28th May – Menstrual Hygiene Day: Breaking
the silence around periods
Why is it that so many feisty,
confident young girls become shy and self-conscious when they get to high
school or University – to the point of getting lower grades, withdrawing from
sport and other social activities? What happens to them during these years when
they become aware of who they are rather
than who they want to be? Could it be
that their bodies are changing, and that nobody understands them because well,
they don’t understand themselves? Can
periods, that are supposed to be normal, interfere with a girl’s hopes and
dreams for her future?
28th of May 2018 has
been marked “World Menstrual Hygiene Day”, a day aimed to educate women and
girls about their periods and understanding their cycle. Menstrual Hygiene Day
also aims to break the silence around periods, thus enabling both girls and
women to reach their full potential.
In a patriarchal society,
menstruating women are considered ‘unclean’. As far back as Biblical Days, when
women had their periods, they were obliged to separate themselves from their
husbands and their community. The
Red Tent is a
beautiful novel written by Anita Diamant
that tells the story of Dinah, daughter of Jacob and sister to Joseph. The book title refers to the tent in
which women of Jacob's tribe must, according to the ancient law, take refuge
while menstruating or giving birth. During their
seven-day retreat into this tent, they find support and encouragement from
their mothers, sisters and aunts.
Sadly, the idea that menstrual
blood is ‘dirty’ still stands in many societies today. For
example, ‘niddah’ in Judaism, is the
word used to describe a woman during menstruation who has not yet completed ‘mikveh’
(ritual bath) seven days after starting her period. In the Book of Leviticus,
the Torah prohibits sexual intercourse during menstruation.
In the Hindu faith, menstruating women are considered
‘impure’ and are obliged to follow specific rules. They are seen as ‘polluted’,
and are often isolated as ‘untouchables’, unable to return to their family for
the duration of their period.
Additionally, menstruating women not
allowed to touch anything related to God or be involved in any religious
activity while she has her periods.
Anthropologists of religion on the other hand, point out that the
concepts 'sacred' and 'unclean' may be intimately connected. Where women's
blood is considered sacred, the belief is that it should be ritually set apart.
According to this logic, it is when sacred blood comes into contact with
profane things that it becomes experienced as ritually dangerous or 'unclean'.
Leslie Kenton, in her book ‘Passages to Power’ writes about ‘blood
mysteries’ and how the power of creation was believed to come from the blood
that pours from a woman’s body – like the ebb and flow , the waxing and waning
of the moon. Medieval physicians believed that a young woman’s menstrual blood
could cure leprosy and act as an aphrodisiac (the aphrodisiac part still
applies in some parts of the world today – certainly I have heard of this from
girls in South Africa).
Ancient Hindus taught that all life comes from the goddess of creation
Kali-Ma. The Great Mother’s ‘menstrual substance’ thickened to form the crust
from which all solid matter came.
Even the word blessing that comes from the Old English word ‘bloedsed’, which means bleeding.
This translates that ‘bleeding is a blessing’ or ‘menstruation is a
celebration’ because when a woman’s womb ‘bleeds’ regularly, it means that she
is in tip-top health and ready to conceive.
Just think about it: human life cannot be created without the blood
of a woman’s womb!
So why should girls and women be shy, ashamed and embarrassed by their
periods? Menstruation is the gift of passing on life. Conception is the
ultimate union of perhaps millions of years of genetics passed from one generation
to the next, culminating in the birth of a baby, destined to continue the survival
of our species, through woman.
Join us in
celebrating World Menstrual Hygiene Day on Monday, 28th
May, 2018.
For more information on Menstrual
Hygiene visit www.kotex.co.za or follow Kotex
on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/KotexSouthAfrica/)
