The movie was about how girls approaching puberty learn about their bodies. It talks about a woman’s menstrual cycle, a marker of her fertility, that renders her untouchable and subject to multiple taboos and regulations.
The popular movie was screened once again on 10th March, 2008 at Habitat World (India Habitat Centre) on the occasion of Woman’s Day.
My Opinion about the Movie: An excellent movie and an eye opener.
My opinion about the issues discussed by the short film
Firstly, as marketing professional and as someone who has followed the series advertisement of sanitary napkin (catches the eye) I was shocked to know that despite all the changes in the shape and sizes of the sanitary napkins, the product has hardly undergone any qualitative changes. The improved versions are not only expensive, but also scarcely available In India. It is the worst example of Product Driven Marketing in India. What about the popular jargon, “The customer is a King”? Maybe the Marketing Heads of the sanitary napkin manufacturers got quite literal and assumed that since ‘The King’ (a man) does not complain, all must be well. Maybe somebody needs to point out that in this case the consumer is a Queen! (A Woman)
Juxtapose the above with an issue that men face in their daily life. Yes, I am talking about shaving and how much of an onerous task it would have been but for the technological improvements. (e.g.: the Gillette series of razors) One might argue that basic necessities (undergarments) for women have seen similar advancement in style and design. My opinion is that the improvement has been spurred by the need of a man’s pleasure rather than a woman’s need. This same logic would also apply to the cosmetic range for women.
Therefore I strongly believe that if women become less of a fatalist consumer, they will help themselves in more ways than one.
Secondly, it is the woman who would demand the packet of sanitary napkin to be covered by a translucent paper as she feels embarrassed. My question is that what will happen if a man notices the packet? Will he cringe? Maybe he will. Will he object? Yes, maybe initially he will object. But is it not natural? Do we (men and women alike) not fear or take time to accept the unknown? In my opinion, men will gradually become comfortable with it. If not, why should it matter?
Finally, the movie also briefly mentioned an egregious incident from India. It referred to an incident where five government-run mental institutions sought hysterectomy for 330 mentally retarded girls and women (In 1994, hysterectomies were performed on 17 girls at a Shirur home). The government justified its backing of the hysterectomies as it felt that inmates would not have been able to maintain hygiene as they were uncooperative with the care-givers. Irrespective of the IQ levels of the mentally challenged women, this was a gross violation of human rights. Imagine the public outcry if a similar proposal is made to castrate men who are mentally challenged. It would simply never pass!
P.S: I did not share my opinion on the core issue of how women’s menstrual cycle, a marker of her fertility, that renders her untouchable and subject to multiple taboos and regulations. However, I have experienced situations where women are not allowed inside a temple without bathing as they are considered ‘ashudh’, whereas men are allowed even without a bath. That is something that women should find hard to swallow. If women can be Goddess in Hinduism, I am sure we should be broad minded enough not to follow these man-made infantile restrictions.
This entry was posted on Friday, March 21st, 2008 (I migrated from blog.co.in)
1 comment:
Forget about being banned from mandirs, all these rules are there is millions of homes in India. In reality, all such silly rules and rituals had been made in the past when there wasn’t a good hygiene and medical system in India. Diseases used tp spread very easily and there was no cure. Additionally, some of rituals had been created by the selfish brahmins whose only profession used to be becoming purohits. They created the rules to remain the dominant caste by creating fear and superstitions in people’s mind.
God never appeared from above and told humans to take bath before doing puja, or not to eat rice or keep a fast on the day some big puja has to be done; otherwise, he would be committing a sin or something. Being a woman, it is insulting to hear all the special rules. People out there need to understand by holding all these superstitions in our head, you are actualy narrowing your mind further.
Post a Comment