I remember watching advertisements of sanitary napkins on television and asking my mother, "What is period?" or "What are sanitary napkins?" Every time I asked her, she would either ignore me, or change the topic completely. I often wonder, why are people so hesitant to talk about periods? This is not a taboo. This is not a crime. So, why this hesitation?
One fine day, twelve year old Richa returned home from school and complained of intense pain in her stomach. Her mother mistook it for a stomach bug, and advised her to go to bed and take some pills. Even after taking the pills, Richa felt as if someone was punching on her stomach. The pain was too much to bear. Next day, when she reached school, her teacher noticed some red stains on her skirt. She was quickly taken to the medical room. On seeing the stains on the skirt, Richa fainted. She assumed that she was having blood cancer, and could not live anymore. The nurse in the medical room laughed at her assumption, and told her that she had reached the stage of puberty, and had gotten her first period. This was the time when a girl's body blossomed into womanhood. Richa was relieved. Her first period was a nightmare. She now advises all parents to educate their children about menstruation, so that nobody else has to go through a similar phase.
Like Richa, many people remain unaware about periods. I took a survey of twenty people in my locality, out of which fifteen people got to know about periods through their biology lessons, and some remained unaware of it until they reached the stage of puberty and finally had it at twelve or thirteen. As for the men, some of them are still unaware about what it is! When asked, I got such weird replies as, "Men ought not talk about it. It's a dirty thing to talk about" and "Girls have a plastic bag like structure in their tummies, which has a leakage once in a month." Well, these men certainly did not pay attention to their science lessons. The most absurd assumption that I got was that periods occur when women are depressed. This proves how much men, as well as women, are still ignorant of the reality of periods.
A study by Swach India in the year 2019 reported that nearly 50,000 out of the 100,000 girls claimed that they did not know about periods until the first time they got it. The study further revealed that girls even think they are dying or having a horrible disease, the first time they menstruate, because of the lack of awareness.
Girls as well as boys should be educated about periods. We need to openly talk about it, instead of shying away from the topic. Many a times, when girls remain oblivious about periods, they make wrong assumptions. First period can get quite scary for them. It is necessary to educate them about it, so that they can confidently manage this new transition in their lives.
Sometimes, various myths related to periods hold women back. For instance, in India, women are not allowed to enter kitchens during periods. They can't even enter temples, because they are considered impure. Young girls are not allowed to go to schools. They are held back from a lot of things. Education plays a vital role in eliminating the myths and stigma associated with periods.
It is known that an average woman menstruates for 3,000 days during her lifetime. There’s no denying that menstruation is a big part of our lives so it’s essential that we make that ‘time of the month’ a more manageable, open, and shame-free process.
I asked my mother and some of my female relatives about the hygiene that they maintained during their period. Their answers left me in a state of shock. During their time, they used pieces of cloth. Unlike me, as I use proper sanitary napkins during my period. The cloth pads weren't even changed on a daily basis. The same cloth was washed again and again, and used everyday. Once, one of my relatives got a vaginal infection, after which she started using pads. Until then, cloth pieces were the only solution.
Something that even more shocked me was that hygiene is still not maintained in India. Studies suggest that of the 336 million menstruating women in India about 121 million (roughly 36 percent) women are using sanitary napkins, locally or commercially produced. But, what about those remaining 64 percent? Poor hygiene increases risks of having cervical cancer.
When women do not maintain any hygiene, they increase risk of having various urinary tract infections. Hence, maintaining good hygiene is very important.
I interviewed my grandmother about various kinds of myths and stigmas people of her time had regarding periods. Her answers were hilarious. Girls having periods weren't allowed to get near plants. So, even the plants discriminated between girls having periods! Another rumour was that eating curd, tamarind and pickles affect menstrual flow. Well, period flow does not depend on what type of food we eat, let's make that clear. Another one left me in fits of laughter. Girls having periods should live in separate rooms, and nobody would be allowed to touch them. Period is not a disease, nor is it contagious. So, girls need not stay in separate rooms. Girls cannot even talk about periods in public. Even teenagers go through a lot of changes during puberty. For instance, growing facial hair and getting a first pimple. If people can speak about that in public without getting shamed, so can women when they talk about periods. All these myths still exist, and we must get rid of them. These myths are stopping girls from doing a lot of things. They are barriers. Hence, everyone should get rid of this filth. Menstruation is a natural process. So it's about time we have open and scientific discussions around it even outside science classrooms.
