The Periodic Disappointment
Time and again, the society lets women down. In new and innovative ways. Today, many of us wish that we had more of an acceptance while growing up. It is too much to ask for, if we were to expect our families friends and the society at large to accept us for who we really are, but I am mostly speaking about accepting us as women; in complete femininity.
The first sign of womanhood, begins with the teenage, and begins with the commence of menstrual cycles. And to sum up a few reactions that me and a few of my girlfriends, colleagues etc received from our families were:
#Now you must be careful not to stain anywhere; Don’t wear white;
#Take rest during “these days” ; Don’t physically exert so much, you might not conceive later
#Your month has started (tumhaara maheena chaalu hai) ; don’t use the “P” word when daddy is around;
#How can you manage to travel during “this time” ? Aren’t you scared something will happen?
When I recall these wonderful moments, I begin to realise, that this is a huge reason, why women find it hard to be proud of their own femininty. Many of us are discouraged by people around us to “bleed”; which is the very first sign of the beginning of your womanhood.
I feel that things change when regular people like you and me begin having these conversations; and make them comfortable conversations rather than tagging them as “uncomfortable conversations”. It’s like that. huge elephant. in the room that no one will speak about. My questions for the readers of this piece are
## Is it too much to expect, if men carry extra sanitary pads too? For their friends, colleagues, or say someone who might have forgotten to carry pads?
## Why not unlearn the taboos and myths; and practise them; like allowing yourself to sit in prayer while you are in your periods. And why not?
##Urge the household names like “Whisper”, “Stayfree” to make products that are environmentally friendly! (A pad takes about 500 years to completely decompose! Isn’t that a bit too much of a karma, or carbon footprint, for one woman who would on an average use 16,000 pads in her lifetime!
