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  Padded perception

Padded perception

| DIPTI
Published : Mar 16, 2015, 10:02 pm IST
Updated : Mar 16, 2015, 10:02 pm IST

The capital’s student fraternity is taking on menstrual taboos and sexism on the streets, with sanitary napkins inscribed with messages of protest

A student holds up one of the many sanitary napkins put up across Jamia Milia Islamia and Delhi University campuses
 A student holds up one of the many sanitary napkins put up across Jamia Milia Islamia and Delhi University campuses

The capital’s student fraternity is taking on menstrual taboos and sexism on the streets, with sanitary napkins inscribed with messages of protest

Most life-altering movements in history have happened in schools, colleges and universities. So, when Delhiites suddenly witnessed a one of a kind movement popping up in their own city, they took an instant liking towards it. Thanks to a public art project by German artist Elone, students from Jamia Millia Islamia and now also the University of Delhi, have taken the natural human process of menstruation to the streets, putting up sanitary napkins with notes on them in a bid to counter not just the taboos attached to it but also the larger misogynistic attitudes that prevail in Indian society.

Delhi University student Charu Sethi says that any menstrual mentions mostly induce one of two responses from people around her, regardless of whether they’re educated or illiterate. “The saddest part is that in our country, not simply the uneducated or ill-informed but even the well-educated and accomplished sometimes behave as though menstruation is an unspeakable taboo. I have so many younger cousins for whom the prospect of entering a shop to buy sanitary napkins is in itself such a daunting task. The sellers as well as bystanders snigger sometimes. I’ve always wondered what’s so funny and mirth-inducing about what I go through every month. And if I try to be funny about it myself, then that’s apparently a big problem too. I’ll never forget the look on my aunt’s face at a family gathering last year, where I was talking to my cousins and cracked a period joke perfectly casually and was stared at and hushed up as though I had mouthed the most offensive expletives on the planet!”

Students behind the campaign, which includes both men and women, have so far chosen to remain anonymous.

One of the organisers behind the initiative asserts, “We weren’t initially sure what would be the reaction to the campaign, and did not want anyone to think we were doing it to call attention to ourselves or were craving for limelight instead of raising the issue of sexism.”

Another activist from Jamia, on the condition of anonymity, shares, “We were really inspired by what was done in Germany and it struck us immediately as a really direct way to address an issue that we have forever been talking around but never really pinning down. It doesn’t get more immediate than a sanitary pad. It’s an image and a symbol that’s so literal that you can’t evade what it’s trying to tell you even if you try. The messages on the pads are meant to shake you up as much as the sight of them does, and to make you stop and really think about certain things. It begins with menstruation, but the target is the much larger culture of misogyny that abounds in our country still, even in metropolitan cities like ours. Look at how our own officials here have taken down the pads we’ve put up multiple times. We were determined not to back down this time, though, so each time they took them down, we went right ahead and put them back up. And it’s so great that DU has taken up the cause now too I hope more universities join in as well. How many people will the authorities attempt to silence, at the end of the day The power of democracy lies in numbers, and if we can really stick this out together, as many of us as possible, maybe we might actually have a chance at making a real statement that lingers beyond the movement instead of fading out with its conclusion.”

Some of the interesting messages read: “Ladki ghar ki kyunki tu tharki ” ; “Period blood is not impure, your thoughts are”; “Menstruation is natural, rape is not” ; “Streets of Delhi belong to women too” ; “Rapists rape people, not outfits” “Kanya Kumari, Gandi soch tumhari” and many more. “I have never understood why boys and men in our country refuse to acknowledge that there is nothing dirty or disgusting about menstruation,” says Debarun Roy, a third year DU student. He adds, “I mean, seriously, talking about sex is prohibited, homosexuality is tabooed, and menstruation is a hush-hush affair, why It is like any other biological process and it is the sign of a healthy woman. Why should there be any hush-hush about the same I have three sisters at home even then I never came to know about this topic until I studied it in my science classes. However, after learning about it, I found it to be so natural. Unfortunately in India, there are still so many young girls who are afraid of going to a medical store to buy a sanitary pack for themselves. Isn’t it ridiculous At some shops, it is still given wrapped in black or brown bags, as if it is a thing of shame or brings disrepute to homes. We certainly need more of these gender equality campaigns that involve full-fledged participation of both men and women, openly.”