India is a land of different cultures, customs, and traditions. It is known for its diversity. It is home to people practicing different religions, believing in different faiths, and speaking different languages.
The list of achievements is never ending, when we talk about India we cannot stop counting its achievement, its beauty, and its marvels but we are silenced when it comes to periods.
We are silenced when we talk about the irritation caused due to periods.
We are silenced when we talk about our mood swings, sore breasts, heavy flow, staining, food cravings, rashes in the intimate area caused due to dampness because of course we are bleeding, body pain, muscle cramps, pads, tampons, and whatnot.
We are silenced every time we talk about period blood.
Periods which is a natural thing, which is a monthly phenomenon for most women, which should be treated as a normal thing is considered a taboo, women are treated as no more than untouchables by their own folks.
Hush! I am bleeding
I'm crying, I'm screaming
but no one can know
cause I'm not so pure.
My uterus contracts,
My breasts swell
oh, and these ruthless cramps!
but no one can know
cause I'm not so pure.
Yes, I am bleeding!
and why can't people know;
it's their mind that's impure.
FEMALE POPULATION IN INDIA AS PER 2020 CENSUS AND MENSTRUATING WOMEN IN INDIA:
India marks 138 crores of the population; out of which, 48.04% consists of females. Out of this 48.04%, around 33 crore females are of reproductive age.
Yes, 33 crore females menstruate!
33 crores females bleed every month for 5-7 days straight. Yet, periods are the most taboo topic in our country.
MYTHS AND TABOOS REGARDING PERIODS:
India is a developing country. It has excelled in every field, be it technology, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, research, and development. We talk about equality, women's rights and safety, women being superior to men, worshiping the deities and yet it scares the shit out of us to talk openly about periods. We are taught from a very young age to not talk about it in front of the men in our family. We were taught to use the code words instead of using the actual word so that people won't know.
Apparently, peeing in public is okay but walking around in your pants stained with period blood is not.
Asking a newlywed when they're having a baby is okay but talking about your discomfort during periods is not.
Women are supposed to do all the household chores and attend work or school even when they are facing discomfort. And yet we are considered impure.
We are not allowed to enter temples, and in some households, the women are not allowed to enter the kitchen, she has to even stay in a different room.
BREAKING THE STEREOTYPES:
While periods can get as discomforting as they can be, certain other things add more to the discomfort.
One of them is not allowed to go out for four days or not enter any religious place.
This superstition is prevalent in our country since time immemorial. But the legend behind this was to give the menstruating women as much comfort and care, to ease their pain.
But practicing this in today's world seems nothing but absurd and impractical. It is high time to break all the stereotypes about periods.
On one side we talk about development and equality but on the other side we, as a society, fail to provide women with their basic rights.
MENSTRUAL HYGIENE SCHEME (MHS)
The ministry of national health and family care, according to the 2020 reports of the National Health Mission, has introduced this scheme to promote menstrual hygiene among adolescent girls.
This scheme also ensures that girls get easy access to sanitary pads.
In most rural areas, women still use cloth or ashes during periods which is unhygienic and it causes rashes and bacterial infection in the intimate area. It is also the reason for uterus cancer which might prove fatal.
There are many schools and colleges which provide sanitary pads either free of cost or at a very nominal cost to all the girls.
Periods are the most natural thing and we all need to accept them. Women bleed every month and there is nothing to be embarrassed or ashamed of.