Menstrual Taboos in India





A menstrual taboo involves menstruation being professed as impure or awkward. It extends even to the mention of menstruation both in public and in private. Our understanding of menstruation was vague prior to science clarifying it. Thus a lot of bizarre beliefs were twisted to explain periods in primeval communities and cultures.

 I believe at least some of us will agree to the fact that the menstrual cycle is a natural process intrinsically linked with a woman’s body. Still many of them follow restrictions during  menstrual cycles, whether it’s in our homes, our relatives’ homes or at any religious event. The freedom of women continues to be in the hands of dominant patriarchal discourse.

 Even today in era of 2018 India and parts of South Asia, there are families, who treat a menstruating woman in a very humiliating way, and her attendance at the holy places in the house or in social functions is considered ill-fated.

 Menstruation stigma gives justification for authoritative men to control women’s liberty and limit them from being considered equal to men.
  • Why is it that the lady of the house who prepares food and does all the family chores dutifully on all the other days of the month, abruptly become polluted and deficient only because she is going through a cycle in her body which is normal and natural.

  • Why are there temples in India which have put up boards not allowing menstruating woman from entering??

  • Why do educated chemists or shopkeepers wrap up sanitary napkins in paper or brown bag before discreetly handing them over to the customer?

  • Why is the little girl getting her period for the first time, comforted by her mother and immediately instructed not to discuss this with her father?

  • Is it only the mother’s responsibility to help their daughters be introduced to this occurrence? If the father is the hero in a girl’s life, then why don’t they jointly do it?  

  • If fathers talk openly to daughters about menstruation, it would become less of a cloak-and-dagger topic and every girl will be extremely confident and not ashamed or nervous about being around male family members when they are menstruating.

The silence and shame around the menstrual cycle has caused severe problems for girls. In a survey conducted in 2011, it was revealed that in north India over 30 percent of the girls dropped out of school after they start menstruating.

Reproductive tract infections also known as (RTI) in short were 70 percent more common young girls and women who were unable to maintain hygiene during their menstrual cycle. 

This kind of cultural neglect of adolescent girls between (12-18 years ) of age miss their 5 days of school due to lack of toilets facilities for girls.

In many cultures, the menstrual cycle was seen as a gift and when a girl would menstruate for the first time, it would be celebrated in public. But this again is a problematic view as the menstrual cycle was seen as a boon for reproduction. Even when people celebrated it, they had a reductionist view that a woman’s ultimate goal in life is reproduction.

NOW READ THIS BELOW- ↧


We  talk about how menstruation is a huge taboo in our country, but here is something that will either change this perception of yours, or make you despise our country even more. 

Meet the menstruating Goddess Kamakhya Devi, nestled high up on the Nilachal Hill, in the West of Guwahati, Assam.


One of the many places of pilgrimage in India, what makes Kamakhya Devi different is that it has no sculpture to worship, only Kamakhya's yoni or vagina. What is strange is that a natural spring in Assam keeps the stone moist all the time. But what it most ironic about the temple is that bleeding women are not allowed to enter the temple when they are menstruating.

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!

TALK ABOUT IT OPENLY, NO NEED TO SHAME 
  • Start discussing the menstrual cycle with boys and girls alike.
  • Stop feeling ashamed about this completely natural and important phenomenon.
  • Try and educate as many underprivileged girls as possible. Start with those close to you.
  • Please stop wrapping the sanitary pads in newspapers. What’s there to be ashamed of?
  • God has not told women to stay away from Him while menstruating. It’s one’s personal belief.
  • If that nosy aunty taunts you for coming to the puja during your period, tell her to mind her own business. If that’s being rude, so be it!
  • Making it a part of their formal educational discourse could be one solution. 


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