something you will never understand

I had gone to a grocery store to get some household stuff when I got a call from my wife. She wanted me to get a pack of Sanitary pads for h...

I had gone to a grocery store to get some household stuff when I got a call from my wife. She wanted me to get a pack of Sanitary pads for her.

I picked a packet and tossed it into the cart with other things. I proceeded towards the billing counter which was being manned by a young lady. She quickly went through the motiond and handed me the bill and then began to put my stuff into a paper bag. To my shock and surprise she wrapped the sanitary pad packet in a sheet of newspaper and then put it in a black polythene bag before adding it to other things.

This action of hers baffled me to no end. I asked her the reason that had prompted her to single out the sanitary pad packed for such discriminatory treatment and she had no answer. I did not push the matter as I did not want to add to her discomfort.

My mind , however, kept dwelling over this thought. Menstrual cycle is a Universal phenomenon and every woman goes through it. My Mother, Sisters, Cousins, Classmates, Friends, Wife, Rich women, Poor Women, Educated women, Uneducated women, UrbanWomen , Rural women- every woman for that matter has to experience the menstrual cycle. This cycle prepares the female body for pregnancy which in turns keeps the cycle of birth going and nurtures life on this planet. Women endure a lot during this period besides the bleeding. Women did not chose this for themselves- nature did it.

Then why attach such social stigma and shame to something that is natural and unavoidable. Women do not become unclean due to menstrual cycle. Its just a natural process that their bodies go through. Our intestines hold lots of stuff that it deemed dirty. We poop and piss everyday. Noone thought of this to be a matter of shame. Then why single out menstrual cycle.

Women need to be supported during “Periods” rather than being condemned for something they do not control. Treat it like fever or something light. Women are clean and pious before after and during the “menstrual cycle”. Its the mind that stigmatises “periods” that is “diseased”.