RED (FEMINUN’S VERSION)

This article does not reflect the opinions of the FeminUN student group, but of their respective authors.

"How many times have menstrual hygiene products been considered as objects that nobody should see? Is it normal to hide sanitary pads as if they were illegal? Is “menstruation” really a forbidden word that should never be said out loud?"

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The film "Turning Red" was recently premiered and it has caused furor around the world, beyond its colorful plot, because it approached menstruation as a normal subject. Nevertheless, the fact that such positive decision made by Pixar studios had signified a historical mark in the existence of family cinema, leads us to shine the spotlight on a problem that has been present for centuries and that remains latent to this day: the stigma and denaturalization of the menstrual period. And this is that, how many times have menstrual hygiene products been considered as objects that nobody should see? Is it normal to hide sanitary pads as if they were illegal? Is “menstruation” really a forbidden word that should never be said out loud? For some reason, there is an urgency to invent names like Andrés (the one who comes every month. Almost.)

In this sense, the taboo surrounding the menstrual cycle has not done anything but raise the levels of disinformation and, as a consequence, it has influenced the demonization of a process that is as natural as digestion. For example, in some parts of Malawi its believed that walking behind a menstruating person is related to teeth breaking, or in some communities of Burundi it is assumed that the blood of a woman in her period can be deadly for members of her family, also there is a superstition in some countries of the world that menstruating women have the power to damage food (UNICEF, 2020). The point is that, according to the World Bank (2019), by 2019 at least 300 million women and girls were menstruating, a figure that has clearly increased in recent years, and society insists on cataloging the period as something aberrant and unnatural. Is a blood stain on pants really the eleventh plague of Egypt?

As a consequence, this taboo greatly impacts all aspects of menstruating people's lives. And the thing is that, the invisibility of menstruation directly influences the quantity and quality of information that is produced and received about it. The lack of such information causes a lack of knowledge about menstrual hygiene and care practices that are useful for healthy living, which leads to poor identification of diseases related to this process, such as amenorrhea and endometriosis, which are difficult to detect due to poor socialization about menstruation (Herrera, 2020). On the other hand, according to the United Nations Organization (2019), these prejudices and stigmas that exist around the menstrual period are considered one of the main causes of female exclusion and discrimination in the world. In this way, women and girls are imposed impediments to work or study opportunities, obstacles to their health and sanitation facilities, and, in addition, the appearance of menstruation makes girls and adolescents more vulnerable to abuses such as child marriage and sexual violence (United Nations Population Fund, 2021). This is how several of their human rights are violated, including the right to health, education, work, non-discrimination, gender equality, and water and sanitation. All this without mentioning the psychological violence that a menstruating person goes through throughout his life.

In short, the exposure and socialization of menstruation is necessary, so that the myths surrounding menstruating people and the impact they have on them can be dispelled. That is why "Turning Red" and similar art pieces are so relevant, as they show this process for what it is, a biological cycle within which there is nothing unnatural and which should be normalized.

Authors: Camila Ávila Trujillo & María Daniela Jiménez Almenarez.

Translated by Paula Rosado Ortiz.

References

Herrera, M. (2020). La invisibilización de la menstruación: tabú, mitos y silencios. Animal Político. https://www.animalpolitico.com/2020/10/invisibilizacion-menstruacion-tabu-mitos-silencios/

Organización de las Naciones Unidas. (2019). Romper los tabúes que rodean a la menstruación requiere una acción educativa por parte de los Estados. Noticias ONU: Mirada global Historias humanas. https://news.un.org/es/story/2019/03/1452261

Unicef. (2020). Día de la Higiene Menstrual: 10 falsos mitos sobre la regla a desmontar. UNICEF. https://www.unicef.es/blog/dia-de-la-higiene-menstrual-10-falsos-mitos-sobre-la-regla-desmontar

Fondo de Población de las Naciones Unidas. (2021). La menstruación y derechos humanos - Preguntas frecuentes. https://www.unfpa.org/es/menstruaci%C3%B3n-preguntas-frecuentes#%C2%BFC%C3%B3mo%20se%20relaciona%20la%20menstruaci%C3%B3n%20con%20los%20derechos%20humanos

World Bank Group. (2019). El alto costo de ser mujer en el mundo en desarrollo. World Bank. https://www.bancomundial.org/es/news/feature/2019/10/23/el-alto-costo-de-ser-mujer-en-el-mundo-en-desarrollo