(Let us tackle all the myths — which make life more complicated for no reason, together!!)
Irrespective of region/ background/ class, etc — every girl has heard about certain myths surrounding periods and we are all programmed to accept these myths as facts.
Most of us don’t even give a second thought to these myths, we either blindly believe them as these were passed down from generation to generation, or we don’t believe these myths but at the same time, neither do we give effort to learn the facts nor do we pt in effort to break the vicious cycle of passing down the non-sensical myths.
Today’s blog will primarily focus on many such myths that most of have heard all out lives and see how true these myths are and if they actually make sense.
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First Myth is the most common myth — not going near temples during you are menstruating as the blood discharge and you as a whole, are considered “Impure”.
Period is the most natural thing in the world which every female faces. It is as natural as breathing, yet women are still imagined to be impure during their menstruation cycle.
It truly is sad how women and their presence is considered something impure just because of menstruation, and this idea and years of passing down this false statement has led almost all of us women to subconsciously accept this myth as a true statement and that also without questioning it.
Period blood is the lining that is spread inside your uterus walls which was getting ready incase a pregnancy took place. In short, the blood is nothing but actually a habitat being created by the body to start a new life.
Now you tell me, how can something which is supporting the rise of a new life be called impure??
It is the new generation who have the power the break this vicious cycle and spread facts about periods.
Second myth is about the embarrassment and shame due to periods.
Most girls have grown up being hushed up their elders whenever they talk about periods and are often asked to lower their voice while talking about “Such thing”.
The rigid nature and stubbornness of some Indian Families — who are not actively willing to make a change in their life by accepting that periods is an absolutely normal thing , is one of the major root causes of the widespread lack of awareness regarding this topic, and the sad fact is, in some cases, some families completely deny the facts surrounding this topic.
There are devastating impacts of this utter lack of basic awareness about the most common thing.
A serious, recent case even took place in Ulhasnagar (City in Maharashtra, India) in 2023 , where a 12 year old girl was tortured for days by her 30 years old brother and unfortunately passed away — why you ask??
Because he mistook period blood as a result of sexual intercourse.
There are so many similar cases like this one and this alone should be an absolute reason for why there needs to be widespread awareness about periods among both Females and Males.
And this won’t happen if we keep on getting embarrassed while talking about periods in public.
Third myth talks about how girls are also often times told not to touch pickles or even take a bath during their menstrual cycle.
It is actually quite the opposite. During periods it is important to take shower as it ensures hygiene
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Next few myths are going to be more on the biological side.
First myth talks about the age of puberty onset in girls.
Even though in majority of the cases, girls around the age range of 11–14 years start their periods, this is not always the case.
Nowadays there is a continuous rise of cases where girls as young as 8 years old are getting their periods for the first time, and the cause is widely believed to be due to the lifestyle habits in urban areas.
Similarly girls even after the age of 14 get their periods.
Hence it is no where a fact that girls ONLY in the age range of 11–14 will get their periods — it can happen before or after this range as well and there is nothing abnormal about this.
Second myth is that the moment a girl starts her periods, she is ready to bear a child. And in fact a lot of marriages also take place in India immediately after a girl’s period onset as she is believed to be 100% capable of earring children.
Periods are nothing but a sign that the girl has started her puberty and no where that she is in fact an adult now.
The moment a girl starts her periods, she is neither physically, nor mentally prepared or mature enough to bear children. Infact in certain cases when girls as young as 14 do get pregnant it is rather harmful and serves a heavy impact on the girl’s body.
Third myth will be how most of think that period blood is unclean and smells bad. In reality, the blood is absolutely odorless, and the smell that often is associated with the blood arises only after bacteria has accumulated in the blood after its contact with air or other foreign subjects.
Hence, no, neither is the blood unclean nor does it originally smell bad, but regardless proper hygiene should be maintained during the menstrual cycle so as to avoid any infections or serious complications.
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Now you might ask, well, we did get to know about quite a few facts about periods, but where do these myths stem from and what are the different myths and even traditions surrounding periods in different regions in India have??
For finding out about this, read our next blog which will be focusing completely on the above question.