A taboo-free way to talk about periods
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0:01 - 0:02Periods.
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0:02 - 0:03Blood.
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0:04 - 0:05Menstruation.
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0:05 - 0:07Gross.
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0:07 - 0:09Secret.
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0:09 - 0:10Hidden.
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0:10 - 0:12Why?
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0:13 - 0:15A natural biological process
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0:15 - 0:18that every girl and woman
goes through every month -
0:19 - 0:21for about half of her life.
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0:21 - 0:23A phenomenon that is so significant
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0:23 - 0:28that the survival and propagation
of our species depends on it. -
0:28 - 0:30Yet we consider it a taboo.
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0:31 - 0:34We feel awkward
and shameful talking about it. -
0:36 - 0:38When I got my first periods,
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0:38 - 0:40I was told to keep it
a secret from others -- -
0:41 - 0:43even from my father and brother.
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0:44 - 0:46Later when this chapter
appeared in our textbooks, -
0:46 - 0:49our biology teacher skipped the subject.
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0:49 - 0:51(Laughter)
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0:52 - 0:54You know what I learned from it?
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0:54 - 0:58I learned that it is really
shameful to talk about it. -
0:58 - 1:01I learned to be ashamed of my body.
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1:01 - 1:04I learned to stay unaware of periods
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1:04 - 1:06in order to stay decent.
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1:06 - 1:08Research in various parts of India
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1:08 - 1:13shows that three out of every 10 girls
are not aware of menstruation -
1:13 - 1:15at the time of their first periods.
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1:15 - 1:17And in some parts of Rajasthan
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1:17 - 1:22this number is as high as nine
out of 10 girls being unaware of it. -
1:23 - 1:24You'd be surprised to know
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1:24 - 1:27that most of the girls
that I have spoken to, -
1:27 - 1:31who did not know about periods
at the time of their first menstruation -
1:31 - 1:33thought that they have got blood cancer
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1:33 - 1:35and they're going to die soon.
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1:37 - 1:40Menstrual hygiene
is a very important risk factor -
1:40 - 1:42for reproductive tract infections.
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1:43 - 1:46But in India, only 12 percent
of girls and women -
1:46 - 1:50have access to hygienic ways
of managing their periods. -
1:51 - 1:52If you do the math,
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1:52 - 1:5788 percent of girls and women use
unhygienic ways to manage their periods. -
1:57 - 1:59I was one of them.
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2:00 - 2:03I grew up in a small town
called Garhwa, in Jharkhand, -
2:03 - 2:06where even buying a sanitary napkin
is considered shameful. -
2:07 - 2:09So when I started getting my periods,
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2:09 - 2:11I began with using rags.
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2:13 - 2:15After every use
I would wash and reuse them. -
2:15 - 2:16But to store them,
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2:17 - 2:19I would hide and keep it
in a dark, damp place -
2:19 - 2:22so that nobody finds out
that I'm menstruating. -
2:23 - 2:25Due to repeated washing
the rags would become coarse, -
2:25 - 2:28and I would often get rashes
and infections using them. -
2:29 - 2:33I wore these already for five years
until I moved out of that town. -
2:36 - 2:38Another issue
that periods brought in my life -
2:38 - 2:40those of the social restrictions
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2:40 - 2:45that are imposed upon our girls
and women when they're on their periods. -
2:45 - 2:47I think you all must be aware of it,
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2:47 - 2:50but I'll still list it
for the few who don't. -
2:51 - 2:53I was not allowed to touch or eat pickles.
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2:54 - 2:59I was not allowed to sit on the sofa
or some other family member's bed. -
2:59 - 3:01I had to wash my bed sheet
after every period, -
3:01 - 3:03even if it was not stained.
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3:03 - 3:05I was considered impure
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3:05 - 3:10and forbidden from worshipping or touching
any object of religious importance. -
3:11 - 3:13You'll find signposts outside temples
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3:13 - 3:16denying the entry
of menstruating girls and women. -
3:17 - 3:18Ironically,
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3:18 - 3:21most of the time it is the older woman
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3:21 - 3:26who imposes such restrictions
on younger girls in a family. -
3:26 - 3:31After all, they have grown up
accepting such restrictions as norms. -
3:31 - 3:34And in the absence of any intervention,
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3:34 - 3:36it is the myth and misconception
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3:36 - 3:38that propagate
from generation to generation. -
3:39 - 3:41During my years of work in this field,
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3:41 - 3:43I have even come across stories
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3:43 - 3:46where girls have to eat
and wash their dishes separately. -
3:46 - 3:49They're not allowed
to take baths during periods, -
3:49 - 3:53and in some households they are even
secluded from other family members. -
3:54 - 3:57About 85 percent of girls
and women in India -
3:57 - 4:03would follow one or more restrictive
customs on their periods every month. -
4:03 - 4:05Can you imagine what this does
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4:05 - 4:08to the self-esteem
and self-confidence of a young girl? -
4:09 - 4:11The psychological trauma
that this inflicts, -
4:11 - 4:14affecting her personality,
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4:14 - 4:16her academic performance
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4:16 - 4:20and every single aspect of growing up
during her early formative years? -
4:22 - 4:26I religiously followed all these
restrictive customs for 13 years, -
4:26 - 4:29until a discussion with my partner, Tuhin,
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4:29 - 4:31changed my perception
about menstruation forever. -
4:32 - 4:38In 2009, Tuhin and I were pursuing
our postgraduation in design. -
4:38 - 4:39We fell in love with each other
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4:39 - 4:42and I was at ease
discussing periods with him. -
4:43 - 4:45Tuhin knew little about periods.
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4:46 - 4:48(Laughter)
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4:52 - 4:55He was astonished to know
that girls get painful cramps -
4:55 - 4:57and we bleed every month.
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4:57 - 4:59(Laughter)
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4:59 - 5:00Yeah.
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5:01 - 5:02He was completely shocked to know
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5:02 - 5:07about the restrictions that are imposed
upon menstruating girls and women -
5:08 - 5:10by their own families and their society.
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5:10 - 5:12In order to help me with my cramps,
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5:12 - 5:16he would go on the Internet
and learn more about menstruation. -
5:17 - 5:18When he shared his findings with me,
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5:18 - 5:21I realized how little I knew
about menstruation myself. -
5:22 - 5:25And many of my beliefs
actually turned out to be myths. -
5:26 - 5:28That's when we wondered:
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5:28 - 5:30if we, being so well educated,
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5:30 - 5:32were so ill-informed about menstruation,
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5:32 - 5:36there would be millions of girls out there
who would be ill-informed, too. -
5:38 - 5:39To study --
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5:39 - 5:41to understand the problem better,
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5:41 - 5:45I undertook a year-long research to study
the lack of awareness about menstruation -
5:45 - 5:47and the root cause behind it.
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5:48 - 5:50While it is generally believed
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5:50 - 5:56that menstrual unawareness
and misconception is a rural phenomenon, -
5:56 - 5:57during my research,
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5:57 - 6:00I found that it is as much
an urban phenomenon as well. -
6:00 - 6:04And it exists with the educated
urban class, also. -
6:05 - 6:08While talking to many
parents and teachers, -
6:08 - 6:13I found that many of them actually
wanted to educate girls about periods -
6:13 - 6:16before they have started
getting their menstrual cycle. -
6:17 - 6:18And --
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6:18 - 6:22but they lacked
the proper means themselves. -
6:22 - 6:23And since it is a taboo,
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6:23 - 6:26they feel inhibition
and shameful in talking about it. -
6:27 - 6:31Girls nowadays get their periods
in classes six and seven, -
6:31 - 6:33but our educational curriculum
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6:33 - 6:37teaches girls about periods
only in standard eight and nine. -
6:38 - 6:39And since it is a taboo,
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6:40 - 6:43teachers still
skip the subject altogether. -
6:45 - 6:49So school does not
teach girls about periods, -
6:49 - 6:51parents don't talk about it.
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6:51 - 6:53Where do the girls go?
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6:54 - 6:57Two decades ago and now --
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6:57 - 6:58nothing has changed.
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7:00 - 7:03I shared these finding with Tuhin
and we wondered: -
7:03 - 7:05What if we could create something
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7:05 - 7:09that would help girls understand
about menstruation on their own -- -
7:09 - 7:13something that would help
parents and teachers -
7:13 - 7:16talk about periods
comfortably to young girls? -
7:18 - 7:19During my research,
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7:19 - 7:21I was collecting a lot of stories.
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7:21 - 7:26These were stories of experiences
of girls during their periods. -
7:27 - 7:30These stories would make girls
curious and interested -
7:30 - 7:34in talking about menstruation
in their close circle. -
7:34 - 7:35That's what we wanted.
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7:36 - 7:39We wanted something
that would make the girls curious -
7:39 - 7:41and drive them to learn about it.
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7:41 - 7:44We wanted to use these stories
to teach girls about periods. -
7:45 - 7:48So we decided to create a comic book,
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7:48 - 7:52where the cartoon characters
would enact these stories -
7:52 - 7:56and educate girls about menstruation
in a fun and engaging way. -
7:56 - 7:59To represent girls
in their different phases of puberty, -
7:59 - 8:01we have three characters.
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8:02 - 8:05Pinki, who has not gotten her period yet,
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8:05 - 8:08Jiya who gets her period
during the narrative of the book -
8:08 - 8:12and Mira who has already
been getting her period. -
8:12 - 8:14There is a fourth character, Priya Didi.
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8:14 - 8:18Through her, girls come to know
about the various aspects of growing up -
8:18 - 8:19and menstrual hygiene management.
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8:20 - 8:22While making the book, we took great care
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8:22 - 8:26that none of the illustrations
were objectionable in any way -
8:26 - 8:28and that it is culturally sensitive.
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8:29 - 8:33During our prototype testing,
we found that the girls loved the book. -
8:33 - 8:34They were keen on reading it
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8:34 - 8:37and knowing more and more
about periods on their own. -
8:38 - 8:41Parents and teachers were
comfortable in talking about periods -
8:41 - 8:43to young girls using the book,
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8:43 - 8:46and sometimes even boys
were interested in reading it. -
8:46 - 8:48(Laughter)
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8:48 - 8:50(Applause)
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8:52 - 8:56The comic book helped
in creating an environment -
8:56 - 8:58where menstruation ceased to be a taboo.
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8:59 - 9:03Many of the volunteers took this prototype
themselves to educate girls -
9:03 - 9:07and take menstrual awareness workshops
in five different states in India. -
9:07 - 9:10And one of the volunteers
took this prototype to educate young monks -
9:10 - 9:12and took it to this monastery in Ladakh.
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9:12 - 9:16We made the final version of the book,
called "Menstrupedia Comic" -
9:16 - 9:19and launched in September last year.
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9:19 - 9:20And so far,
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9:21 - 9:25more than 4,000 girls have been
educated by using the book in India and -- -
9:25 - 9:28(Applause)
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9:28 - 9:29Thank you.
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9:29 - 9:31(Applause)
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9:34 - 9:36And 10 different countries.
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9:37 - 9:40We are constantly translating the book
into different languages -
9:40 - 9:43and collaborating with local organizations
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9:43 - 9:46to make this book available
in different countries. -
9:46 - 9:4915 schools in different parts of India
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9:49 - 9:52have made this book
a part of their school curriculum -
9:52 - 9:54to teach girls about menstruation.
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9:54 - 9:56(Applause)
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10:00 - 10:06I am amazed to see how volunteers,
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10:06 - 10:10individuals, parents,
teachers, school principals, -
10:10 - 10:11have come together
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10:11 - 10:16and taken this menstrual awareness
drive to their own communities, -
10:16 - 10:19have made sure that the girls
learn about periods at the right age -
10:19 - 10:22and helped in breaking this taboo.
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10:23 - 10:27I dream of a future
where menstruation is not a curse, -
10:27 - 10:29not a disease,
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10:29 - 10:31but a welcoming change in a girl's life.
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10:32 - 10:33And I would --
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10:33 - 10:35(Applause)
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10:38 - 10:39And I would like to end this
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10:39 - 10:43with a small request
to all the parents here. -
10:43 - 10:44Dear parents,
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10:45 - 10:47if you would be ashamed of periods,
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10:47 - 10:50your daughters would be, too.
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10:50 - 10:52So please be period positive.
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10:52 - 10:53(Laughter)
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10:53 - 10:55Thank you.
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10:55 - 10:57(Applause)
- Title:
- A taboo-free way to talk about periods
- Speaker:
- Aditi Gupta
- Description:
-
Aditi Gupta speaks at TEDxGatewayWomen 2015
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 11:10
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for A taboo-free way to talk about periods | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for A taboo-free way to talk about periods | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for A taboo-free way to talk about periods | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for A taboo-free way to talk about periods | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for A taboo-free way to talk about periods | ||
Brian Greene approved English subtitles for A taboo-free way to talk about periods | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for A taboo-free way to talk about periods | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for A taboo-free way to talk about periods |