What is Mensuration?? I am sure a biologist will answer a better definition than what I will present here, but just for formality let me provide for the same. Menstruation is the periodic discharge of blood and mucosal tissue (the endometrium) from the uterus and vagina. It is one of the property which is reason for, perhaps, the birth of a life from a woman's womb. But, since, from my childhood I have an itch with the traditional definitions, I have found my own definition for this taboo too. For me, Menstruation is a periodic phenomenon which is responsible for illness, shame, the loss of educational and economic opportunity, and even violence for the female class.
Due to lack of accessibility, most of the females are left on to depend on with unhygienic clothes with no access to basic medical precautions such as soaps, private toilets etc. More than that, during this period they are treated as an outcast from the society, making them deprived of their basic rights such as debarring them from entering the house of "God" (thank "God", I am an agnostic), debarring them from washing and using public hand-pumps, interacting with their kith and kin and so on. In most of the cases, the woman wait for the night to fall so that to maintain her privacy, she may step outside and wash, putting herself at risk of rape and assault.
The first time I heard this word, I was in my 9th Standard but I am lucky because my friends openly took it and soon it became a topic of "nothing to hide about". There was nothing odd about it except making fun of our teacher when he/she used to mention the term 4th "period" or 5th "period". If this is so critical to women safety and her empowerment, then why don't we hear about it at all? Why it is the thing of maintaining "confidentiality", even among those who are "educated". I remember well, the middle aged educated people reacted in an unpleasant manner when I mentioned it during my train trip from home to Rajasthan. Few were in a cultural shock, few were amused and busy in neglecting me with a gentle smile and the ladies faces were as if I had asked them to demonstrate it.
For me, this issue can be tackled only if we debate it, when required like the other ones, openly and properly. For example, only 12% of the women have accessibility to commercial sanitary products while rest 88% depend on, in strict words, garbage. Innovative companies and organisations developing inexpensive, reusable sanitary products like the AFRI pad can help close this gap and must be supported. Government must priorities this. A study in Karachi, Pakistan, found that half of girls aged 14 to 17 knew nothing about menstruation and were scared of their periods, believing they were ill or dying. I am pretty sure, similar survey in India will reveal nothing astronomically deviating.
Conclusion
It's not that the wave for changing the circumstances are absent. Organisations such as Utthan is busy providing rural woman accessibility to basic sanitary products. The Indian government amended the national sanitation policy to include language on menstrual hygiene management. But it's too slow, not only because of the pace with which these legal changes are being brought about but also because that even educated sector of contemporary India is not ready to take this openly.
Well I have tried my best to take it openly, wherever I went as a volunteer for free at any NGO, I took classes on related issues but through my article I am asking you also to join the same.
This is something we need to be concerned about indeed, since its related to the physical, social and mental well being of the females. This is an issue which needs to be taken seriously as females play the most important role in building of the society and framing its future. Its really welcoming that people now have started talking about such issues which were generally prohibited from being the part of social discussion. But we just can't get away from facts and escape from our responsibilities as a member of society, specially when there are serious concerns associated with it. A lot of efforts are needed to improve the lives of woman and children in our nation. I'm hopeful about their future. and Bravo! You deserve that, there are very few amongst us(Indians) who raise their voice on such issues and act on it and you being one of them gladdens me!
ReplyDeleteBond aadmi hain hum issliye :P
DeleteHurrr
DeleteVery true!!! Personally speaking i feel so enraged with this societal practice of treating menstruating women as 'outcastes' or 'pariahs'. Irony of the matter is this that such kind of thinking is vibrant not only among uneducated communities but among well educated communities too. It has been a rampant practice in our society for a long time to associate any kind of fluid coming out of our body with the notion of dirt and disgust. The very basis of untochability in our society has not been the caste division but the division of profession. Why are untouchables called untouchables? Because they 'touch' (or clear) those things (excrement, dirt, drain, garbage etc) which we consider as something 'untouchable'. So the idea of untouchability is very much located in the hatred which we associate with our bodily fluids. That's the reason behind treating a menstruating women as a pariah figure, and not only this also think of the kind of treatment a woman receives after her delivery. Again the concept of bodily fluid leads to the treatment of that woman as an outcaste.
ReplyDeleteWhoa very good point! You elucidated the roots of this disease(orthodox beliefs and practices) which nourishes such heinous perspectives and creates obstacles in the path of development, modernization and most importantly raising the state of consciousness among individuals. Hope sooner or later people will behave in enlightened manner and take interest in taking steps towards improvement.
Deletethhoda aap bhi kabhi "elucidate" karna ka kaam karein :P
DeleteLagta hai aapke manas patal pe pade dhund ko hatana hi padega, har waqt pratham sarvekshan hamara hi hota hai, par aajkal hum thore vyast chal rahe hain, or fir 'elucidate' hum swayam karein ya humari dost - 1 hi baat hai :)
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