As I sit here, armed with research and statistics from people more informed and educated than I and the experiences of friends and own life to draw from, to write an in-depth, comprehensive article encapsulating all the centuries-old taboos surrounding menstruation and the far-reaching, devastating effects on people’s lives, I feel more overwhelmed with information than I’ve ever been. I wonder how I could possibly include every single taboo and every single one of their effects – ones that are, at their core, the same, but manifest in different ways across socio-economic class and caste, and countries, with an added plethora of medical effects. They form a tangled knot in my mind that I don’t know how to untie.
This is when it truly hit me how deeply entrenched the prejudices against menstruation is in our society.
Drawing from my own life, I can vividly recall tiny instances that cemented the impure connotations of menstruation in my 13-year-old mind. There was an unspoken understanding amongst all the girls- never let the boys in the class know that you’re on your period. This was done by the use of euphemisms when referring to our period (“that time of the month” and “shark week” are two common ones.) More concerning however, is what wasn’t understood by us back then- basic, but crucial information like changing one’s pad every couple of hours instead of only once or twice a day and the rampant amount of misinformation that was floating around (no, just because you skipped your period for a month or two doesn’t mean you’re pregnant, don’t listen to other 13-year-olds who don’t know what they’re talking about either.) I couldn’t even tell you what the boys in class might have thought of all this. Maybe they had no idea what we have to go through every month and only learned about a basic overview in 10th grade Biology. I wonder how it would have gone if we were taught the nuances of menstruation, what to expect, what’s normal and what isn’t. I’m not oblivious enough to overlook the fact that gathering a group of 13-year-olds and talking to them about their bodies would result in whispers and giggles and jeering, but maybe, somewhere down the line that knowledge could save a life, or at the very least instil the idea that talking about bodies doesn’t need to laughed at.
All in all, my first-hand experiences with menstrual taboos hasn’t been too harmful. As privilege and sheer, dumb luck would have it, I was born into a well-to-do family to parents who never made me feel like these sorts of conversations weren’t meant to be had. It’s important to note that while every social class and caste is exposed to the evils of menstrual taboos in one way or another, it’s the people from lowers castes that are disproportionately affected in ways much larger and far-reaching than the occasional jest.
88 percent of Indians are forced to rely on often harmful substitutes for otherwise inaccessible sanitary products- including old rags, hay, ash and sand, which increases the likelihood of reproductive tract infections due to improper hygiene. This is due to menstrual inequity- 70 percent of women cannot afford sanitary pads, according to a country analysis of menstrual health Disposal methods endorsed by the Government of India such as incinerators prove harmful for the women operating them. Due to societal stigma, many try to hide or bury their pads in the dead of night, which raises safety concerns. 53 percent of Indian homes lack access to toilets or clean water, requiring women and girls to use communal or public toilets, which may be far away, or defecate in the open, increasing women’s vulnerability to violence.
Due to the aforementioned impure connotations surrounding menstruation, menstruators are forced to not participate in activities such as sex, cooking or praying. The idea that whatever a menstruating person touches will be ruined is common: if they touch a cow, it will become infertile; if they use water — a cleansing agent in itself — they will pollute the water. In some parts of India, women on their periods are not even allowed into communal baths for the first few days of their cycle. These stigmas run so deep to the point where they begin to infringe on political territory- case in point, the Sabarimala temple case of 2019.
Menstruators are subjected to the abhorrent practice of period shaming– in which they are publicly humiliated for being on their period, either by their peers or an authority figure. In 2018, over 40 women residents in a hostel in Madhya Pradesh were gathered together and made to strip to determine which one of them was menstruating, all because the warden had found an undisposed sanitary pad and wanted to find out who the perpetrator was. This wasn’t a one-off incident, similar incidents occur all over the country- public humiliation over bodily fluids in a disposable receptacle, it might as well have been a tissue covered in snot. In early 2017, a 12 year old girl killed herself after her teacher made her reveal her stain in front of her class.
Women are either punished or exalted by the working of their reproductive organs, and that feeling of shame that embeds itself into the female psyche and has tangible and devastating effects on her life. Women who adhere to these unwritten rules feel a sense of moral superiority and are just as much perpetrators as they are victims. The goal has always been to humiliate: if you aren’t ashamed of bleeding, of yourself and of your body, then society will teach you to be.
This reduction of women to their body parts is something we’ve seen in other forms though; isn’t this what we see when we discuss sexual assault? Menstrual taboos are simply another manifestation of the patriarchy- a way to rein in women and control their bodies, in this case, by instilling shame. A women’s reproductive organs are only considered to be acceptable when it is palatable to men, that is, during sex, pregnancy and motherhood. Menstrual taboos contribute to a culture which dictates that a woman’s body exists to be used and exploited by others, and any action in her self-interest or that is deemed to be undesirable is punished and hushed up.
This insidious mindset is one that’s entrenched so deeply in Indian society that unpacking its roots is a near-impossible task. There are a worrying number of other stories like the ones previously mentioned. For every two of them that make the news, thousands are missed and are lost to time, but never forgotten, not really. Unless active measures are taken to educate ourselves- through sex education programs in schools for all genders, this will continue to become another hinderance towards womxn reaching an equal footing with men.
This article is a part of the Period Shiksha campaign, an initiative by Period Society, which aims to raise awareness on topics surrounding menstruation. Sign our petition to support our cause: http://chng.it/w8NySsM4