Whispers in hushed tones, a pair of anxious eyes straining that neck as much as she can to check her back, walking through well-lit corridors or streets wondering if she has been seen, feeling more miserable than those damn cramps have made her feel the entire day, as she smiles through work and gossip sessions which leave her more empty and exhausted. This is the story of countless girls, women, who live in perpetual anxiety of being ‘stained’ and making a display of it in public. The newer swankier sanitary napkin ads promise to make periods seem deceptively fun with no sign of the red that flows out of our veins and arteries.
What is worse- the stain or the stigma? The question is obviously a rhetorical one.
Spoken Word poet Pranjal Asha says it like it is- or rather should be. The conditioning of centuries has turned menstruation into an unnecessary monster women must fight with every month and we can’t even show that we bleed. Here is a voice that tells us what girls must know about their period blood – Why? Because it is time.
Period Blood
Your bedsheet looks beautiful,
Even when it is stained in the so called ‘gross’ period blood.
So before anyone commands you to change your bedsheet,
Tell them there is a reason why it is ‘your’ bedsheet.
Tell them that you will change it anyway.
Tell them you change it regularly and if you don’t, please do.
But tell them that your bedsheet has seen your womanhood better than them,
it has accepted it better than most of them.
Tell them about the times when you and them were kids,
Tell them how we used to wet our beds.
Tell them how it was human for us to pee in bed when we were kids.
Tell them the first thing our parents used to do after coming across our wet bedsheets was picking us up and changing our clothes to make sure we don’t fall sick.
Tell them it is human to stain your bedsheet.
Tell them it is human to stain the bedsheet.
Tell others that there isn’t any need to quickly cover the stain as soon as you spot it.
No.
You can first clean yourself,
You can brush your teeth,
You can do whatever the fuck you want to do
and let it stay there as long as you want to.
And then get back to it.
Gently.
Remove the bedsheet, and put it in the laundry.
It is easy.
Very easy.
Easy.
Keep it easy.
Bedsheets won’t judge you.
Humans ought not.
Words will not suffice after so much has been said and so clearly.
It is time taboos were shown the door, especially as they are used to psychologically oppress one section of society.
About the writer:
Pranjal Asha is currently pursuing Bachelor of Arts from Miranda House and has been writing on various issues online. She is a popular budding spoken word poet. In her words, ‘you can find her in Delhi Metro or North Campus giving compliments to random people even on national holidays.” You can find her on INSTAGRAM
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