FlippED is An ED Original style wherein two bloggers come together to share their opposing or orthogonal perspectives on an interesting subject.
In this time of modernisation, the very fact that we’re debating over menstruation and whether it should be celebrated or not is rather shameful and ironic.
But then again we all know it is the need of the hour, so here read what are bloggers have to say on: Should menstruation be celebrated?
“Celebration is equal to creating awareness and hence, menstruation should definitely be celebrated!” ~ Yogita Rathore
Firstly, by celebration, I don’t mean that a woman should go on gathering people and partying on getting her periods. By celebration here, I mean creating awareness! And awareness can only be created if you create a buzz around something.
For years so many taboos have been attached to the process of menstruation, so it is rather unfair to say that it is just like any natural bodily process then why celebrate! NO, it isn’t like the natural process of peeing or pooping!
You go to a loo and take a shit, pretty sure no one is gonna bat an eye but hey if you get your periods, goodbye to entering a temple, goodbye to praying. Hell, goodbye to even having pickles!
In sanitary pad advertisements, blood is not even shown. Instead, a blue liquid (not red) is shown to demonstrate the usage of a pad. Companies are coming up with pads wrapped in materials that don’t make noise. It’s like we’re trying to hide the apparent fact that women menstruate.
In the midst of all this, talking and educating little girls about menstruation becomes absolutely necessary. Instagram removed a picture of a menstruating woman posted by Rupi Kaur saying it was derogatory but when people revolted over it by posting about it, Instagram had to apologize to Rupi Kaur.
What was the end result? HUGE MASSES BECAME AWARE.
Similarly, even today it’s difficult to find a shop that packs sanitary napkins in a transparent carry bag. The contents need to be ‘hidden’. But think about it. What makes a country of more than 1 billion people treat something as essential as sanitary napkins like “radioactive isotopes” as pointed out by Twinkle Khanna?
In Karnataka in fact, a girl’s first menstruation is actually celebrated in order to make her feel at ease and make others’ aware that it’s only natural to go through such a process. And to set an example that people shouldn’t attach taboos to it.
It is about time we get rid of these ancient thought processes and rather come together and celebrate the beautiful process of menstruation, in order to make people aware, in order to get rid of the taboos!
Women should feel celebratory in the sense that, “hey it’s my body and it’s natural to menstruate” instead of abiding by the age old obsolete customs!
It is a rather practical approach to getting rid of all the taboos!
Read More: Denial Of Sanitary Napkins To Women Inmates Makes Life Hell For Them In Jails (Video)
“It’s a bodily process, let’s treat it like one. Awareness and celebration are two VERY different things.” ~ Sahib Singh
Now, you may argue that menstruation is something which causes pain, cramps, mood swings, etc. and how women go through it every month but at the end of the day, I tend to stay practical and see things for what they are and in this case, periods are nothing but a *drumroll* “NATURAL BODILY PROCESS”.
It’s your body’s way of saying, “Well done, you’ve gone another month without being pregnant.”
Now, when I say that periods are a bodily process, I put them in the same domain as peeing or pooping and you don’t celebrate those two, do you? They are your body’s way of excreting out undigested food and periods are your body’s way of excreting unfertilized eggs.
The taboo associated with periods which labels the women going through them as “unhygienic” or “impure” or “unholy” is downright preposterous and vehemently stupid.
Now, focus on how I’m trying to differentiate between the two.
On one side, you’re trying to explain to the people who are “unaware” about the concept of periods by rationally framing an argument and debunking the taboos whereas on the other side, you’re celebrating periods by advertising them as something heroic, shouting slogans, rallying against the stereotypes and that just makes you look like an activist on steroids and the people don’t even get what you’re trying to put forth.
Like,”WHAT ARE YOU EVEN CELEBRATING FOR?”.
In a country like India where taboos are a part of the normal man’s staple food and balanced diet in the name of “culture” and “tradition” much to the dismay of the current generation, education is the only thing that comes to rescue.
Young women or old should be educated and made aware to not be ashamed about menstruation and men should be educated to not shame women for the same. Period.
Okay, pun unintended.
Rubbing the other person’s face into it is not gonna do any good to you or the society around you because I’m pretty sure if men went through the same, it wouldn’t have been treated as something heroic or noble or celebratory, ESPECIALLY under the garb of creating awareness.
Stay logical, stay practical. Educate the ones around you about a natural process rather than rubbing their face into it as an act of liberation.
Happy menstruating!
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http://edtimes.in/2016/05/flipped-our-bloggers-fight-it-out-over-tinder/
