Temples. Pious, divine, holy temples. Prohibiting menstruating women to enter their premises since centuries. Because periods and purity are mutually exclusive. Well. Hypocracy?
8 kms from Guwahati is the Kamakhya Devi Temple, which is one of the fifty one Shakti Peeths. A legend goes that Shiva’s wife, Sati committed suicide when her father insulted her husband. Carrying her body, Shiva danced the Tandav, the anger dance which could have destroyed the earth. To stop him, God Vishnu cut Sati’s body with his chakra and the places where her body parts fell are today known as Shakti Peeth. It is believed that Sati’s womb fell here and the place garnered great religious importance ever since. Here, the bleeding goddess is worshipped in all her glory of true, unapologetic, in your face womanhood. Worshipping a goddess on her period but prohibiting plain women to enter temples when they are on their period is nothing but just plain hypocrisy to me. One day, I wish to visit this temple, not for a purpose barely connected to religion, but to actually see if the men out here are as uncomfortable as they pretend to be by the mere mention of the P word.
It’s a strange norm that sanitary pads come wrapped in a crappy black cover which looks much like a small garbage-bag. Because the purpose is to hide whatever is inside as it makes men uncomfortable. For a few years now, I have refused the ugly black cover. It is quite amusing to see the shopkeeper’s reaction when I refuse to accept it gracefully. Some of them are shocked, even feel betrayed that I refused the safety cover they gave me by putting in an extra effort of finding the ugly black cover for me. Thank you, but I don’t need it anymore. Because menstruation is a universal truth and I don’t believe in taboos.
I’ve heard stories of women not being allowed in the kitchen, or not allowed to touch preserved foods, not allowed to pray when they are on their periods. What I fail to understand is, if it was such a hushed thing that one was required to maintain a secrecy about it, doesn’t the whole purpose fail when you outcaste a woman. Does it not mean that the secret is out and the whole world knows? Once again, hypocrisy.
Many educated women I know believe and practice these myths even today. I can’t even begin to imagine the extent to which uneducated women must be manipulated in villages in the name of popular beliefs with zero scientific proof. In today’s day and age, when we are reaching the Mars on one hand and preaching menstruating women to stay out of temples on the other is nothing but a proof of our own failure. It’s important to stop treating periods as a taboo and start accepting this universal truth. It’s time we stop changing the channel when one of these advertisements come up. Well,because we don’t shy away while uttering those cuss words based on women’s genitalia then why shy away from something that is the eternal truth of womanhood?
Sofy Overnight is breaking stereotypes with it’s new campaign and it’s time to raise a toast to woman power. It is the longest napkin in India and has a wider hip guard for extra coverage. It also has a 3 way leakage control system and comes in two main sizes: XXL and XXXL. So you can sleep peacefully all night long.
Embrace your period, go to a temple if you wish, touch that pickle, enter the kitchen, sleep ugly and break all the myths! More power to us!
