The Stains On My Skirt

I woke up in the morning and went to the washroom. It was like every other day except the blood stains I saw for the first time. The sight of blood on my dress was terrifying.I was bleeding profusely. I waited for a few minutes to figure out what was wrong with me. At first I thought I was suffering from some severe disease and I am going to die. I burst into tears. But I had to talk to someone about it. I was not aware about the term "menstruation". I told my mom and sister about it. I was told that it was completely normal. I stepped into puberty and my sister taught me how to wear a pad. I remember, I was told that it was my first step to Womanhood. I was not allowed to enter the Temple of the house and I was guided to stay away during "those days" of the month.

They were not very happy with the thought that I am growing up. I could feel it in their silence. I had little knowledge about the menstruation cycle and I was very embarrased about the fact. I did not share it with anyone among my friends because I thought they would feel gross about it just like the way I felt about myself.

My mom had to console me for days to make me realise the actual fact. As the days passed by, I got habituated with the stomach ache and the blood that flowed out of my body. I was never comfortable talking about "those days" and eventually when my friends started getting their periods, it was the most discussed topic in the class but never in a loud voice. We used to whisper about it so that the boys couldn't over hear and the trend did not break yet. We don't talk about PERIODS in public. We don't talk about it in our loudest voices. We are not comfortable discussing about it.

I have known people who are given a separate place in their house during their periods and they are treated as untouchable during those period of time.

But does bleeding for five days in a month makes a woman impure?

Most of the people would make fun out of it, some would feel disgusting talking about menstruation, some would prefer to maintain a distance from the person who is on her periods and very FEW would talk about it without considering it to be a Taboo. Why don't we still talk freely about our periods? Why do the pads we buy are covered in black polythene? Why is it one of the most "Whispered" topics? Because it is the fault in our society, our mind sets.

Some students from different colleges and universities have joined hands to bring about a change in the mindsets of the people. But that has shown us how exactly people are ashamed about publicising a simple-natural-monthly cycle. It does not make me impure. It does not give you a reason to feel gross. It does not make me any different than you.

I have known about people who are forced to stay confined in a room during their menstruation period and they are not allowed to touch any person or cook food. If you touch a woman who is menstruating, you are supposed to go and take bath in order to wash her stains on you. The root of such superstitions and discriminations come from an age old generation and it is being passed on to our next generations. Nobody has an answer to "why?". Because it is easier for them to follow blindly. After all, the society claims it to be that way. Who are we to change it?

But we forget that WE build up the Society. Beyond all the discriminations faced by women in daily life, girls and women in the rural areas have been suffering the most. Little knowledge and ample of superstitions have led to some disastrous incidents. The proper usage of sanitary napkins is not known by everyone because they don't want to talk about Menstruation. Less hygiene and health care causes infection and girls in the rurals areas suffer a lot because of the little knowledge about their periods. When a girl reaches her puberty, she is constrained under taboos which creates an agitation due to which most of the girls hide about their periods, do not use a clean napkin or cloth, lack a proper hygiene. Unavailability of proper sanitation in the schools forces most of them to stay back home after reaching puberty.

Who is to be blamed for this? It has been going on since generations. Women face such difficulties in their day to day lives but they do not complain because even they consider it to be a taboo.

But, Is that her fault? Is that our fault? We are born with this natural phenomena and we bleed every month. How does that make us impure? How does that allow us to be confined in a room? The red stains on my dress shows that I am completely normal, I am having my menstruation cycle, I am bleeding and there's NOTHING Wrong about it. It's time to take a stand against the Taboo. It is NOT a Taboo.

We talk about Women empowerment and equal rights. But we discriminate a Women during her "PERIODS". Does that make any sense? These are the roots of the giant tree of discrimination faced by Women. It's time we begin with the root causes and diminish such superstitions from the society. It's time we stop "Whisper-ing" about it. Because MENSTRUATING every month does not make you impure, does not give any one the right to out cast you, does not give you a reason to be ashamed of, does not give you a reason to feel different from others. Bleeding every month is NOT a Taboo,It is "considered" to be a taboo by our society.

The next time you buy your napkins, ask the shopkeeper not to wrap it with a black polythene. The next time you talk about your periods, be Louder and make sure your Male friends do not feel gross about it. The next time you get your Periods, be proud about your stains. It does not make you IMPURE, it makes you a WOMAN.