If you are passionate about teaching, then Hackberry offers you franchise opportunities to turn this passion into your profession. Fill out the form now!
Awadh Girls’ Degree College (AGDC) in Lucknow now have the facility of a sanitary napkin vending machine right within the premises of their college.
Awadh Girls’ Degree College (AGDC) in Lucknow now has the facility of a sanitary napkin vending machine right within the college premises.
With each passing day, India is earning the reputation of a nation where women bear the brunt from various watchdogs of society and in every sphere of life. The ground reality though continues to change and one can encounter delightful and empowering stories of steps taken which would have been unheard of only a couple of years back.
One such story comes from the city of Lucknow, where the students of Awadh Girls’ Degree College (AGDC) now have the facility of a sanitary napkin vending machine right on the premises of their college. No more dreading any changes in their menstrual cycle for these girls; no more running to the college nurse and no more waiting for approvals. The machine has been installed right inside their washroom and any one can instantly get a pad at Rs. 10. It is a boon especially for those girls who find it difficult to open up about their periods to anyone. It is a sensitive step which would go a long way in providing girls a sense of inclusion and has garnered applause from the students.
Menstruation is a monthly phenomenon and the world usually turns a blind eye to all the basic necessities that it entails. Every woman is left to fend for herself while trying to create an illusion that all her days are the same. Since childhood girls are taught to relate menstruation with the feeling of shame and are taught to leave no stone unturned to hide this inescapable natural occurrence.
By taking this welcome step, the college authorities of AGDC has acted as a catalyst for change as they decided to have a dialogue about a forbidden topic and took a concrete step in the right direction. One college of Lucknow has taken the first step, here’s hoping for more colleges to follow suit.
Sanitary napkins image via Shutterstock
I am a dreamer with an irrepressible zest for life. I aspire to be a story teller by using various forms of art. I observe life, people and places, and for that I want to read more...
Women's Web is an open platform that publishes a diversity of views, indivisual posts do not necessarily represent the platofrom's views and opinions at all times.
Stay updated with our Weekly Newsletter or Daily Summary - or both!
My house-help asked excitedly, “I am going for wedding. Can you let me wear your red & black saree? To be honest I was stumped for a moment; I didn’t know what to say but I still said yes.
I lent a gorgeous saree to my house-help for a wedding in her family. Soon I stated getting questions if I would wear that saree again or if I was okay to be seen wearing the same saree my house-help was wearing?
We are all so conditioned to give our used clothes to our house-helps but are we okay to wear the clothes they were wearing?
A few days ago she came excitedly to me, “I am going for a family wedding. I want to wear your red & black saree, Ill wash and give it to you after the function. Please can you let me wear it?”
Beauty is a very clever, very evil capitalist tool. It traps those who have it into hanging on to it for dear life and those who don't into mutilating, torturing themselves to achieve the unachievable.
I recently wrote a piece about MP Shashi Tharoor’s tweet in which he had shared a pic with six women parliamentarians tagging them and saying “Who says the Lok Sabha isn’t an attractive place to work?”
There was a rash of comments on the post shared on Instagram, which ranged from “chill, it’s just a compliment” and “stop overthinking compliments”, to (worried) men lamenting about “these feminazi”.
Here’s my answer to all those comments.
Movies like Padman and people like A. Murugananthan need to be commended for helping make menstruation just another 'normal' topic.
Movies like Padman and people like A. Murugananthan need to be commended for doing their bit to make menstruation just another ‘normal’ topic that can be discussed openly.
Last week, the trailer of the much awaited movie #PadMan was launched. Starring the dependable Akshay Kumar, the multi talented Radhika Apte and fashion queen Sonam Kapoor, this was the maiden venture of MrsFunnybones production run by author and actress Twinkle Khanna. Based of the real life story of menstrual man Arunachalam Muruganantham, this is his journey of becoming a social entrepreneur by manufacturing machines to generate low-cost sanitary napkins and motivating women to become financially independent through the machines. All this started because he wanted to make his wife’s life easy during those days of bleeding.
What makes this movie interesting and worth appreciation is that it is one of the rare films to openly talk about topics that are still hushed behind closed doors. Yes, women bleed every month, quite a lot of them suffer from severe cramps and indeed they use sanitary napkins or now even menstrual cups to keep themselves dry and comfortable. So why do we need to pretend like it doesn’t happen or worse still, that it is a matter of shame?
Why are periods shameful? Break the silence around periods by encouraging young girls to buy their own sanitary napkins, and see them grow into confident girls!
I had my first period earlier than most people I know. I was an 11-year-old, still quite unclear about the whole concept, when Aunt Flo decided to visit me.
So, at that age firstly there was the stigma about being ‘different’ from all my classmates, since none of my friends faced it so early. Secondly, came the very difficult proposition of managing the whole stain episodes. As if these were not enough, the problem of buying pads seemed to be the scariest of them all. I couldn’t buy those myself for the fear of being judged.