Norms Related to Menstruation
Social media has always been the most widely used platform to promote any thought, any belief or any type of norms. This paper will cover a critical analysis of the social media and breaking of the norms about menstruation in women. It is very well known that earlier, women were treated as untouchable object when they were on their periods (Jin-Ah & Cho, 2018). This critical analysis will briefly explain the norms related to periods and then the role of social media in breaking the typical mentality of people about periods will be described. Social media has helped in breaking the taboo about the norms about periods and menstruations. Periods are still considered to be a topic that is dirty or cannot be talked about. It is with the help of social media that the world has now come way ahead to break the taboo about periods. This paper will briefly analyse the changes bought in the myths and norms about menstruation by the help of social media. It has become easy to talk about rights and wrongs about periods on the platform of social media. In the end, the paper will discuss the ways in which social media can be used to educate people about myths and values of the selected topic.
Social media and breaking the taboo about periods
Before 1972, it was inappropriate to advertise about pads and tampons on television. The talks about periods were regarded as dirty and it was no differently treated than a disease that made people treat women as untouchable during their periods. There are numerous superstitions or norms about periods that still exist in the world. Not just women, little girls are also forced to face the myths and it forces them to believe what is not true and only based on beliefs and social norms (Gaybor, 2020). Some of the myths are most prevalent in society are described below:
- While being on periods, girls are treated as if they are clumsy are do not deserve to engage in any social or family activity just because they are bleeding.
- Using tampons will break the hymen and thus will make them impure.
- The most uncommon myth is that girls are not allowed to take bath during their periods.
- The pre-menstrual syndromes are treated to a sign of manifesting crankiness and irritability. It is always thought about the periods that it worsens the mood and behaviour of girls.
- In Nepal, girls while being on their periods are not allowed to interact with anyone or talk to family members.
- It is also considered that if a girl touches any vegetable prior or during the process of pickling, it turns bad and becomes uneatable.
- In Israel, girls are being slapped on their faces when they get their first period and the reason explained is that they will have red cheeks throughout their life(DeMaria, Sundstrom, Meier, & Wiseley, 2019).
- Many countries still tend to believe that cutting hair in periods is wrong. Also girls are not allowed to drink any type of cold beverages on their periods.
The main conclusion of all the myths and norms about periods is that a girl is unclean while being on her period and she is not allowed to do certain things that might make them dirty.
Based on the normative sociological theory, the alternative politics in the medical field about menstruation challenges the paradigm about sexual dimorphism in human beings and heteronormativity. The recent initiatives have resulted in alternative menstrual bleeding management. The period cycle is first analysed collectively by providing different options for managing menstrual blood like using cloth pads or tampons. This explains about the changing norms about periods in the society.
Social media has now come way too far than just being a platform of sharing photos and videos. It is helping women to share their opinions and thoughts about periods so that everyone is bought face to face with reality. Social media is the most popularly trending platform that has become the new normal of sharing views with world. To help break the taboo about periods, social media is transforming the society as it is deeply embedded in the everyday lives of people (Sayers & Jones, 2015). Social media is overflowed with the debates about various centralised topics like menstruation. It is very well known that media has the ability and power to influence the individualistic beliefs, attitudes and thoughts of society. When after 1972, the ban from advertising tampons was completely lifted away, the ads still remained miles away from being accurate. The menstrual blood was depicted in form of blue liquid so that absorbency of pads could be demonstrated. It was after thirteen years that the word ‘period’ was used on the TV. It was uttered by Courtney Cox in the Tampax advertisement.
Changing Norms About Menstruation
The thoughts of human beings about periods and the way they talk about it are both influenced as well as mirrored by onscreen depictions. Some TV shows and movies have known to take an empowering dive into the everyday commonly occurring phenomenon that is experienced by more than half of the world’s population (Willis, 2017). There have also been some hard misses in the way. Starting from the traumatised and dramatized hysteria, the gendered approach which shuns male parents’ responsibility and the consistent awkwardness, the general idea of what it feels like to get periods has also been scripted.
The social media is most often known for over-sharing, be it pictures, tweets, news or any other thing. But when it comes to periods, no one is capable enough of coming forward and breaking the taboo of the period myths. The real question is that will the willingness of people to share online information be able to tackle the taboo about periods. Unfortunately, periods are regarded to be a social stigma. The shame that comes with the topic of periods is still a global issue. A study that was conducted across 190 different countries throughout world revealed that there are thousands of euphemisms associated with the ‘periods’ (Punzi & Werner, 2020). When people do not talk about periods, it is only that they are feeding and encouraging the stigma. A book that was published in 1999 contained a taboo about periods. The book was written by Karen Houppert and the name of the book is “The Curse: Confronting the Last Unmentionable Taboo”. Despite of the fact that this is 2022, there are still many taboos that are prevalent till date. The human population across the globe is failing to realise and see periods as what they naturally are.
Social media is however shaking the taboo about periods. Throughout 2016 and 2017, the world experienced some pioneering moments that shared a mixed response. The response can be either positive or negative, but it means that someone has paid attention to the topic. Discussing about periods in public and on social media increases the dominance of the matter (Papisova, 2016). When people start talking and noticing the changes and facts related to periods on their social media accounts, they feel less scared or worried about discussing it among themselves and with world. When people get shy for speaking about periods, then the taboo just increases. For example the selling of tampons is still not talked or discussed about and it. It is very important to ensure people about making more informed decisions about periods. Social media supports everyone who comes up with talk about periods because together everyone is in this to break the taboo about periods (Gordon, 2019).
The word stigma signifies any stain which sets people different from others, it expresses the meaning that these people have defective body and that their character may spoil their appearance or identity. This is seen in the world today when millions of people each year are affected by the period poverty and are unable to access the sanitary products due to financial problems, lack of appropriate resources or being discriminated. One of the major reasons about nothing being done about the problem is the stigma that still exists in the society and which is a barrier in having a normal conversation about periods (Choi, 2020). The period poverty is prevalent in every country of the world and every year thousands of girls are made to choose between sanitary products or food. Because of the social stigma about periods, most of the girls miss their school when they are on their periods. Some of the teenagers also use unhygienic shoe soles as sanitary pads as they are unable to afford the products. This taboo can be changed by the help of social media. Many of the NGOs and profit-organisations have come together to support the breaking of this taboo around the world. This is done by educating people about right knowledge about periods and by justifying the truth about social myths (McHugh, 2020).
Role of Social Media in Breaking the Taboo
One of the most effective steps in helping break the stigma is to make the sanitary products accessible to every girl and this can be done by reducing the cost of tax on these products. Social media can play a role as being the large-scale informative and distributive about knowledge about menstruation (Patlence, 2021). There have been several non-profitable associations that are held online on social media that works towards ending the period poverty. The Pink Protest, which is based in UK, is working alongside period poverty activists by starting #FreePeriods campaign that calls on the government to bring an end towards period poverty. As per the researches made by Pew Research Center, 70% of the American people are known to use social media and 90% of them are teenagers who use at least one media site. Social media is known to support the fact about raising awareness about periods so that people can talk about it without getting judged or mistreated (Amnesty International, 2022). The open sharing of information about period is going to change the ill mentality of people about periods in the world. The information can be shared in form of posts or by help of infographics because they can educate others very easily as compared to physical campaigning. It creates a safe place for teenagers to talk about body and menstruation so that they do not fall prey to any social myths.
Periods have always been used as a traditional symbol in storytelling that signals about the age coming of a character and how that is often accompanied with disgust and fear of being judged. This happens when it is talked about periods, thousands of myths and dogma comes in between the conversation as it is yet regarded as a symbol of shame for female body. Not just that, it is also treated to be a bodily disorder and a disease that is impure in the origin. Social media can help in putting an end to the social myths by educating people about human body and the functioning of hormones with respect to bleeding. This will help in breaking the diplomatic image about periods in society (Coggan, 2021).
To conclude, it can be said that though periods are naturally occurring phenomenon in human body, they are still treated as a symbol of shame and disgust in the society. The myths that are yet practiced in many parts of world are the major reason why it still feels illegal or untruthful to talk about periods on an open basis. This image is broken down by the help of social media as people are coming forward to share and inform people about periods and truths about human body. It is with the help of social media that the topic of period is no more talked about in the private space but on a global level. Social media has really been proven powerful tool to educate and eradicate the taboo about periods in the society. Periods are no more the talks of shame and it is all possible with the help of social media.
References
Amnesty International. (2022, April). LET’S TALK MENSTRUATION – AND THE WOMEN BREAKING THE TABOOS AROUND IT. Retrieved from Amnesty International: https://www.amnesty.org.au/the-women-breaking-menstrual-taboos/
Choi, A. (2020, October 30). HOW SOCIAL MEDIA HELPS REDUCE MENSTRUAL STIGMA. Retrieved from The Borgen Project: https://borgenproject.org/menstrual-stigma/
Coggan, M. (2021, April 19). Overcoming the period taboo. Retrieved from Pro Bono Australia: https://probonoaustralia.com.au/news/2021/04/overcoming-the-period-taboo/
DeMaria, A. L., Sundstrom, B., Meier, S., & Wiseley, A. (2019). The myth of menstruation: how menstrual regulation and suppression impact contraceptive choice. BMC women’s health, 19(1), 1-8.
Gaybor, J. (2020). Everyday (online) body politics of menstruation. Feminist Media Studies, 1-16.
Gordon, A. (2019, February 24). Period taboo: Why can’t we talk about menstruation? Retrieved from BBC News: https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-47254222
Jin-Ah, K., & Cho, S. K. (2018). Analyzing public opinion with social media data during election periods: A selective literature review. Asian Journal for Public Opinion Research, 5(4), 285-301.
McHugh, M. C. (2020). Menstrual Shame: Exploring the Role of ‘Menstrual Moaning. In M. C. McHugh, The Palgrave Handbook of Critical Menstruation Studies. Springer. doi:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK565666/ doi: 10.1007/978-981-15-0614-7_32
Papisova, V. (2016, August 12). How Social Media and Body Positivity Are Ending Period Stigma. Retrieved from Teen Vogue: https://www.teenvogue.com/story/period-shaming-stigma-menstruation-body-positivity
Patlence, A. (2021, January 20). The social period: Overcoming the taboo. Retrieved from TOTM: https://www.totm.com/the-social-period-overcoming-the-taboo-2/
Punzi, M. C., & Werner, M. (2020). The Palgrave Handbook of Critical Menstruation Studies. Singapore: Springer.
Sayers, J. G., & Jones, D. (2015). Truth scribbled in blood: Women’s work, menstruation and poetry. Gender, Work & Organization, 22(2), 94-111.
Willis, O. (2017, September 30). Breaking the menstrual taboo: Why period stigma still holds women back. Retrieved from ABC News: https://www.abc.net.au/news/health/2017-09-30/menstrual-cycle-taboo-holds-women-back/8996526
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