The Role of Mothers in Making Menstruation Easy for Everyone

 

I quote Napoleon Bonaparte when I say: “A nation is as great as the mothers who raise it. Give me an educated mother, and I shall promise you the birth of an education and civilized nation.” Being the woman of the house is no cakewalk. Mothers don’t just raise children; they are the first teachers a child can get, the first cornerstone of our character, and the foundation of every value we know so far. Menstruation and women have a love-and-hate relationship, but I believe the hate part can be immensely reduced if mothers educate their children more about the biological phenomenon and sustainable alternatives like menstrual cups, so their daughters don’t have to surf the web searching for “menstrual cup where to buy.”

Education for all: Awareness for Menstruation

If you think only women need to know about menstruation, you are deeply mistaken. I have seen and heard some bizarre stereotypes surrounding menstruation, and most of them trace their roots to the whispers that failed to echo. As a social worker, our organization helps teenagers in schools and underdeveloped rural areas, and every time we go on the field for our campaigns, it always stuns me how teenagers drop out of their schools just when they start menstruating, or lack of proper sanitation facilities as basic as toilets.

However, what aches me more is the lack of awareness. Rural and underdeveloped areas aren’t the only problems, and educating teenagers isn’t the only solution. Let us tell you why. In India, most households fall under the umbrella of the patriarchal system where the male members of the family provide for everything and women manage the household duties. As much as we lean to the progressive side, more than half of the families in our society are male-led. When men don’t understand the pain women go through during this time of the month and their necessities, how can they provide a comfortable environment for menstruators?

Forget about a convenient environment; most mothers, or women for that matter, don’t even utter the word menstruation to their sons when women in the family bleed every month. Men get to know about bits and pieces of menstruation from miscellaneous sources, and the taboos, shame, and stigma surrounding periods, make menstruation a topic of embarrassment. Some men also mock women instead of supporting them when they see period stains on their clothes. Now, that’s disheartening; isn’t it?

The solution

Imagine a home where a brother comforting his sister during that time of the month. A husband supporting household responsibilities and helping his wife when she can barely wake up due to cramps or a father bringing her daughter everything she needs during her periods. Isn’t that the world we want to live in? Women still feel clueless about things like the size of a menstrual cup because they cannot communicate with anyone in the family, including their mothers. The mothers in our society need to take the initiative and educate everyone in their family, including the male members to make menstruation easy for women everywhere.