There is an existing culture of shame when it comes to menstruation. Women are asked to keep their periods a secret, they are not educated about their own menstruation cycles which further perpetuates the period shame culture in the absence of any conversation. And period industry and other such capitalist ventures play on these insecurities that the culture has ingrained in us to make money out of it. After which menstruation becomes a commodity and profits are made on the promises of menstrual hygiene and safety.
Every other day, there is a new innovation in the period industry, from pads, being softer, flowery and 99.99 absorbent to companies shipping period boxes on every first day of the month (Ma’am, the chocolate is complimentary).
Menstrual Capitalism
Every sanitary napkin ad claims to have the best product in the market “Our pad a day will keep all your worries away”. As opposed to the big claims the sanitary brands make, Nikat Arora, a menstrual activist points out the dark side of these utopian sanitary napkin ads in her research. When she points out that these ads often to sell their product end up stigmatizing the process of menstruation itself.
For instance, the major juxtaposition these ads tend to have is with the cloth or cloth pad, by showing the fear and embarrassment of leaking through it. The very idea behind hiding the blood or leakage is to preserve the honour of yourself and your family. By showing all other traditional or cultural alternatives women have used since ages to manage their periods while also engaging in labour work as ‘unhygienic’ and ‘inconvenient’, sanitary napkins have tried to monopolise the period market.
Women believing the sanitary pads as the safest and healthiest option continue to use it without evaluating the harmful effects of it. Studies have pointed out that the plastic and chemical-filled pads not only increases the chances of getting rashes but also increases the risk of getting cancer and other diseases.
Medicalisation Of Menstruation
Lahiri Dutt, another feminist critique, articulates on the aforementioned point while citing Foxcroft to make a point that the feminine hygiene brands further their consumerist agenda by medicalising menstruation.
By medicalizing menstruation, one makes the consumer believe that using certain products is the only choice they should make for the best interest of their health. By making it, the body needs pharmaceutical companies to earn huge profits in manufacturing and distribution.
The researcher also highlights that medicalisation of menstruation perpetuates the idea that every woman bleeds and manages their period in a similar manner, a biological phenomena requiring a uniform method of management.
Profit And Prejudice
The Indian sanitary napkin market reached a value of US$499.8 Million in 2019, however, there is no advertisement or sales of menstrual cups or reusable cloth pads in the mainstream period market although the latter is both ecological and pocket friendly.
Menstrual cups even after being budget-friendly is not purchased by the majority of women, the reason being very few sellers sell it, mostly women-owned business via an online market.
Some would argue the reason for it being sold by major brands is less demand because of the fear and inconvenience of insertion of the cup that the Indian customers are not used to. The argument does not hold much given the fact that Stayfree, one of the leading brands of the sanitary pad has recently tapped into the tampon market. The reason being, tampons are a single-use- disposable product. Requiring purchase every month leading to huge profits, on the other hand, reusable cloth pads and silicone menstrual does not require purchase frequently. One Menstrual can be used for years.
The conclusion being, that a big seller in the period industry cares little about factors like period poverty or problems of accessibility faced by the majority of menstruators, let alone the concern for the environment in the long run. It is prime time when menstruating people introspect our demands, besides looking beyond the fixation on sanitary napkins in our MHM discourse.