Judy Rae Grahn, an American poet and author, succinctly captures the essence of the censured subject matter that menstruation is, when she says, “menstrual blood is the only source of blood that is not traumatically induced…yet in modern society, this is the most hidden blood, the one so rarely spoken of and almost never seen, except privately by women.”
Google presents synonyms of menstruation to be “the curse” and “flowers”, among others, which delineates the conventional yet paradoxical view of menstruation being a part of every woman’s life process. A life process that brings life into this world, but at the same time is the very same weapon, barring fear and violence, that has been effective in keeping women subservient and oppressed.
The second decade of the twenty-first century has ringed in the beginning of the normalisation of the abnormal in diverse issues with menstruation definitely being one of them. The urban spaces of India have, in their own ways of discussions and awareness, started acknowledging the normalisation of menstruation.
However, India is a country with more than half of its population residing in the villages. It is important to acknowledge the privilege that the urban population possesses and the oblivion that comes with it. This especially stands true when it comes to menstruation and menstrual hygiene management in the rural space.
Menstruation constitutes a major part of sanitation and public health. Despite being the youngest and one of the fastest growing economies in the world, sanitation is a domain where India falls behind majorly. While urban India struggles to install public toilets, one can only imagine the dismal and dire situation of public health in the villages. Before embarking on the whats, hows, and whys of the state of affairs of public health in villages, it is crucial that we try to gauge the perception of menstruation in the rural context.
Menstruation, needless to say, is considered a taboo, the unspeakable subject matter, not only in houses and schools, but amongst young girls and boys themselves. This is the result of centuries of a conditioning that has not been challenged since time immemorial. Tales told by our grandmothers and our mothers have reiterated to us the living reality of many girls even in today’s day and age.
Not being able to enter spaces of worship is something that is rampant even in urban areas. However, restrictions like prohibitions on entering the kitchen of one’s household; separate bedding and dishes; and forbidding using the bathroom and toilet of the house are imposed. A separate enclosure, far away from the house, is made especially to house the menstruating being. These spaces would sometimes endanger the life of the person itself as they are built in the middle of the wilderness, making them prey to wild animals in the nearby forests. In light of the foregoing, a menstruating woman is no less than an untouchable: a treatment quite incongruous to the festivities that surround the same menstruating girl when she comes of age, in other words, when she gets her first period.
India is the land of the goddess of the Kamakhya Temple who apparently menstruates every year and is celebrated and worshipped with utmost reverence thereafter. However, when it comes to the reality of women, their state of being, the same cannot be said to be true. A mere acknowledgement of something as basic as their menstrual hygiene and their mental health regarding menstruation is denied.
In some parts of Rajasthan, women do not even have access to spare cloth, let alone pads during menstruation. They opt to wear ghagras (traditional skirts) of appropriate material during their periods, and rotate the ghagra as and when it gets stained. Some women, due to the poor absorbing characteristic of common cloth, fill the cloth with stones, sand, and coir fabric, which can prove lethal. In some villages of Maharashtra, women have to choose between procuring food and buying cloth for their periods. While the more “privileged” women whose financial status allows them, prefer using cloth, younger girls of the same strata choose to use pads.
One of the realms in which there is a dearth of knowledge and awareness i s the usage of menstrual products and the resultant health and environmental issues arising from these. The women who use cloth do not dry the cloth in the sun, which helps in natural sterilisation. When a pad must be changed every six hours, most girls use two pads per day due to a paucity of the same or a financial crunch. It also has to be noted that the pads they get in villages are not of the best quality. All these practices lead to various diseases and infections. While some villages have the privilege of having an incinerator for the disposal of the menstrual waste, most villages are bound to add to the non-biodegradable waste by either dumping the waste in forests, burying it, or worse, burning it.
Schools and non-governmental organisations working in various districts contribute to creating awareness and destabilising the taboo around menstruation. Initiating discussions about menstruation, teaching both girls and boys alike about the biological intricacies of the same, and holding campaigns to normalise this life cycle contribute to the change that is desperately desired. PMS (Pre-Menstrual Stress), mood swings, conceiving, and hormonal changes are issues that do not exist in the rural milieu. Creating and eliciting a sense of empathy by listing the health benefits of having periods and the social and economic aspects of it to the men, women, girls, and boys alike, and initiating a dialogue about the same can help in normalising this “abnormal” process.
Another aspect that is not talked about, even in urban areas, is dysmenorrhoea- abdominal cramps. That menstruation accompanied by pain is normal is a myth that has been fed to us. Dispelling this myth becomes an integral part of menstrual health management as owing to menstrual pain, many girls miss out on their education. Various ways to combat it like using hot water bags and doing certain yoga postures is something that is normal for women in the urban areas but not so for those in rural areas. Taking pain killers during such periods is considered by some here to be dangerous, although that is not the case. If used as prescribed, the pain of cramps can be combated.
Also, the lack of proper separate toilets for girls in schools is another aspect that keeps the girls from going to school. As a result, they miss out on opportunities and some even drop out of school.
In addition to the social predicament, the women and girls of the villages of India face hurdles which, in their power, cannot be grappled. The deterioration of their mental health owing to such gruelling circumstances that they live in knows no bounds. More often than not, young girls are not even aware of the whens and hows and as a result, are subjected to trauma. The social prohibitions that are superimposed on them bestow a sense of inferiority and helplessness. Belonging to the female gender makes them feel enslaved. Thereby, it is our responsibility, as a society, to acknowledge, accept, and eradicate this “bloody taboo” that has been diminishing women to “untouchable-dirty” entities for eons. Period (all pun intended).
Smriti has done her BA in Literature from Hindu College, Delhi University and MA in Literature from Jamia Millia Islamia University. She is also an Alumna of SBI Youth for India Fellowship.
In a room of her own, you will often find Smriti speak to spectral masked vigilantes who save the world of mortals during nocturnal hours. As a sensorial hybrid, she believes in the sight of bright colours, sound of mountain rivers, loving touch of jumping puppies, and fragrance of old books. Smriti aspires to work as a teaching faculty to create a dialogic classroom space with vibrant discussions.