Ma'am, may I go to the washroom please?

 Oh! Is it that time of the month, Aunt Flo is coming to visit, The Crimson Tide, etc. Most of you girls must be familiar with all these phrases and it is high time we stopped using the euphemisms for such a common thing called MENSTRUATION.

What is Menstruation?

Menstruation is a natural biological process that a girl and a woman has to go through, half of their life. It is a normal vaginal bleeding that occurs as a part of a woman's monthly cycle. Every month, the body prepares for pregnancy, if no pregnancy occurs the uterus sheds its lining . Not just it , the worst part is the abdominal or pelvic cramping pain, low back pain, food cravings, mood swings and irritability, headache and fatigue. Every girl and woman has to deal with all of these at some point in their life.

The society is brought up in such a way that it is awkward and shameful to talk about menstruation. It is always told by the elder ones to the younger ones to keep it a secret from the society as well as their own family.

The biggest problem is that no real education is given to the young girls about their menstrual cycle and because of the unawareness, the taboo is being passed from generations to generations without anybody having a real talk about it.The parents are ashamed to talk about it with their own children, not because they don't want to but because they were not taught about all these and they are unaware on how to teach it to their kids. Menstruation starts around when the girl is in class 5 or 6 and the chapter about our reproductive organs is given in class 8, Still most of the teachers leave this chapter by saying that is won't come in the exam. The irony is that we are living in the 21st century, in a few years we would be able go colonize mars and other extraterrestrial planets and yet we are asked to put finger-on-our-lips when it comes to such an important and fundamental process that aids bringing a soul into this world.

"Menstruation blood is the only source of blood that is not traumatically induced. Yet ,in the modern society, this is the most hidden blood, the one so rarely spoken of and almost never seen, except privately by women" - Judy Grahn

The problem doesn't ends here, there are a lot of social restrictions that are imposed by the elder ones to girls if they are having their menstrual cucle. They are not allowed to sit on a sofa directly,they are not allowed in the kitchen for 3-4 days, they are not allowed to touch or eat pickle. In rural areas  they are not allowed to be near their family members,are asked to wash their bedsheets even if they are not stained and the worst one is that they are considered impure and not allowed in religious places. In some areas girls are forced to leave their school after they start menstruation. Sadly 85% of women and girls follow all these restrictions. In a country where women are treated as gods, their basic necessities are not taken care of and instead are criticized for it.

No one saw that blooded body as they were passing by , but everyone noticed those small blood stains on her skirt  - Parth B

Menstrual practices are still clouded by taboos and socio-cultural restrictions resulting in adolescent girls lacking knowledge and remaining ignorant of the scientific facts and hygiene health practices, which sometimes results into adverse health outcomes. Every 3/10 girls in India are unaware about menstrual cycle, because of the lack of awareness in rural areas, girls have to use rags and cloth during their menstrual cycle and they wash it and reuse it. We all need to change the way we think and start helping out other girls and women.

You people still thinks of mensuration as a taboo, think of it this way -  If your mother did not have her periods, you wouldn't have been alive today to read this. Stop judging and start behaving like a mature person.

To all the boys, you cannot change the way old people think but you can surely change yours. Start talking about menstruation as it is just a normal thing. Maybe you won't be able to talk with older people but you can surely help you friends and partners.

To all the girls, you all guys are QUEENS, you all bear so much pain without letting anyone know. Hats off to you :-)

Thank you for reading:-)

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