10 Surprising Myths and Misconceptions about Menstruation

It’s a fact that the world has grown and developed more in the last century than it did in the last five centuries before that. Yet there still exist several traditional and illogical superstitions, ideas, practices, and beliefs, especially in the Indian subcontinent that undermine this so-called “advancement” for which we pat ourselves on the backs. Out of these dogmatic beliefs, one topic which polarizes entire factions and causes heated discussions in our society is the naturally occurring phenomena of menstruation. For those not exactly familiar with it, menstruation is the process of vaginal bleeding among women that occurs as part of her monthly cycle and is a completely normal biological component of everyday life. But numerous beliefs exist that consider menstruation as something “abnormal” and “wrong”. In the average Indian household, it is considered a taboo topic of conversation and hushed up whenever it arises. Consequently, girls grow up not having any substantial information about it which leads to extreme confusion when they first experience it after attaining puberty.

There are countless myths and practices associated with menstruation, each more exasperating than the other. 

1. You can’t enter a place of worship– temple, church, or mosque – while undergoing your menstrual cycle as it will make the premises impure and unfit for prayers.
2. You can’t enter the kitchen or cook for anyone else in the family since menstruating females are unhygienic and impure and shall contaminate the food if they touch it.
3. Exercising or indulging in any physical activity while menstruating can have an adverse impact on your health.
4. If a menstruating woman touches a cow, the cow shall become infertile. In fact, touching any entity under the sun will make it impure and unfit for use. 
5. You have to avoid sour food like curd, tamarind, and pickles because if consumed, they will disturb your menstrual cycle.
6. Clothes worn by a woman during menstruation cannot be touched by anyone else unless she washes them thoroughly herself. In fact, in some cultures, women are supposed to burn the clothes they wear during this phase.
7. Menstruating women cannot walk through agricultural fields and farms as they will cause the crops to die. 
8. Showering or bathing during menstruation will cause permanent infertility.
9. Menstruating schoolgirls cannot sit in class as it is believed that they shall defile the school and their fellow students.
10. In several cultures, menstruating teenagers are banished from the house and lodged in a makeshift shed outside until her cycle ends. Apart from being inhumane, this practice is also dangerous to one’s physical health – a girl living in a village on the Nepal-India border died last year after spending ten days in one of these sheds. Similar deaths occur on a frequent basis across the world wherever this custom is practiced.

Needless to say, none of the aforementioned points carry the slightest amount of truth. While these myths and practices are common in rural areas, a significant proportion of urban area households also happen to be deeply affected by these ideas and customs. Even well qualified and educated adults are hesitant about having meaningful conversations with their children regarding menstruation. With an exceedingly negative approach surrounding the entire idea of menstruation, adolescent girls entering puberty also end up seeing it as something “wrong” and something which needs to be hidden from others. 

This social stigma associated with menstruation causes extreme amounts of discrimination and marginalization among women. According to a social survey by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, around 23% of girls in India drop out of school due to menstruation-related reasons.  And in a bizarre finding, more than 75% of women in India use old clothes, newspapers, dried leaves, and other homemade makeshift tools to aid the absorption of blood instead of tampons or sanitary pads. This exceedingly ignorant step can cause infections and lead to other serious health implications.

Lack of awareness is one of the primary culprits behind the birth and persistence of menstruation-related stereotypes and customs, and this holds true for both men and women. Men’s lack of awareness about the issue leads to them not empathizing with the hardships faced by menstruating women and augments their increased fostering of the menstruation-related myths and beliefs passed on to them by their elders. Women’s lack of awareness with regards to this issue leads to them feeling guilty and apologetic, for no fault of theirs. Prolonged exposure to inhumane and unjust customs related to menstruation causes them to actually start believing in these customs themselves, after which they just end up accepting their fate. 

Illiteracy is the foremost cause of this particular lack of awareness regarding the issue. Based on a survey by Oxfam India, here are some hard-hitting and embarrassing figures that paint a bleak picture of India’s education system.

1. At about 287 million, India happens to have the largest population of illiterate adults in the world. 
2. 60 lakh children in India are out of school, either dropped out or not having attended at all.
3. India is ranked 123rd out of 135 countries in a list comparing international female literacy rates.
4. 92% of government schools in India are yet to fully implement the Right to Education act.

With such an underwhelming state of affairs, how can women, especially those in rural India, be expected to know that using a leaf instead of a sanitary pad is unhealthy? Or that menstruation is an entirely healthy biological process that happens with every single woman in the world? Or that they can touch any object and visit any place without defiling it? One cannot expect women to stand up for their rights, and men to support these rights when they themselves do not know what’s right and what’s wrong.

The existence of stereotypical practices associated with menstruation widens the male-female gender gap and greatly inhibits the worldwide and nationwide women empowerment struggle. The situation has slightly improved in recent days with movies, books, and campaigns in India exploring themes related to menstruation and sanitation far more frequently than before. Though it shall indeed take a significant number of years to uproot these deep-rooted dogmas, one can only keep on shoveling. After all, no person on this planet would even be here without menstruation. 

Stay Tuned, Stay Relevant!