Check out the ultimate guide to 16 return-to-work programs in India for women
Enough of this penalising of women for their biology. I'm happy to bleed! #HappyToBleed
Enough of this penalising of women for their biology. I’m happy to bleed! #HappyToBleed
A group of women have started the campaign #ReadyToWait to say that they back the ban on women of reproductive age from the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple, one of the most revered sites of worship among Hindus. They support the ban as according to them they should not interfere with the traditions and customs of devotees.
The customs and traditions bar a person who had no control over the match probability of XX chromosome, thereby making them a woman, to enter the temple. This makes me question what I have learnt as a Biotechnology student.
(sarcasm alert!)
I am almost sure that it’s possible for a person (yet to become life) to chuck out the second X chromosome, fetch a Y chromosome and make it the ‘best’ match. And that’s why anybody who does not do this commits a heinous crime to become a woman and is banned from doing any worship during the days they bleed, as per the traditions and culture.
Our patriarchal society does not allow any space to women to develop any relationship with the God and makes us believe God to be so anti woman. On one hand we consider God to be the supreme power that creates life and takes care of them and on the other hand we say that God may get angry and offended if a bleeding woman offers prayers to him. Isn’t it such a hypocritical thought? We keep referring to women as goddesses, carriers of life but we never let her become a human being with rights equal to men. We never let her develop her bond with God because this bond is broken every month. These traditions are so devoid of rationality (at least in this modern era). This makes me question the existence of God because all I know is that God cannot be so irrational.
Earlier when there were no sanitary pads and proper hygienic atmosphere, women couldn’t walk and climb all that distance to the temple and hence they used to stay at home and not join their family to offer prayers. This was the time when safety and sanitation used to be an issue. Things have changed, we have better ways of managing our periods and the pain associated.
We have progressed technically. However that doesn’t stop us from considering menstruating women impure enough to have a conversation with God and pray. Do we even realize that menstruation helps us create life? And that it’s one of the most natural functions of a woman’s body? Shouldn’t we just stop whispering about menstruation and let the world know that had it been not the periods, there would not had been any men in this world?
While I still continue with my quest of understanding the rationale behind God disapproving our menstrual cycles, I would request you all reading my blog and having an opinion same as mine, to try and make menstruation a proud feeling for us and not a topic to be whispered and embarrassed.
Become a premium user on Women’s Web and get access to exclusive content for women, plus useful Women’s Web events and resources in your city.
Image source: shutterstock
Hi, I am Poulamee Pande, Clinical Data Manager by profession but not confined to my cubicle. When I am not working, I love writing about some of the orthodox societal norms, this is just a read more...
Women's Web is an open platform that publishes a diversity of views, individual posts do not necessarily represent the platform's views and opinions at all times.
Stay updated with our Weekly Newsletter or Daily Summary - or both!
As he stood in front of his door, Nishant prayed that his wife would be in a better mood. The baby thing was tearing them apart. When was the last time he had seen his wife smile?
Veena got into the lift. It was a festival day, and the space was crammed with little children dressed in bright yellow clothes, wearing fancy peacock feather crowns, and carrying flutes. Janmashtami gave her the jitters. She kept her face down, refusing to socialize with anyone.
They had moved to this new apartment three months ago. The whole point of shifting had been to get away from the ruthless questioning by ‘well-wishers’.
“You have been married for ten years! Why no child yet?”
I huffed, puffed and panted up the hill, taking many rest breaks along the way. My calf muscles pained, my heart protested, and my breathing became heavy at one stage.
“Let’s turn back,” my husband remarked. We stood at the foot of Shravanbelagola – one of the most revered Jain pilgrimage centres. “We will not climb the hill,” he continued.
My husband and I were vacationing in Karnataka. It was the month of May, and even at the early hour of 8 am in the morning, the sun scorched our backs. After visiting Bangalore and Mysore, we had made a planned stop at this holy site in the Southern part of the state en route to Hosur. Even while planning our vacation, my husband was very excited at the prospect of visiting this place and the 18 m high statue of Lord Gometeshwara, considered one of the world’s tallest free-standing monolithic statues.
What we hadn’t bargained for was there would be 1001 granite steps that needed to be climbed to have a close-up view of this colossal magic three thousand feet above sea level on a hilltop. It would be an understatement to term it as an arduous climb.
Please enter your email address