From Bob Dylan’s timeless song ‘Times Are A Changin’ to Iqbal Bano draped in black saree performing ‘Hum Dekhenge’, music justifies its true invisible potential to bring ripples of change. Musicians made it a crucial weapon to wrestle against all kinds of socio-economic evils by crooning melodious tunes. Let’s not forget the modern pop culture genre of punk, funk, rap and hip-hop that had their roots in rebellion.
To ward off the stigma entrenched in menstruation, a handful of independent musicians of the later 18th and early 19th century resorted to hip-hop in order to connect with the young blood. In this article, we will revisit some iconic numbers blabber mouthing menses when it was still the best-kept secret. The credit of making the earliest public appeal of the word ‘menstruation’ goes to such lively and powerful music.
Manmeet Kaur And Shruti Madan: ‘The Period Song’
“Char Din huye lekin period abhi baaki hai/ Red Wedding in my pants kyunki period abhi baaki hai / Can I get a P? Can I get my period period.”
A revolutionary peppy music member of Girliyappa Original also joined the bandwagon of menstrual music club in 2016. ‘The Period Song’, featuring many popular content creators spread like wildfire all over social media. Lyricist Sameer Anjaan and vocalists Manmeet Kaur and Shruti Madan have fantastically kept the satire alive while imparting the bigger social message.
The four-minute long song doesn’t fail to touch upon the wider spectrum of period-related topics, starting from menarche, period sex, ban on kitchen/temple entry, menopause, PMS and the baseless idea of wrapping sanitary napkins in a newspaper. The parody of ‘Char Baj Gaye lekin Party Abhi Baki Hai’ throws out the gloomy and negative portrayal of menses to embrace more positive portrayals.
Shruti Maggo: ‘Mai Besharam Nahi’
One year ago, Shruti Maggo, a Hindi-spoken word poet became an overnight YouTube sensation after her period rap went viral. In ‘Mai Besharam Nahi’ she cuts open her heart and carefully stitches the woeful incidents attached with menstruation to weave a powerful rap. It’s overwhelming to see Indian youth coming to the forefront and addressing the elephant in the room by creative pursuits. Her rap is the best answer to shut the filthy orthodox mindset that attaches an impure status to menstruating girls.
In case you’re losing your mind searching for some adequate Bollywood representation of this social crisis, sadly, you’ll only find skewed results in the Indian music industry. We still have a long way of revolution to witness in music.
Dolly Parton: PMS Blues
“But a woman had to write this song/ A man would be scared to /Lest he be called a chauvinist/ Or just fall victim to those/ PMS Blues.”
The famous American multi-talented singer admired for her country music, Dolly Rebecca Parton released her live album ‘Heartsongs:Live from Home’ in 1994 in her own theme park Dollywood. One of the infamous hit tracks was ‘PMS Blues’. Testifying the gallant and witty personality of Dolly, this number is the sort that will instantly hype up your soggy Monday sisterhood spirit. The song begins by acknowledging Eve’s curse on women and goes on to describe clenching teeth, swelling heads, hateful yelling and mood swings. With a tinge of female boss energy, Dolly actively calls out male jingoism pertinent to menstruation with the aim to dismantle the taboo attached to PMS and periods.
Tacocat: ‘Crimson Waves’
“Call my girls if they wanna go/ take their minds off dumb Aunt Flo/ Sew a scarlet letter on my bathing suit/ cause I have got sharks in my hot pursuit.”
Tacocat’s hit period positive anthem ‘Crimson Waves’ was released in 2014. Garnering over 10,000 views in a single week on YouTube, the music became the second single hit from their NVM album. This Seattle-based indie punk rock band addresses feminist issues with subtle malice and metaphors. Emily Nokes, Bree McKenna and Lelah Maupin are the ultimate powerpuff trio who hit off this palindrome band from basement and house shows. The vivid music video of the song debunks the common notion of avoiding fun beach or pool days in “that time of the month”and encourages you to venture out.
Angela Maria Ani DiFranco: ‘In The Boardroom’
“These business got the money/ they got the instruments of death/ But I can make life/ I can make breathe.”
Menstruation, since time immemorial, has been a great barrier against women’s equality in all the avenues of life. Angela Maria Ani Di Franco wages her musical battle using her own record label to crush patriarchy in a corporate glitzy life of air-conditioned rooms and flashy suits through her single track called ‘Blood in the Boardroom’. The natural power of birthing another life imbibed by women outweighs all the materialistic things in life – money, power and fame. The imagery of big brown bloodstains on white chairs has been used by Ani to rupture the invisibility of this monthly natural process.
SkitBox: ‘Got That Flow’
The comedy crew of SkitBox targeted the men who are disgusted by the period and look down upon women as inferior through their flashy song ‘I Got That Flow’ in 2016. Raging one liners enhance the meaningfulness and melody of the rap. Well-informed men can be crucial harbingers of the change-making processes related to destigmatising female centric issues.
Lunette: ‘Oh No I Am Getting My Period’
The representation of blue blood in sanitary napkins ads to hide shame is common sight. But,vsome multi-million business houses came forward to join the rap battle of putting periods in a positive light. Lunette’s ‘Oh No I Am Getting My Period’ with NYC-based rapper Princess Superstar bashed the weak-kneed approach of female intimate product brands. Lunette’s menstrual cups are a household name all over Europe and America. The thought-provoking lyrics nurture the vibe of self-awareness related to menstrual health management in the best possible way.
The spirit of music is immortal. Rhythm is the antidote of unspoken and unheard voices. As Shakespeare said “When words fail, music speaks.” So, here I jam my period playlist in loud blasting speakers, wilfully wishing that music, the hands playing the guitar and my words echoing through this stratified society are able to normalise the ‘Shark Week’.