Students at Beaconhouse National University (BNU), Lahore, have put up messages written on menstruation (sanitary) pads all over a college wall.
Why?
They call it period protest. A group of students covered a wall of their university with messages scribbled on 25 sanitary stick-on pads protesting against “the stigma attached to menstruation” and the shame with which the subject is discussed.
With messages like, “This blood is not dirty” and “Periods make us hornier”, students are trying to break down taboos and counter the stigma that still surrounds menstruation.
According to Scroll.in, students Mavera Rahim, Eman Suleman, Mehsum Basharat, Noor Fatima, Sherbaz Lehri and Asad Sheikh wanted to protest aesthetically against something as part of a college assignment, and they choose this issue to be able to bust taboos surrounding it.
Mavera Rahim even took to her Facebook wall and uploaded a picture of the wall covered with pads, with a long caption, explaining why the group choose to do this particularly.
Many people have been asking me about this protest that Eman, Mehsum, Noor Fatima, Asad, Sherbaz and I conducted in…
Posted by Mavera Rahim on Thursday, April 7, 2016
Mavera clearly explains that “the protest was against the stigma attached to menstruation and the sharmindagi (shame) with which we discuss it.”
“We are made to put pads in brown paper bags when we buy them, we are made to talk about periods in hushed voices as if it’s a dirty secret, and all in all made to act as if it is something we should hide more so than other bodily functions, when it’s really a natural part of our biology,” Mavera continues.
In India, at a lot of places still, menstruating women are not allowed to enter temples or even the kitchen.
“Several women contract diseases because they are not fully informed of hygienic practices when it comes to menstruation because very few people will actually discuss it,” Mavera said. “Over centuries and across different cultures, people have approached menstruation differently, some celebrating it and some shaming menstruating women. Our idea was to break this taboo around the subject in our society.”
With bold initiatives like these, we’re sure the word ‘period’ will enjoy a free-er environment soon enough!
Many took to Twitter to express solidarity with the students:
Lo ji.haha We need more initiatives such. Let’s get past brown bagging & period shaming.https://t.co/Umsa5dTvcI pic.twitter.com/PF5O6MLyLk“
— mian Jan nisar (@khanji224) April 10, 2016
@ImaZompire_ @mangobaaz @aliya_arshad @shhrbano If my God can talk about these taboos in Surah An-Nisa then they are not immoral for me.
— Sarmad Amer (@TheRedGlasses) April 10, 2016
Well done!! Students Just Covered a Wall at BNU #Lahore With #Menstruation Pads and powerful messages https://t.co/LM1iwUmaI6
— Giovanna Gioli (@gggioli) April 10, 2016
Courtesy India Today