I’m just menstruating!

Recently I went to a party and something happened there which encouraged me to write this article. A girl, her age must not have been more than 18 or 19 years old, had gotten a small blood stain on her kurta.  One of her neighbors made it an issue, telling her mother various things about the incident. Some of the things she said were on the following lines:  that she should stay in one room, shouldn’t go out of the house, shouldn’t enter the kitchen and other such nonsensical things, but the girl responded back wonderfully. She said, “Aunty, I’m just menstruating, which is not a big deal. It’s a natural phenomenon which I think you must know about being a woman yourself.”

The look on that lady’s face was worth a glance on hearing this response!

My point is this – why should we make those five to seven days of periods such a big issue, even when a girl might be suffering from some serious illness other than her periods? I am honestly surprised to see such ignorant and orthodox thinking in women towards menstruation. Why should one be ashamed about getting periods? Why is it a big deal if one’s brother or father or friend comes to know about our periods?

For those who label it as an awful thing for a woman, especially teenagers, I’d like to tell them that menstruation is a beautiful process which enables you to give birth to a beautiful life and turns you into a beautiful and grown-up woman – the same woman who later on takes care of her family and even creates a family of her own. I have been told that motherhood is the best feeling in this world and it is menstruation that enables you to enjoy and feel the joy of motherhood. So I sincerely request people to stop making menstruation such a big deal.
We women undergo a natural bodily phenomenon where we get periods for five to seven days in a month but it’s very normal for us and our bodies and minds usually accept it. So others should really stop exaggerating about it because we’re not suffering from some serious incurable ailment here, we’re just going through a natural biological process.

Cheers to womanhood!

Author : Naina Jha

She works as “Client Servicing Manager” with an advertising agency in Delhi. She has also worked with an NGO, called “Inter College Women’s Association” for 5 years and participates in various social activities.

She blogs here.

Edited by Divya Rosaline