Menstruation and the belief

A lot has been written and talked about menstruation, the taboos, the stigma and the problems attached to it. Of course it’s nothing new or private that cannot be discussed in public but I still feel some part of it is personal and intimate to the women.  I don’t find it wise to show off photographs with menstrual blood stained pants in the social media. 

I see menstruation in a very different light. For me it is a blessing. It is my natural phenomenon. It is a spiritual and calming affair. It is the process that gives life and energy.  And for nothing I would bargain this grace with men. I am happy with my body and its happening.

I agree there are lots of unnecessary restriction and disgrace attached to the menstrual cycle. And this never ending dispute is running down in families between young and old generation.  What causes this disagreement is lack of knowledge and awareness. When in teenage I could never find a valid reason for not entering temples, avoiding curd and pickles during ‘those days of the month’.  And it can make any one rebellious when during the most important functioning of your body you are being called ‘impure’, ‘dirty’ or ‘untouchable’. 

We tend to follow customs and traditions taught to us by our elders without a proper understanding and reasoning and ultimately we re- model and re - frame them as per our convenience and keep passing them on to our generations. Using word like “impure” for menstruating women is very misguiding and misleading. The facts are very different, practices which are being done on the pretext of being ‘dirty’ and ‘impure’ are actually ancient wisdom to protect and preserve the women from any harm.

Related to this you will find some fascinating read here:

Unearthing menstrual wisdom – Why we don’t go to the temple, and other practices

Menstrual taboos and ancient wisdom

Menstrual products and rural Indian women

There is no such thing as menstrual rights or menstrual freedom, fighting unnecessary for it don’t make you liberal. Unearthing taboos and getting into the right path with right knowledge is all that is really required. Some things are not about discrimination its discretion.

Running campaign and agitation for whether females should be allowed to pray inside a particular temple is purposeless, step ahead why not run a crusade to feed the many deprived and needy standing outside the temple. We need to work on the right human cause not the political cause.

Let us be true and hardcore feminist and fight for the need for toilets, importance of education, preventing trafficking, slavery, female infanticide, maternal deaths and dowry.  

 (I might be sounding strange and many won’t agree with the part of content in this post. The views expressed here are no sort of endorsement and are completely my personal.)

Wish to know your views and beliefs in the comment section below.