Menstruation is an inherently biological function that every woman experiences from early teenage years until their 40’s and 50’s. This means that out of the almost 8 billion people globally, about 4 billion women will bleed for 4-7 days once a month for the majority of their lifetime. Despite periods being a regular and prevalent part of women’s lives, it’s heavily stigmatized in many places, and the myths about menstruation remain endless.
Growing up in Nepal, people around me ingrained in me the idea that periods are gross and not something that should be talked about publicly, or even at all. Women during their periods are viewed as impure and treated as outcasts. The degree of discrimination towards people who menstruate varies between different parts of Nepal, but it affects every Nepali woman to some extent.
The first time I had some understanding of what periods were was probably around age nine. One week, I realized my mom didn’t enter the kitchen; she ate separately from my family members in the dining area. There were also certain rooms in our house that she didn’t enter. Then I noticed my aunt also did the same thing for a week every month. I asked my mom why she didn’t eat with us or go into the kitchen. She didn’t directly tell me about periods, but she used the word “na chune” to explain that she was on her period and couldn’t do her usual activities. In Nepali, “na chune” literally translates to “can’t touch” and is a widespread euphemism for periods. It’s ingrained into Nepali society that women on their periods are unclean and should not be touched.
When my sister and I got our periods after moving to the US, without the extensive stigmatization, we could openly talk about it with our parents, and we still do. However, when I was visiting Nepal in 2017 and went to the local store to buy pads, the woman at the register wrapped the pads with newspaper and put them in a black bag so they would not be visible to other people. Furthermore, my older female relatives told me that I wasn’t allowed to enter any temples until the fourth day of my period. These practices are backwards, but in rural parts of Nepal, the discrimination women face while menstruating is exponentially worse.
Many families still practice the centuries-old tradition of chaupadi where “girls and women are forced to stay in small huts or sheds built away from their homes for seven to nine days during their monthly period. It is believed they will otherwise bring their family bad luck or ill health.” The practice of chaupadi is physically and psychologically detrimental to women. Society forces these women to view themselves as impure and a liability for their family simply because of a normal bodily function out of their control. Instead of being taught about the how/why periods happen and proper ways to take care of themselves while menstruating, they are exiled to secluded areas without adequate food, shelter, or sanitation methods.
Though the Nepali government illegalized Chaupadi in 2015, the practice still persists in rural Nepal.
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