Let's Talk About It. Period!

Defining Menstrual Hygiene Awareness as a public health issue.

Illustration By Folio Illustration Agency

Namaste.

Ladies and Gentlemen, make some BLOODY noise! Woohoo!!

*Someone: A woman will spend approximately 3,500 days menstruating.

Uterus: Sorry, I ovary-acted!*

Most of us were taught in tenth-grade Biology that menstruation is biological. The heavy stigma around periods isn’t just limited to silence and disgust during the biology classes when this topic is taught, it also reflects in how a lot of women still have limited or no knowledge about maintaining period hygiene, because there is simply no one nearby to educate them. Some also have very less or no knowledge about reproductive tract infections caused due to ignorance of personal hygiene during menstruation time.

Menstruation and menstrual practices still face many social, cultural, and religious confinements which are a big barrier in the path of menstrual hygiene management. In India, a woman on her periods is not allowed to go to the temple, enter the kitchen, touch anything, even today. The dualism like celebrating fertility, while simultaneously stigmatizing everything that being fertile may dismantle the women's social position.

These sort of hypocrisies has led to 71 percent of girls in India reporting having had no knowledge of menstruation before their first period, and reporting shock, fear, anxiety, guilt and frustration during that time. Besides, nearly 88 percent of Indian girls and women rely on homemade contraptions during periods, such as old rags, socks, hay, sand, ash, leaves and even nothing. These practices increase the risk of contracting reproductive tract infections, pelvic inflammatory diseases, infertitlity stemming from improper hygiene.

Menstrual hygiene, a very important risk factor for reproductive tract infections, is a vital aspect of health education for adolescent girls. Educational awareness programs are not only fulfils the unmet demand for menstrual hygiene products; they also protect dignity, build confidence, and strengthen sexual and reproductive health.

As per health ministry data, only 12% of India’s 355 million women use sanitary napkins. Most of the female hygiene products are scarce and costly for women from economically weaker sections. Nearly whopping count of 23 million girls drop out of school annually after their menarche and that's because of lack of clean toilets in schools and poor access to sanitary products.

Besides all this crap in the air, women with her periods experiencing moderate cramps, nausea, anxiety, cravings, bloating, dizziness, mood swings and inflated levels of estrogen.

Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS), a change in hormonal levels that affects many women a few days before the start of their period. PMS can sometimes cause a significant disturbance in the personal and professional lives of women. PMS can be managed by medical evaluation, supplements, healthy diet, excercise, yoga and meditation.

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) a serious genetic, hormone, metabolic and reproductive disorder that affects women and girls. The easiest way to reverse the cycle on PCOS is to get at least an hours’ worth of exercise in a day and a diet that is rich in proteins and cuts down on sugars and carbohydrates. A minimum of eight-hours of sleep every night is also essential in maintaining a healthy body, especially in the long run. Eat Healthy, Stay Healthy :-)

India is the only place where we worship a bleeding goddess everyday. Kamakhya Devi, the menstruating goddess, from Guwahati (Assam), what makes unique is that it has no sculpture to worship, only Kamakhya's vagina.

Snap By The Readers Time

Fun Fact: Women are not allowed to enter that temple when they are menstruating. Wait..What???

It is ironic that people visit the temple and some even claim that it is the most auspicious place in the country, but conversations still turn into whispers when we openly talk about menstruation. It is not enough to worship her as Durga and Kali during Navratri, you must accept her physiology too. So the next time you hear the word menstruation, don’t feel alarmed or uncomfortable, talk about it openly, and teach young girls and boys to do the same.

Lemme know your thoughts in the comments. See ya!

Jai Hind.