Periods on the silver screen; shouldn't they be talking about it by now?
“Menstruation” as a taboo has become one of the major concerns among the generations of the 21st century. Every controversial movie on the silver screen feels like another successful hammering to break the mountain of shame. Menstrual shame that had been growing for a long time, box office movies akin to PadMan and Oscar-winning short documentary by Guneet Monga, “Period. End of Sentence” now on Netflix made the menstruation taboos a whole lot weak.
However, today we, the women cannot depend on the entertainment sources to pull us out of the boundaries of phony menstrual shame. TALK! TALK! TALK! It is the only hammer we should be using to break down the forged walls of menstruation stigma. Why us women? Because all of us had been contributing to building for a long time, even women!
Here is why it is high time for women to rise above and talk—
“Menstrual beliefs” are built like sheds in a village
Among the communities, menstrual beliefs are equivalent to the sheds in a village, where everyone creates their own and starts living with it. If they do not have it, they will start building it irrespective of knowing whether it's a true fact or not. And, a woman in that community has to live under that shed till the society tells her to.
Similarly, women have to follow-up the menstrual beliefs built by their ancestors or former generation. In India, they are told to stay away from some kind of food and spices like a pickle, because their touch will spoil the food. In Afghanistan, women do not wash their vagina during periods because doing so can cause infertility. All these beliefs survive because of lack of discussion over the subject. Education is a must to eliminate these myths.
First menstruation is trauma
In India, only 55% of girls are acknowledged to menstruation before they had them. In rural areas, menstrual education is considered inappropriate. Because of this mindset, for 45% of girls in India, the first menstruation is a trauma. Most of the girls think that they’re hurt and they avoid talking about it with anyone in their family. Other girls feel that they have a disease and they cannot tell anyone around them. And all of these girls fight the trauma in their head while taping their mouths. However, if proper knowledge about menstruation is given, and if mothers talk about it; trauma has nothing to do with this natural biological process in the women’s body. TALK!! This is the only solution.
Emotions are not only premenstrual syndrome
Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) is something that women want to deny completely sometime. But, even though they refuse, the denial is tagged with a symptom of PMS. Over women’s emotions, they are told: “it must be that time of the month.” Premenstrual syndrome is somewhat an insult and disgusting way of avoiding women’s emotions all the time.
Menstruation is more than bleeding each month
Among a few communities of men, menstruation is called “disease in women.” However, they often deny accepting the existence of actual diseases related to menstruation. Yes! There are diseases like abnormal uterine bleeding, amenorrhea, dysmenorrhoea, and premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD). In rural areas, even women believe that there could nothing be wrong with periods. And, if a woman is not getting her periods, she is taken for an infertile. Thus, menstrual education is essential. Only if people know how their body processes throughout menstruation and the cause of periods; they would understand the diseases related to periods. Indeed, they will see that it is a prolonged subject in medical history.
“STOP!” says everyone
“Stop!” sign is a sugar-coated shame which tells women that they are impure during their periods. They are told not to enter the temple, worship, or touch their consorts. In various areas of the world, women are advised to stay in the outdoor areas of the home like in a verandah. This menstrual belief brings the un-touch-ability back into the veins of the nation. Talking about menstruation and acquaint it with a biological process in women’s body and not a contagious disease.
The corporate industry has brought menstrual products into existence, from sanitary pads to reusable tampons and menstrual cups. It brings in all the comfort we need during our menstruation. But, the real comfort will come from talking about it, not feel ashamed and not think menstruation as a trauma.