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:
-
It's true: talking about menstruation makes many people uncomfortable. And that taboo has consequences: in India, three out of every 10 girls don't even know what menstruation is at the time of their first period, and restrictive customs related to periods inflict psychological damage on young girls. Growing up with this taboo herself, Aditi Gupta knew she wanted to help girls, parents and teachers talk about periods comfortably and without shame. She shares how she did it.
- 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 |