Being period positive (a campaign started by Chella Quint) is to destigmatise menstruation to engage in a positive dialogue around it. At no point should your period positivity be such that it forcefully sugarcoat the difficulties it comes with. It should only be spoken about such that no experience is glossed over because, for many, menstruation is a traumatic experience for various reasons. A period positive movement can never work if it does not include practical problems of caste, class, and gender which affect resource availability and hygiene maintenance.
1. Why Do We Need It?
The need for discussion around menstruation is essential because to date, 23% of girls in India drop out of school during menarche. Religious conservatism also leads to women being period shamed. A very recent incident was that of 68 women taken to the bathroom, stripped down, and checked for menstruation at Shree Sahajanand Girls Institute (SSGI) in Bhuj, Gujarat because they were supposedly breaking period rules.
The said rules barred students on their periods from touching people, entering the kitchen and temple, sitting with others during meals. They were also made to wash their dishes. This is monitored via the register maintained by the hostel where menstruating students have to enter their names. It is a college run by the Swaminarayan sect, a rich, conservative Hindu religious group.
‘Progressive’ discussions around period, especially in India, cannot be limited to the exaggerated representation of the active, upper-class cisgender women in stainless pants. That picture leaves out 88% of Indian women with no access to functioning washrooms or menstrual products. It leaves out women who do not menstruate because of PCOS or any other health complications. It leaves out different gender identities who menstruate but are doubly stigmatised.
2. How To Be Period Positive?
Now that we have understood the intersectionality required for a period positive environment, let’s start at the very basics of understanding gender identity.
Based on gender identity, people can be:
- Cisgender man or woman, who identify with the sex assigned to them at birth
- Transgender man, woman or non-binary, who do not identify with the sex assigned to them at birth.
- Gender fluid
- Agender
- Gender non-conforming
- There can be more varying identities across the gender spectrum depending upon individuals.
3. Who Experiences Menstruation?
No, the answer is not women. Menstruation is a biological function attached to the sexual anatomy and not the gender identity of a person. It occurs in every individual with a typically functioning uterus and vagina, which includes not just cisgender women but transgender men and gender-nonconforming individuals. Intersex persons with developed uterus and ovaries experience the menstrual cycle and depending upon external organs, bleeding varies.
Making it a celebration of being a woman is not only exclusionary but also causes practical issues relating to a lack of gender-neutral menstrual products that could cater to every menstruating individual. Now that we have established that it is not just cisgender women who menstruate let’s take down the other stigmas, one at a time.
4. Is Period Blood Impure?
Period blood and a person on their period are not impure or diseased. Period blood is not toxic blood. The endometrium sheds itself, which is why bleeding occurs. It is 35% blood combined with endometrial tissue, cervical and vaginal mucus, and microbes. The components of period blood are the same as venous/arterial blood.
So it is not toxic unless a person has been diagnosed with a blood-borne illness, in which case it will hold true for blood flowing out of any other part of their body.
Any cloth stained in period blood should be treated similar to other bloodstained material; instead of discarding, burning or burying it (practised by people who do not access to menstrual products and are forced to use cloth, rags, hay, and even leaves). It should be sanitised before re-use. Likewise, the person handling blood should sanitise themselves and maintain hygiene as they would in any other case.
If a stained cloth has to be discarded, it should definitely be cleaned or appropriately wrapped, marked with a red dot; else it exposes sanitary workers to health risks because they encounter it during waste segregation, mixed with other garbage. This is also why clean and hygienic disposal of menstrual products is a MUST.
5. Menstruation, If At All Discussed Should Have A Codeword
A period is a period— the end of the story. There is no need to speak about it in whispers like one speaks of Lord Voldemort. It should not be thought of as a shameful or be glorified as a qualifier of womanhood. It is what it is, a biological process that doesn’t relate to any societal norm and is felt subjectively.
It needs care and hygiene maintenance which is hindered by taboos because taboos spread misinformation and glosses over the essential things to be known by all irrespective of gender. That this has been turned into a stigma is why we have vague and humiliating euphemisms around it across the country and the world. The most common one I have heard growing up is ‘shorir kharap‘ (illness).
Discussing periods helps menstruators open up with issues preventing late detection of different health complications, be it physical or mental. It also brings forth experiences from all people who menstruate across the various sections of society which can then share their needs in a safe space which can create constructive solutions.
6. PMS Feelings Are Not Real; They’re Just Hormones
Premenstrual Syndrome is what occurs before the menstruation starts. It causes both physical (bloating, pain in breasts and abdomen, heightened energy or fatigue, increased/decreased libido) and emotional (irritability, sadness, anxiety, cravings, and even affection) changes because of hormonal changes the body experiences through ovulation and the period. When people get PMS, the drastic mood fluctuations are caused because of reduced oestrogen, which is also a source of serotonin, the happy hormone.
While feelings (good or bad) might take on a magnified shape, they are still valid feelings not to be nullified. Stop using ‘that time of the month’ as an excuse to discard people’s feelings. PMS varies from person to person, so try being observant and sensitive; it makes things easier for both those on their periods and those around them.
7. How Bad Can Period Cramps Be?
The medical term for it is dysmenorrhea. Primary dysmenorrhea happens to people who have abnormal contractions of the uterus due to chemical imbalance in the body. Some people experience cramps severely enough that it makes them unable to perform regular chores.
Extremely severe period cramps are also related to endometriosis where people pass out due to the pain. Thus, period cramps should never be simply ignored as they could be symptoms of other underlying health conditions like Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), uterine fibroids, abnormal pregnancy (miscarriage, ectopic), infections, tumours, or polyps in the pelvic cavity.
8. Stains Do Not Burn Eyes, And Humans Do Not Bleed Blue
Menstruating individuals, especially trans men and the gender-nonconforming, feel the increased need to hide the blood. Menstruation already takes a toll on mental health and added to it the experience of severe anxiety over blood stains always keeps people on their guard. Sleeping becomes a task because one is too anxious about staining oneself. After all, despite being a natural process, menstruation has never been normalised.
Every period advertisement looks like pouring blue curacao on a napkin—everything that a period is not. This representation stems from the same stigma that causes anxiety amongst menstruators. It also shows unnecessary mountain climbing in pants so white they would make Jitendra jealous. And just like in movies, the white remains spotless, wondrously defeating both the mud, soil, dust and the blood. While it is great that a menstrual product is trying to guarantee the least amount of leakage, staining is also fine.
Moreover, it happens to everyone, no matter the product because neither flow nor movement is consistent. Stains can be cleaned, and life can go on. So people need to stop making a big deal about period stains, reassure individuals and one can only hope there comes a day our blue blood turns red on-screen.
9. Period Sex And Masturbation Is Shameful
Wrong as the menstrual cycle is connected to the sexual health of a person. Being aware of our sexual needs helps us maintain good sexual health. It makes us aware of our body which makes detection of issues related to sexual health easier. Masturbation and sex are taboos, especially when it comes to women and LGBTQIA+ individuals. Hushing discussions creates a lack of information leading to misconceptions.
Period sex is not something that has to be strictly avoided. It can be practised by people interested in exploring it but with adequate protection because pregnancy and STIs are still a concern. Masturbation during menstruation is also fine, and in fact, orgasms often relieve cramps. There is more than one way to masturbate and more than one type of orgasm. It is only natural to explore one’s own body. Self-pleasure is the most honest form of pleasure we can give ourselves. So, be it sex or masturbation, no one has the right to come between a person and their body.
10. Period Rules
Ditch the stigma. Count your new rules and throw in more:
‘Period is natural.’
‘It is not just a cis-woman thing.’
‘People on their period are not dirty, impure, outcast, or diseased.’
‘It can be discussed out loud.’
‘Everyone should have access to menstrual hygiene.’
Repeat after me. Period.
The author is a part of the current batch of the #PeriodParGyan Writer’s Training Program