Menstrual taboos have cluttered our society seemingly from the beginning. Be it tribal practices or modern-day civilisations, the impact of these taboos can still be felt in the way menstruation is understood by us. These taboos stem from a pre-language understanding of a biological process and sway majorly in two opposite directions. While in some cultures, menstrual blood is seen as a symbol of power and seen as sacred, in others it is seen as a symbol of impurity and uncleanliness. Irrespective of how its seen or what culture or religion it may originate from, the effect that it has on our society is the same - a consistent theme of separation, segregation, exclusion and secrecy.
Even if we consider modern-day societies, menstruation and period are not talked about with a name but rather given euphemisms in hushed voices which reinforce the orthodox understanding of menstrual cycles and bind us to the taboo. It doesn’t matter if we see menstruation as a divine process that symbolises fertility or a disease that spreads impurity, the psychosocial impact it has on young girls is similar. With little or no education about reproductive health, most young girls first reaction to menstruation is first of fear and then of shame. This leads to girls being completely devoid of knowledge on sanitary hygiene which increases chances of infection and diseases. Even more common is the psychological stress that is caused due to the euphemistic nature of periods. This not only severely impacts their mental wellbeing but also compromises their ability to learn and interact.
When menstruation is viewed as a shameful and unclean act, many girls withdraw themselves from their day to day activities. Curbing their interactions, movement and it goes as far as dropping out from schools. It is alarming to see how young women feel the need to hide because of a recurring biological process.
If we see the divine fertile viewpoint of menstruation is just as problematic since it forces women to see themselves as nothing but reproductive objects. Their sense of existence is boiled down to a singular activity which reinforces the stigma behind gender roles and takes away from their sense of independence and identity. At the same time, in some cultures where menstruation is celebrated as a symbol of fertility, families associate them to their pride and honour and hence in order to protect their familial names, they tie a sense of pride and shame to periods and burden girls to follow practice and change behaviour which will be seen as appropriate.
While we read about these notions and practices, we somewhere think that these are just behaviour that perhaps exist in rural or tribal part of India, however, they’re far more common than we imagine. In most households (both urban and rural) women during menstruation can not pray or enter places of worship. Sex education and menstrual education is almost non-existent in curriculums and even if taught, it is done creating a segregated environment. Lock girls in a room and teach them about menstrual health - that’s how most schools choose to teach ( if they choose to teach at all) about periods. This does nothing but drags us back to the pre-linguistic taboo way of viewing periods.
If something is so natural and biological then why do we have such a hard time talking about it? Let’s start normalising the conversation we have about menstruation, lets stop hiding sanitary napkins in dark black polythenes as if they are objects that can’t be seen by the world. Let’s stop talking in euphemism, let’s stop talking about in secretive hushed low voices, let’s talk about blood, let’s talk about menstruation.
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