It Stains The Skirts Red

Waking up to a bloody underwear and blood stained bedsheet in the middle of the night is an etched memory for me. That's how my first period ... Oops! I wasn't supposed to say thattabooedword!

Almost every girl, at least in her early adolescent years, has been mindful of her periods. Blood stains on her white skirt are all women's and girls’ ' nightmare.

The menstrual cycle, the menstrual period or the commonly known "period" marks a girl's ascent to adulthood and puberty. It's a natural phenomenon but its reference is a taboo. Nearly every country and religion has its menstrual taboo. Menstruating women in many cultures, ranging from sacred to impure.

source : pininterest

Recently we had a day of menstrual hygiene on May 28th. Many of us will not even know that even menstrual hygiene has a day dedicated to it. It is in fact a newly found day of awareness, making its debut in 2014.

The need to call for this day: 66 percent of Indian girls did not know what menstruation is until their first period, 87 percent of women and girls are completely unaware of menstruation and have no knowledge of the purpose of menstruation as a biological process, 23 percent of rural girls in India have a reason to leave school, 28% of Indian students do not go to school during their period due to lack of facilities and materials; In India, most women in rural areas use reusable clothing to absorb menstrual blood; In India, 14% of girls report menstrual infections.( source : UNICEF )

Surprising? Isn't it. There's more to it.

source: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/menstruation-is-not-a-cri_b_9919618

Taboo faced by women during their periods:
Girls are regarded as' unclean' and should be separated from male family members. Even the reference to the period is considered a social taboo. It is not permissible for the girl to enter the puja room or kitchen (mostly in rural India). It is believed that during her periods she can contaminate the food because she is "unhygienic and unclean" and is therefore limited to touch pickles. Women are shamed when they buy sanitary napkins. Even the man in the medical store will be careful enough to wrap the pads in the newspaper.There's more dumbness to this, itdoesn't stop here. There's also a belief that a menstruating girl has dark powers, and she can get a man to follow her will.

source : https://www.huffpost.com/entry/menstruation-is-not-a-cri_b_9919618

While we may laugh, the girls face heavy consequences. Lack of awareness and expensive resources make it hard for girls to go to school. They'll end up dropping out. Girls and women do not use sanitary napkins and lack basic hygiene etiquette, putting them at a high risk of infection.

Awareness:
The need for the hour is to reach out to our sisters, to make them remove their hesitation. There have been drives such as "Satirtha" to raise awareness among girls about menstrual hygiene, many NGOs focus on providing girls with sanitary napkins and educating schools to have adequate sanitary napkin disposal resources.

source: https://blogs.unicef.org/blog/menstruation-matters-period/

With movies like pad man, and YouTube blogs like girliyappa, vitamin stree, and so on, men recognize periods as something normal and women do not hesitate to talk about them now. But there's still a long way to go. Women have to get out of this social stigma.

Girls out there, you don't need to be so mindful of your periods. Go on girl! Touch the pickle! You have done nothing wrong and you are entitled to bleed with dignity.

“Wear your whites with pride!”