A topic which is very close to my heart and I take pride in spreading awareness to people around. Yeah, you heard it right. There is still a need for awareness in our society. This morning while I was browsing lazily as to what to watch, I bump into a documentary on Netflix named ‘Period - End of sentence’ . It blew my mind because it captured the right set of women and girls and what a beautiful job done. The documentary is about how much of a taboo is the topic of menstruation. Shot in a village somewhere in the North it captured how both women and men think about periods. Girls shying away and women hiding their face when asked about it while Men call it a ‘Ladies Beemari’ . Outrageous! I couldn’t stop but pen down those overwhelming thoughts which were overflowing in my head.
This documentary is in association with The Padproject , Action India, Girls Learn International and The Feminist majority Foundation. The documentary primarily brings awareness about how periods is looked at in the rural parts of India and promotes the use of sanitary pads . I was not surprised to see when they said they don’t know what a pad is and when they were given one to use, they had no clue how to use it. They use a cloth and they have to go far off from their houses during the dark hours, secretly hiding away from the men in the society to discard the used cloth. Men on the other hand, are living in complete denial about periods. They think its an illness. They are comfortable talking about diapers but not sanitary napkins.
But the beauty about the documentary is not the cause but the attitude with which these women have been living their life. Their innocence and ignorance is something that will melt your heart. These women and young girls do not seek validation from outside. They know their worth and they look for opportunities to do something outside their kitchen. When these young girls were asked what do they want to become, they all have a common answer, Police Officer. They want to become police officers so they can escape marriage and whip the asses of those men who create troubles to women. They strongly believe that women are the ones who are running the world , they are the foundation of any living human. They don’t want someone else to tell that to them because they are living that kind of a life. They are empowered women in every true sense.
Lets talk about the taboo issues related to periods in the Urban section of our country. When I was a kid I used to see these regular advertisements of sanitary pads which talked about ‘geelapan’ and how it helped absorb it. I always thought it was some napkin that helped absorb the sweat. But my sweat wasn't blue , so I rubbished it off thinking it was for someone sick who sweat blue. Then puberty hit me and my mom got me these very sanitary pads. It was confirmed, I was sick. But then the ‘geela’ thing was red and not blue, so it got me more confused, rather scared that I am seriously sick. And this kept happening every month, every month I fell sick , so much that the sickness left stains all over my pants and dresses. I was pissed and upset and I refused to wear them because I enjoyed Denial. Same way as Proctor and Gamble did and made sure the entire country believed that we bleed blue and not red. I was always not so very fond of whisper pads for unknown reasons. Now I know why. My inner calling, I tell you. P&G, you ruined my early years of periods.
Discussing periods with men has become easy in the urban society, but the shaming and shying away hasn't gone yet. In fact, it is in a disguised form. You carry that big bag of yours to the washroom just to change your pad. Like, how difficult is it to carry a slim pad in your hands and walk with pride to the washroom. Okay, not exactly pride but its a normal thing. Just like how you’d carry your lipstick .
The workplace issues. They say, your personal issues are yours and you cannot bring it on others at work. Makes sense. Your stomach hurts, your back is killing you, your lower abdomen is bloated so much that even a drop of water going down your stomach makes you feel heavy, you feel like throwing up every now and then, you have a bad headache and you are scared to stand up because either you fear a stain on your clothes or you fear something might drip down because thats how your flow is. All this happens for the next 4-5 days, nonstop. You cant take a week off for it every month, because its a ‘normal’ thing according to your colleagues at work. You have to work your ass off, be efficient, good and cordial to everyone at the same time. And then if there is any reaction from us, the opposite reaction is ‘Are you PMSing?’ I cannot snap, I cannot react, I cannot be myself and then I am made to believe that I am sick. I am sent off home. When will this change? You sneeze once and you take a day off, we bleed for like a week and we are proving our worth in a patriarchal society of yours.
My parents play an integral role in who I am today as a person. When I was a child, I remember my Mother not cooking for my father during her periods. My father would cook for the entire family during those days and we as kids relished a different taste of food. But I was small enough to not understand the shunning my mother had to go through during her periods. But after my puberty, things changed. My father saw me through my periods and since then my mother never was deprived from cooking for him, even during the periods. He never could imagine me going through something like that . Being a parent to a girl child is a huge responsibility. My father, a simple man from a rural background, never made me feel that periods are a big thing. He never raised me as a girl, one of the main reasons why I have been very callous about being girly. He actually never let me or my Mom use our periods as an excuse to get rid of any work, unless we are actually in a lot of pain. He is the reason why we feel this is the most normal thing ever. I sometimes feel, it is a defense mechanism for fathers to protect their daughters in this big bad world by bringing us up this strong. To all the fathers out there, you play the most important role in normalizing periods in their life. How you see it is how they will see it.
Being affected by PCOS, I understand the importance of my periods. I am the happiest when it happens because its the most important sign that we are healthy and our body is functioning normal. Cursing or praying for it to not happen will not ease the pain during those days. Accepting it as an identity of being a woman will lessen the suffering.
Empowerment has been spoken of very highly in the higher class societies and many bigwigs are fighting for it by displaying sanitary pads or by going bra-less or by not waxing off your body hair and many such stunts. But I believe empowerment is the freedom to do anything as she wishes to do. Periods can and should never come in the way of pursuing education or a career or a hobby. This is a crucial fight that our country women are struggling to win over and live a life with pride and respect.
Participate and contribute however you wish to but do it. No matter how much of a feminist you can call me, but its been long long due. The patriarchal society, even now owes a lot to us because we are still not equals.
Arunachalam Muruganantham, the padman said something nice and simple in this documentary. The strongest ever creation of God is not an Elephant or a Tiger or a Lion or a Man, its a Woman, PERIOD
Please go through the links below and do your bit.
