Can Periods be Comfortable

Updated: Sep 26, 2020

Story of Anusha Poddar.

The very first time when I got to know about menstrual cups was through a visual artist in Jaipur. The artist was @lyla_freechild and she had installed a lot of menstrual cups that resembled flowers. That was probably the first time I ever heard about menstrual cups, so I began to search about them and access them. So, I switched to menstrual cups and I have been using them for two years now and it was the best decision of my life.

I completed my Masters from a residential women university. It looked like a great platform for advocating the subject and asking more women to make the switch. Surprisingly, I met with a lot of resistance because talking about periods was still a taboo. Most women I spoke to were worried about losing their virginity if they used the cups. So, I began looking for platforms that were working on this idea and contributed for a couple of campaigns. And I regret how I could not get any more people to see sense and make the switch.

Menstrual cups are very easy to use. They are flexible and come in various sizes and are inserted inside the vagina to collect the menstrual flow. They generally last longer than a tampon or a pad and can last upto 12 hours in a day. Because the flow never comes in contact with air, a cup never causes any odour. They are cheaper than pads and tampons and are also more hygienic. For one of the most polluted countries like ours, menstrual cups are a boon, because most of them can at least last for a year and even longer and so using them will obviously lead to less clogging up of our landfills.

I still don’t understand why it takes so much time for people to come and talk about all the good things in life. Why are periods and virginity such a big taboo? Periods happen to half the population on this planet, that too every month, and yet they are such a well kept secret. Virginity is a social construct. Most women end up breaking their hymens much before they actually have sex for the first time. When will all this change? When will we start thinking about ourselves without caring about others? When?

11 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All