Enough with the Stigma

My first brush with how the society reacts to menstruation came when I was in the 10th grade and a female classmate got up to inform the teacher about something and then left for the washroom with one of her friends and a small wrapped packet from her bag. The very next moment I could see groups of boys mumbling, giggling and laughing. The girls? Some of them looked away and carried on with the trigonometry problem in front of them, others shook their heads and gave a disgusted look. And me? Well I was confused — I had read about mensuration, heard about it from my mother and even had a discussion on it with my friends. However, I seemed to miss the point where it was funny, awkward, or even “not appropriate talking about”. I went back home wondering why the teacher didn’t silence those boys and make them understand that it was a natural phenomenon. That was the day I realized this was not a topic which could be talked about in public. Not because it was something private (every girl in the world experiences it), but because it was considered “impure”, “unnatural”, “unholy” and most importantly “a girl problem”.

The problem with this stigma is not that it is not being talked about enough in the society. The problem is that it is not being talked about enough by the male segment of the society. Our elders have rarely questioned traditions and long-standing stigmas. Fortunately for us, this generation is becoming more and more forthcoming with the issue and addressing it in the right manner. The important thing to understand here is as the saying goes: Change starts at your home. Once we get comfortable talking about it in private, we’ll get comfortable talking about it in public. Fathers, I urge you to talk to your daughters; brothers — I urge you to talk to your sisters. Assure them this is not something for which they need to act weird and awkward around you. Make them feel secure. Comfort them in that difficult period every month. Let’s not let the next generation grow up in a world in which menstruation is still an “inappropriate” topic or “taboo”.

There have been many brands around the world trying to break this stigma for good, and the most recent one that I’ve come across is the innovation-award winning brand, Sirona Hygiene. Committed to make a dent in intimate and menstrual hygiene needs in the society, this upcoming Indian startup aims to put an end to stigmas like these for good.

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