Menstruation and its Portrayal in Indian Society.

Let me get it right for everyone out there – it is called MENSTRUATION or PERIODS and not “that time of the month”.

Menstruation has always been a topic of taboo and many keep up by talking about it in hushed tones or not at all. This can have dire consequences on the physical and mental health of a woman. As even some of our schools work on poor education system, let us first know what menstruation really is.

Menstruation is a completely normal biological process. A woman has around 6 million to 7 million eggs but only around 300,000 remain until puberty out of which only 300- 400 get ovulated. If ovulation takes place and the egg is not fertilized, the lining of the uterus sheds through the vagina along with some blood. This is a menstrual period.

How does Indian Society Portray Menstruation?

In India, the topic of menstruation has always been behind the veil of taboo due to certain socio- cultural norms and practices in India. This backward era thinking about menstruation is still persistent in many of the households, still.

*story time* –

I was in grade 6 or 7 when we got our first sex education on menstruation and mind you by, we, I mean girls. We were led to the assembly hall where a quite informative educational video on periods was projected and after that they gave us a free packet of pads. All this time the boys seated in the class kept on wondering what was happening. And when a girl decided to feed the curiosity of some boys and told her what we were taught and showed them the packet of sanitary pads, everyone lost it and started calling her dumb for not filtering and by everyone I include girls as well.

So, when I look back, it hurts me to say that how this stigma has been fitted in our mind that as women, we are reluctant to talk about it out it public. No wonder we were kids and did not know better but how many of us stop the medical stores to give us the sanitary pads in a black polythene?

Indian Households will maybe once look away if you break a traffic rule but will not allow breaking of “period rules”. There are many superstitions that prevail regarding menstruation and some of them are-

Women are not allowed to enter temples during menstruation.
Women are not allowed to touch pickles or any sour household eating items.
In some households, women are not allowed to come contact with other family members as well and they are meant to stay in one place.
They are not allowed to enter the kitchen.
They are not allowed to attend any events or religious rituals as they are considered impure.

In a society where we use slang terms for menstruation just because it is an embarrassing, it would take a long time break out of the cage of superstitions regarding menstruation, but we can start with steady steps. And we can start that by taking a first responsible step by providing an informative sex education and menstruation education to school kids. And as for the second step, we need to stop talking about periods in hushed tones. Women have suffered a lot and I think it is high time we voice out the physical and psychological consequences and stop talking about it in hushed tones and help women voice it out.