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Kiran Gandhi chose to run a marathon without a tampon, and no she did not menstruate along the way. She decided to run without a tampon.
The shame around menstruation is a pretty universal deal. A few spots of blood and people (mis)behave as if they are in the water with sharks. I seem to remember a lot of hushed conversations among girls on the topic in school, a constant sense of panic around stains and spots and snickers from the boys.
So it was pretty inspiring to see Kiran Gandhi (known from many things including being a drummer) who decided to run and complete the recent London marathon without a tampon. Yes, you read that correctly, she chose to do it. It didn’t happen to her along the way. She decided “it would have been way too uncomfortable to worry about a tampon for 26.2 miles” and ran without one and more power to her.
Of course, there were the usual folks trying to shame her, including another runner as well.
Of course, there were the usual folks trying to shame her, including another runner as well. But why shouldn’t she run with the blood streaming between her legs? Perhaps you don’t agree but there’s no shame in menstruation, it is a natural bodily function. Not all of us would make the choice she did, but not one of us is harmed by it (rather we stand to benefit from the discussions she has provoked). So it is interesting to watch people’s reactions ranging from disgust to horror as if she had done something awful, truly reprehensible. She had not. She simply chose to focus on her goal of completing the marathon and made a body choice she was most comfortable with. It was her choice and it was encouraging to see menstruation dealt with in a matter-of-fact way instead of the usual drama that surrounds it.
Kiran Gandhi’s image via her blog
I think of myself as a feminist development practitioner with a strong interest in issues related to gender and education. I enjoy writing about my interests, a happy step forward from the angst laden poetry read more...
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UP Boards Topper Prachi Nigam was trolled on social media for her facial hair; our obsession with appearance is harsh on young minds.
Prachi Nigam’s photo has been doing the rounds on social media for the right reasons. Well, scratch that- I wish the above statement were true. This 15-year-old girl should ideally be revelling in her spectacular achievement of scoring a whopping 98.05% and topping her tenth-grade boards. But oddly enough, along with her marks, it’s something else that garners more attention – her facial hair.
While the trolls are driving themselves giddy by mocking this girl who hasn’t even completed her school yet, the ones who are taking her side are going one step ahead – they are sharing her photoshopped pictures, sans the facial hair, looking nothing less than a celebrity with captions saying – “Prachi Nigam, ten years later”.
Doctors have already diagnosed her with PCOD in their comments, based on photographic evidence. While we have names for people shamed for their weight – body shaming, for their skin colour- racism, for their age- age shaming, for being a female- sexism, this category of shaming where one faces criticism for their appearance has no name. With that, it also has zero shame attached to it.
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