45. Why should red look blue?

Nothing could be more unreasonable to imagine than blood in blue colour, and yet it evokes collective embarrassment for the entire family on seeing a sanitary napkin advertisement on TV. As soon as the visuals pop on the screen, the channel is quickly changed. This is how society tackles head on the self-inflicted shame imposed on menstruation. Despite half of the world’s population menstruating for large periods of their lives, a culture of shame and taboo has been allowed to persist.

I find it hard to agree that part of the blame must rest with women who have hidden their perfectly natural bodily function, punishing themselves for being women. Breanne Fahs, a menstrual activist, writer, and a professor of gender studies at Arizona University, argues that the lack of a culture of menstruation could be the cause. She questions why this biological activity is viewed as a disgusting aspect of a woman’s life, and why it remains a subject less worthy of social and psychological inquiry. Isn’t the missing public discourse on the subject a reason for it being a taboo, and somewhat silly?

Had it not been for the recent movie Padman, the subject would have continued to be under wraps. The film presented the idea of feminine hygiene, but the script did not stretch beyond the idea of fixing women’s ‘troublesome’ bodies. 

Why is menstruation not viewed as an event of joyous rhythm? It may sound radical, but we should undermine institutions that deplete and eradicate the natural cycle of human life in favour of sexism and profit. In the West, coming-of-age narratives are beginning to challenge the entrenched notions of silence and shame. These stories on defiance are rewriting the long history of panic surrounding menstruation. The core argument is that if women don’t defy taboos themselves, they will remain trapped within the boundaries of patriarchy.

The emphasis of the culturally-defying narratives, wherein women have come out in the public to share their monthly experiences is that ‘the body, after all, absorbs, reflects, and mirrors the fundamental social forces of our times’. This new genre has begun to challenge the gendered notion and demonstrates the potential for menstruation as a radical form of feminist resistance. From menstrual art to menstrual stunts, from menstrual e-magazines to menstrual graffiti, there are provocative initiatives that view menstrual activism as a game-changer to make the inevitable monthly event playful.

From women being ostracised during ‘that time of the month’ to young girls shying away from school to avoid any ‘embarrassment’, restricting the function to just a case of hygiene serves limited purpose. Unless it disrupts the boundaries of patriarchy, and underscores the reality of misogyny, the case for writing a new story to destroy conventional narratives will remain an open invitation.

First published in The Tribune, issue dated Dec 19, 2018.