Menstruation is something that unites as much as half of the human population, and yet the menstrual experience can be radically different for different people depending on where they live. Girls growing up in the US are socialized to view menstruation as a nuisance that must be endured with as much discretion as possible, and thanks to the accessibility of disposable, easily-concealed products, this is fairly easy to do. Since pads and tampons became readily available in the 1920’s and 30’s, it’s been possible for girls and women to remain active in sports, school and the work force without anyone ever knowing that they are menstruating
For women in other regions, however, the experience of
menstruation is much different. In areas
in Africa, as many as half of all school-aged girls are unable to attend
multiple days of school each month while they bleed because of insufficient
access to sanitary products, and 24 percent of women cannot attend up to 45
days of work per year because of their periods (Scharpf & Kauder Nalebuff,
2011) . As many as 48 percent of girls in Iran
believe that their period is a disease and that if they shower or bathe while
they menstruate they will be cursed and lose their fertility, resulting in humiliation
and isolation. In Asian regions, women
are traditionally not allowed to be employed in professions that involve
cooking or working with food, like chefs or grocers, because it is believed
that if a woman touches food while she is menstruating, the food becomes
contaminated. In the worst situations,
women are forced to use rags, newspaper, leaves, straw, ash, or mud while on
their periods to absorb the blood (Goldberg, 2015) .
Cultural stigmas are usually the reason why so many girls
and women must suffer through their periods each month, and attitudes in India
illustrate this occurrence. In India,
menstruating women and girls are considered untouchables and menstruation is
seen as filthy and unclean. Only 7
percent of Indian women in urban areas, and 2 percent of women in rural areas,
use disposable sanitary pads; for the rest, cloth rags are still the product
used most often for absorbing blood. Because
all of the laundering is conducted at communal washing areas, and because of
the shame associated with menstruation, many women and girls are afraid to wash
out and dry their blood-soaked rags in public areas. This leads many women to hide away their rags
in their homes. Bacteria accumulates on
the damp, unwashed rags, which women continue to reuse each month, resulting in
serious, wide-spread health problems. Across India, approximately 70 percent of
all reproductive diseases are caused by poor menstrual hygiene, and maternal
mortality death is also indirectly associated with poor menstrual hygiene (Avett, 2015) .
Enter Menstrual Man,
a 2013 documentary directed by Amit Virmani about India’s menstruation
situation. The film tells the story of
Arunachalam Muruganantham, a self-proclaimed uneducated, primary school
drop-out, who’s decade-long journey began with concern for the way in which his
wife and sisters were handling their menstrual rags. Muruganantham grew up with all of the taboos
associated with menstruation in rural India, but he knew that reusing rags was
dangerous for women’s health. So he set
out to establish a way to quickly make a large amount of inexpensive, safe,
hygienic rags in what he referred to as a “low-cost, sanitary pad movement.” His efforts caused his rural, conservative, community
to shun him, labeling him as a pervert and an outcast. Eventually he also lost the support of his
wife and family. But Muruganantham was
not deterred from his vision. While his
methods were, at times, unorthodox (at one point he began collecting used
prototypes of his pads from University women in order to further study the effectiveness
of his pads and the needs of the women), he was eventually able to create a
very simple, effective, sustainable machine that could produce large amounts of
absorbent menstrual padding.
Muruganantham has since installed 643 machines in 23 of
India’s 29 states (Avett, 2015) . The machines are basic in construction making
them sustainable and easy to construct and repair, and the facilities that house
the machines can be managed with little training or oversight. He employs at least 10 local women to operate
each machine, providing thousands of women with work opportunities in areas
where jobs for women are scarce. Muruganantham
is now considered a successful social entrepreneur in India, and he has had
many offers from corporations to sell his invention for commercial use. Despite these offers, he refuses to
commercialize, and continues to provide machines to groups of rural Indian women. His commitment to social justice and aid has
led many to hail him as a visionary.
Muruganantham continues to expand his invention and he frequently
lectures about menstrual health and the dangers of social stigma surrounding
menstruation. Ultimately,
Muruganantham’s innovation is benefiting tens of thousands of girls and women
by generating jobs, creating sanitary products, offering a safe place to get
these products, and providing peace of mind and empowerment to women all over
India.
If you’re interested in watching Menstrual Man, go to the documentary’s website: http://www.menstrualman.com/
Avett, S. (2015, September 3). Meet Menstrual Man,
Your New Hero. Retrieved from Bust:
http://bust.com/meet-menstrual-man-your-new-hero.html
Goldberg, E. (2015, July 14). All The Inconceivable
Ways Women Deal With Their Periods Worldwide... And How To Help. Retrieved
from The Huffington Post:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/07/14/menstruation-myths_n_7495568.html
Scharpf, E., & Kauder Nalebuff, R. (2011, November
17). When a Period Ends More Than a Sentence. Retrieved from Huffpost
Healthy Living:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/elizabeth-scharpf-and-rachel-kauder-nalebuff/when-a-period-ends-more-t_b_172862.html
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