Reforming the Perception of Menstrual Education
Are you shameless? How can you speak about this with the men of the house present? It’s too embarrassing. Go when nobody’s looking.
These are phrases we have been made familiar with since the world began to make sense to us. Today, menstruation is a topic around which one has to walk on eggshells. We are taught to not speak of it and voice our needs discreetly. In an increasingly hushed society, we have the youth, seemingly more aware of the growing problems surrounding periods, starting small initiatives in hopes of providing even the most basic menstrual education to their audience.
Zephyr is a non-profit organization, looking to overcome the lack of openness regarding menstruation today. After having interviewed a few members, it became clear they were sincere with their purpose. When asked why they started this, Himanshi, one of the earliest members, mentioned that they were appalled by the treatment of menstruators in every sphere and wanted to put forward a space where they could feel comfortable, with hand-in-hand learning. They aim at increasing inclusivity amongst the LGBTQ+ community with their platform and through their combined voices, they want to make it explicitly clear that people acknowledge it is not only women who menstruate. Himanshi also states that it’s extremely disappointing to see big companies completely dismiss the idea of anyone other than women bleeding – they make a post or two ‘celebrating women and womanhood’ when menstruation is a vast issue that means to embrace those who don’t only identify as women. It is an internalized belief in society that only ‘women’ menstruate but with the inclusion of gender identities, they want to make this belief less trivial and less insignificant, so their audience can ‘go into the world more open-minded and with utmost empathetic growth’.
Nandini, another member, says that we are privileged to even have access to this kind of knowledge. In rural India, some people are not taught or informed about periods until they experience their first cycle, after which they have to handle themselves with no help whatsoever. They are not made aware of menstrual hygiene, leaving them no choice but to resort to cloth rags or mud and leaves. Sanitary napkins are not easily available in remote places and expose menstruators there to UTIs or bacterial infections. But while the widely used pads are convenient and disposable, they are made of non-biodegradable and non-recyclable plastics, making waste management tedious and highly difficult. Sustainable and eco-friendly period products are only an extra step to lessen one’s overall environmental impact. Considering the pandemic, there has been an obvious decline in the manufacturing of period products, and long-lasting or reusable products are more suitable for use.
On the topic of personal opinions, Aryaman, a member, says that he wants to be able to talk to his family freely about periods and set an example for boys to be aware of such a subject. From the start of their ability to comprehend, males are often shielded from this topic of menstruation, leading to them having no knowledge of it and ultimately, no idea of the pain women face, even in their own family! They are kept away from any discussions about menstrual health making us wonder if it is making an impact on educated girls if the men they are related with (or will be in the future) have no clue about it. If boys are not made to know about menstruation, how is it possible to get rid of the stigma that surrounds periods, hygiene or vaginal health in society? Aryaman says he wants to help his sisters and learn ways to make the duration of their period cycle if only a little easier.
The Zephyr team gained volunteers quickly and continue to grow. They didn’t expect to expand this fast and are overwhelmed by the number of responses they receive. They expected to start up this initiative last year, if not for the ICSE Boards and hoped that the pandemic would subside with the intention of hosting live sessions or talks in small schools and orphanages at a more personal level. Recently, Zephyr held a demo session online on the 26th of May for children of the ages 6-12. As most do, they kept their hopes low but the level of interactions at the session was wonderful. They were shocked at the number of people that spoke up, resulting in a great outcome for a first session. They also want to inculcate menopausal education, a topic hardly mentioned, and perhaps raise an awareness campaign on how to deal with pains or aches in the future. Later, on their agenda, they plan on hosting various workshops, quizzes and games, making activities fun to allow people to be more vocal and confident in finding their own opinions.
Zephyr’s main objective is to not propagate the myths surrounding menstruation but to also reason them out, and establish the very fact that periods should be perceived and not shut down when spoken about. They want to hear what people think or say and why they believe in the other side of things (e.g. long assumed impurity in menstruators in various cultures). They intend to provide content that is not censored, with no restriction. It is an open platform for every thought, idea and suggestion. The Zephyr team hopes to, maybe, have a ‘Zephyr Dictionary’ – nothing formal, just redefining a few common terms that are constrained by their conventional image. They have several events lined up and are constantly on the lookout for any volunteers ready to work with them, writers or artists. They have a following of people on their Instagram page (@zephyr.org, check them out now!) where they post updates and multiple threads on menstrual hygiene, period poverty, etc. They plan on opening their pages on various other social media sites such as YouTube, Facebook and Pinterest, and hopefully branch out to local newspapers as well with short interviews or excerpts, allowing an introduction to the public as well.
I had a great time interviewing some of their team, giving me a deeper insight into their workings and it’s safe to say that they are doing more than just a great job! You can be on the watch for any opportunities with Zephyr and constantly check their page to learn more on subjects you might have overlooked before. Zephyr, being a young organization, is already on the road to achieving its dream of raising awareness amongst the masses about the tabooed topic of menstruation. With their good work, it is clear that if the people are given an unrestricted space to voice their thoughts, they will be encouraged and will definitely express their perspective on a matter supposedly ‘untouchable’.