one to talk to.
Break the stereotyping and move forward to the new era. Periods are acceptable, and it is not a taboo for society.