Credits: The Flex Company

 

 

 

From fear of blood to the non-menstrual syndrome experienced by men, various theories have been formed to explain the cause of the stigmatization of menstruation that is dictated by many religions and prevalent across various cultures. The one common string they all share is the belief that menstrual blood is impure or vice. In India, many outdated practices are followed religiously to this day. After celebrating the potential motherhood or fertility of the child for the first time, efforts are socially in hand to mistreat the monthly visits by Aunt Flo. Initially, several Indian cultures considered menstrual cycles to be auspicious. Somewhere along the way, with the help of mythological stories in religious texts, the way periods are viewed took an ugly turn. Menstruators are forced to physically isolate themselves, prohibited from touching anything washable, and are restricted from entering places of worship. Ignorance and failure to understand menstruation as nothing more than a biological process in rural parts could be attributed to lack of resources but this extends even to urban spaces. We interviewed urban mothers to understand how vastly they differed in the way they treat that time of the month.

 

Arti (name changed), mother of a 20-year-old from Bengaluru claims menstrual segregation is a healthy practice scientifically proven by Ayurvedic science. “While menstruating, women are told not to cook for their kids because the germs from their flow would cause disease to those who eat the food.” She recalls reading somewhere about how many crops died on a plantation, but when menstruating women were barred from working during their periods, the crops grew well. She says, “When you work too much in these times or strain too much while starting your vehicle, it creates pressure on the uterus and creates complications that would later affect you during childbirth.” Having seen her mother practice it, she did not question the reason behind it. When she practiced as a child, she was given no work as it was a time to rest. Besides, there was a temple right next to her house so she was reluctant to break any rules. She was only once ever upset as a child when she was reprimanded for speaking loudly to her friends next door as they were praying at the time. To purify what the menstruator touched, gomutra will be sprinkled as it is considered pavitra (pure). She added that they have a Saligrama (a stone from the Gandaki river in Nepal kept in homes to represent Vishnu by some Hindus) at home, which makes practicing these rules mandatory.

 

Vidhya, 28, with a 5-year-old daughter from Chennai too grew up seeing her mother practice and learned it that way. “It was a period of rest because then I wasn’t given any work.” Even if she touched something by mistake, she would report it to her mother so she need not feel guilty. Her mother’s justification for this was that their ancestors were priests who conducted rituals in temples and that they were madi(pristine), and it would be wrong for the women in the house not to practice it. “I will have my daughter practice this. If she does not want to, then I will explain to her and she will understand. There are a few who don’t practice in the family, I understand they don’t know enough and nothing could be done”, Vidhya adds. 

 

Interestingly, Manusmriti, a religious text, shows some peculiar ways to view menstruating women backed by derogatory reasons. To guard the Brahmin man’s strengths and purity, the menstruators of the house become untouchable as they become polluted on the days they bleed. (v.4.41. For the wisdom, the energy, the strength, the sight, and the vitality of a man who approaches a woman covered with menstrual excretions, utterly perish).

 

Before menarche, very little education about what to expect is given to a child when compared to the list of restrictions, and these restrictions are all aimed at keeping the menstruator as far away from the other family members as possible which could induce a sense of shame and guilt among them. Vani, 40, mother to a 19-year-old from Bengaluru says she was scared that she did something wrong or caused a problem for others during her menarche. She was made to sit away from the family but not told why. Her grandmother would not want to hear a menstruator’s voice or see them on the days she was observing vrata (fasting). In her school, she recalls, a lot of her friends who belonged to the lingayats community were not facing such restrictions and were even allowed to pray. “There were no sanitary pads like today”, she says, “it was only cloth pads. There was the problem of water supply to wash these cloth pads. We had to hide it in the towel and let it dry like that. Sometimes, when it is not completely dried before reusing, it will lead to infections.” She found it to cause a lot of problems to her and felt it was unfair. At times, the menstruator’s health and well-being are compromised for the sake of following customs. When the menstruator’s health is treated carelessly, it changes the way they understand their pain and tend to cope with any degree of period pains in silence. When asked if she tried to convince her family members to stop this practice, she says, “I tried, but they weren't convinced. They have their preconceived beliefs and have an answer for everything you have to say.” After marriage and childbirth, it was impossible to continue practicing. Therefore, she stopped it and does not make her daughter practice unless they are in their hometown.

 

Younger generations are more exposed to a world where menstruation is seen less as a taboo, where the silence around it is attacked by voices of reason. A shift in the way they view menstrual practices is seen. Sreelatha, 50, mother to a 23-year-old, had no objections to these rules as they did not affect her school life and she said she was expecting these restrictions as they had an ancestral temple on the premises. She wasn't allowed to visit or even go near the temple for seven days. During this time, while her friends played with her in school, they avoided her when they came to her house or the temple. Yet, she found no reason not to practice this during her childhood. She does not let her daughter practice it, however, because she realized the futility of it. Modern times and the changed values support her decisions today. 

 

Effective sensitization programs must be launched to remove the taboo lens we see periods from. Menstrual segregation is an attack on a person’s bodily integrity and barring menstruators from taking part in social activity or entering religious spaces is very discriminatory and could be mentally distressing. It could also fuel limiting beliefs among menstruators. Even the positive changes that are coming to how we view menstruation are not effective enough to bring the much-needed usurpation of the shame that is developed around it.