Menstruation taboos are very prevalent throughout the world, but in India, there are also many menstrual taboos that are based on religion. Hinduism, a polytheistic religion, is the largest religion in India, with 79.8% of the population identifying themselves as Hindus. Many women follow certain religious rituals while on their periods. However, many people have turned these rituals into reasons for impurity, when in reality, they are seen as compulsory to maintain an age old belief system and superstitions.
One myth that is commonly believed is that menstrual blood is impure. This is untrue because menstrual blood is actually believed to have potent power; it is what is done with this power that categorizes menstrual blood as pure vs impure. Some Indian cultures actually believe that menstrual blood holds good power. In Manipur there is a ritual that when a girl first bleeds, the cloth into which she bleeds is safely kept aside by her mother and gifted back to her when she gets married. This cloth is believed to be so powerful that it will protect the girl and her family from poor health and other ills. On the other hand, the same potent power of menstruation was interpreted negatively in Jharkhand, where people were afraid of finding a menstrual cloth strewn around. It is believed in Jharkhand that menstrual blood is very powerful and can be used for black magic and therefore, women should be very careful about destroying this cloth after use. Every year, around 400 women in Jharkhand are murdered in the name of being witches.
That is just one example of a true explanation behind a myth. There are many myths regarding periods and religions but it is important to do research and debunk those that are untrue or find an explanation as to why certain rituals occur.
Although this mindset is slightly old, women that are menstruating are still considered dirty or impure in certain parts of the country. The scientific reasoning for periods is that it’s the one time of month that the inner lining of the uterus sheds because there is no pregnancy. A very common thing many girls go through is that they are not allowed to enter the pooja room of their house or visit temples. This can be especially difficult when there are big holidays, like Diwali, that are being celebrated. In rural areas, many girls are not allowed to enter the kitchen. Women who are on their periods are dirty, and therefore can contaminate food that they touch, is an old fashion myth that is still believed in a few parts of India today.
A common practice back when our mothers were the same age as us was that they had to sit alone in a room when they got their period. Food would be brought to them, and they couldn’t go near anyone in the house. The girl was also not allowed to bathe during this time. Some girls also had to free-bleed. However, this practice has evolved and is only done on a girl’s very first period. But, some places in India, such as rural areas, still require a girl to sit alone in a separate hut for the 5-7 days of her period. In a small village; Sitatola, Maharashtra; many girls have expressed that staying in these huts is difficult, especially when it rains since many of the huts are made from bamboo. The huts, gaokors, are not private property owned by each family: they are public buildings, therefore it is no one’s responsibility to clean them, and living conditions are not clean for girls. There is no kitchen inside, so the girls rely on their family to bring them food. There is no sufficient bed, so the girls must sleep on a thick sheet as a mattress. Many girls from this village have also said that they’re scared at night because they have seen wild animals roaming. Usually the girls don’t have to stay alone; if there is another girl on her period at the same time as another one, they can stay in the same hut.
In India, inadequate menstrual protection makes adolescent girls aged 12 to 18 miss 5 days of school on average each month or about 50 days a year. Because of some ancient menstruation practices, such as isolating oneself for the time of the period, girls may miss out on their education, leading them to ultimately drop out of school. More than 23% of girls in India drop out of school for the sole reason of their period. Over 77% of girls in India reuse a cloth to absorb blood on their period, and 88% of girls sometimes use ashes, newspaper, and dried leaves to help with absorption. Clearly, these practices are unhygienic, but women have no choice because sometimes they don’t have access to pads or tampons. Physicians say that these absorption methods, and girls not having access to the shower take a toll on their reproductive health, and can cause infections in their reproductive tract. Without proper reproductive education, girls will continue to use these methods, and can overall worsen their health.
One of our followers lived in India for a few years during her early teenage years. We interviewed her to learn more about periods in India. This individual lived in Chennai, Tamil Nadu.
Did you have easy access to pads/tampons?
I had relatively easy access to pads, but not tampons. However, the quality of pads in India isn’t as good as it is in the US. It was puzzling. Brands like Always, and Stayfree, were available in India but they were made of much less comfortable and efficient material and sold for the same price.
Were you ever treated indifferently for being on your period?
When I lived in my Grandmother’s house I was forced to sleep on the floor of our attic. I was isolated from my family and was practically shunned. It was awful because I was always in so much pain and was still treated horribly.
Did your family believe in any period myths (women are considered dirty etc...)
My mother isn’t as strict with the rules as she saw me struggle with their ramifications when I lived in India. However, my paternal grandmother believes that when you're on your period, you should not be in the kitchen, you should not be in the prayer room, and you should not be associating yourself with family members.
Growing up, I (Shreya) was always pushed away from tampons. I wanted to try them in 8th grade, but I remember my mom said no. It might’ve been that I was too young, but I was confused as to why they were so discouraged. From the middle of 8th grade to the end of 9th grade, I had my friend buy me tampons because I wasn’t allowed to use them. I personally liked using them more than pads, but wondered why there was such a taboo around tampons.
Most women in India are aware of what tampons are, but many don’t know about Diva Cups, or menstrual cups, so women are unaware of the benefits of using these products. These products aren’t advertised as much as sanitary napkins, so women do not even know that they are available in stores near them. These taboos are often passed around by family and friends, and women think that using tampons or cups may loosen the vagina, give an infection, or even break the hymen.
Often the hymen is associated with virginity. If a woman does choose to save herself for marriage, on her first night with her husband, she must bleed to denote that her hymen has broken and that she has lost her virginity to her husband. However, the hymen is an elastic membrane, so it can be broken from doing non-sexual activities, like gymnastics or other sports. Also, not all women bleed when their hymen breaks. But, no one talks about this.
Because a tampon is physically inserted into the vaginal canal, society thinks that it can lead to losing virginity. Yes, using a tampon can cause your hymen to break, but so can doing the splits. Therefore, the hymen is an inaccurate representation of virginity. To this day, it’s impossible to prove virginity because the hymen is almost always inaccurate.
Periods are already something that is supposed to be kept secret by society, but in India the extreme myths around periods make it even harder to debunk false information. Girls grow up in society thinking that periods are something they should be ashamed of and something that they should never talk about. Especially in India if a woman is to openly talk about her period, she will get dirty looks from everyone, even her family members. Why has society trained us to be afraid to talk about a natural part of life?
Periods are very taboo to bring up around family members in India, especially males. Because periods are rarely talked about, there are a lot of myths that people tend to easily believe. For example, some men think PMS (Premenstrual Syndrome) is not real and women use symptoms of periods to get out of doing work. Some of the symptoms of PMS include mood swings, tender breasts, food cravings, fatigue, irritability, and depression. As many as 3 out of 4 menstruating women have experienced some form of PMS. Additionally, 32 to 40% of people who have periods report that their pain is so severe that they have to miss work or school. Some men also claim that their mothers had periods and they never complained and period pain “is just like any other pain” anyone would experience so women are being overdramatic. The pain he is referring to is most likely dysmenorrhea otherwise known as cramps. The reason that his mother most likely didn’t complain about her pain is that women are told to be silent. They are told that they should not speak about their pain because it is not socially acceptable.
A man should never tell a woman what to do with her body. Everyone’s bodies are different. One woman's experience with her period is going to be completely different from another woman’s experience. Every single person has a different pain tolerance that also affects their experience. But, that doesn’t mean their pain isn’t valid.
Although some men hate when periods are brought up and the topic makes them uncomfortable, researchers interviewed more than 200 men about periods and the good news is that almost all of them want the secrecy and embarrassment to end.
82% of men interviewed said that menstruation should not be referred to as a curse. 81% of men interviewed said that menstruation should not be such a hush word. 78% of men interviewed agreed that it is time to break all those menstrual taboos and restrictions.
This is a good step in the right direction for change and destigmatizing periods.
A lot of the myths about periods in India exist because of the lack of education. In the United States, there is a stigma around periods but atleast they are talked about in schools and during sex/health education. In India however, sex/health education is rarely talked about in schools, therefore periods are not talked about making them even more stigmatized.
The lack of education in India itself is concerning but its effects are horrifying. In August 2017, a 13-year-old girl in Chennai, the capital of India’s southern state Tamil Nadu, reportedly committed suicide after a female teacher period-shamed her in fron of her class. The teacher scolded the girl after she revealed a period stain on her clothing and told her to leave the classroom. Instead of giving the girl a sanitary pad, the teacher reportedly handed her a dust cloth.
Additionally, a 2016 study published by Nielsen on behalf of UNICEF reported that 70% of the participants felt unprepared for their first period. But it is not just young girls who lack knowledge, according to the study. When shown a map of the female reproductive system and asked to identify the source of menstrual bleeding, only around a quarter of the girls and their mothers could correctly identify the source as the uterus.
In the study mentioned earlier where researchers interviewed 200 men about periods, 58% of men said that in school sex education did not touch upon periods at all.
Here are some statistics that show the stigma around periods in India:
A study done in India found that 50% of men were more embarrassed to buy a sanitary napkin than a condom.
75% of women in India buy sanitary napkins wrapped in a brown bag or newspaper, because of the shame associated with menstruation. They also never ask a male member of the family to buy sanitary towels or tampons.
Nearly 50% of those who were surveyed from South India do not share a bed with their spouse during their periods.
More than ⅓ of urban Indian parents treat their daughters as impure during periods.
The lack of education about periods in India is the main reason why so many of these myths exist. We are extremely grateful for a platform where we can raise awareness for issues like this and we hope to see change in the future.
We want to thank all of our followers for the past six months as this will be the last post for this year. But don’t worry! We will be back in 2021 with our weekly posts and some new projects! Thank you to everyone who has supported us this year! Shreya and I (Nikitha) are so happy that we got to see The Pasupu grow into this great platform with a loving audience! The Pasupu wouldn’t be the same without each and every single one of you! We love you all and we wish you happy holidays and a happy new year! Come back in 2021 for some spicy content!