Glorification Of Isolating Women From Family During Periods Must End

Even though we are speeding towards a new age, certain videos, comments or incidents become a big setback. They remind us that the fight against patriarchy is long and far from reaching the zenith. A new video has surfaced on the internet in which an influencer mother is glorifying her daughter for sitting and eating on the floor. Do you know the reason behind it? Because she is on her periods. Yes you heard that right! 

The influencer from Surat who goes by the name Rupal Mitul Shah shared a video on her Instagram account of her family having lunch together. While initially, the video does show the 'togetherness, it immediately cuts down to the young woman sitting on the floor with a plate. 

In the caption, Shah wrote that the family is enjoying a lunch together in their new home. She then draws the focus to her daughter sitting and eating on the floor and says that avoiding person-to-person contact during periods is a "decision" taken in her family and has been followed for ages. 

Although the post has now been removed, it drew a lot of backlash. On the microblogging website, X (formerly Twitter), people have come down heavily on the video and expressed their criticism. 

A user writes, "Women are asked to avoid “person to person contact” when they’re on their period in 2023 & this woman is just casually posting about it. it’s just extremely sad." While another user points out the period taboo of untouchability saying, "Bro???!!! The caption???? You’re telling me you and your daughter “love to follow” a tradition that treats women as untouchables for ..a normal bodily function? And you’re not gonna even TRY changing that"

Period glorification needs to stop

Indeed it is sad that even in 2023, we are following regressive customs. It is shocking that even in 2023, we are putting women's self-respect, dignity and even health at risk by propagating period taboos in the name of tradition. Even in the year when menstrual leave is in the talks, we are following beliefs that push women down the drain of injustice and irrationality. If an empowered woman like an influencer propagates period taboos, what can we expect from people around us? How can one support period taboos as "decision" taken anonymously by her family and a tradition being followed proudly? 

Even though Shah has deleted her video, she cannot delete the idea that period taboos are still relevant in the posh colonies of our country. This is not the first time that elitism and literacy have hit a new low. Remember the Bhuj College incident reported earlier this year? Female students were asked to show their panties to prove if they were menstruating or not. Why? So that those women do not enter the dining room and religious places and make them impure. If educational institutions uphold period myths and taboos, what can we expect from the outside world? 

A WHO survey conducted in 2017 in some of the major cities of India shows that 45 per cent of girls still believe periods as taboo. 45 per cent still don’t have access to pads, while many still rely on cloth and do not consider pads as an essential need.

However, important to note that the traditions never considered menstruating women as impure. The rules were created so that women could rest on the days of their periods. But that too is a choice now. Different women have different period experiences. Some can function normally, while others feel the menstruating days are heavy because they are very taxing on their bodies. 

What do we conclude here? Where is the change needed? At home, schools or culture? I would say, everywhere. We need to stop believing that menstruating women are impure. We need to stop considering them untouchables. We need to normalise periods as a healthy body function of a woman.

Views expressed are the author's own.