Sunday 24 March 2019

Menstrual options and the upper class promotions

    Why is it that upper class women lecture on sustainable menstruation options, and do funded projects on the same. 'Promoting' it.

    And not the women of this land, village after village. Who use simple cotton cloth. Wash, dry, reuse. And have always done it. 

    Without thunder or lightening. Or any self importance
    Reusing cloth during menses causes death of 28-yr-old woman
    punemirror.indiatimes.com
    Reusing cloth during menses causes death of 28-yr-old woman
    Reusing cloth during menses causes death of 28-yr-old woman
     
    Pankajalakshmi Ram The article is flawed in many ways.
    Toxic Shock Syndrome, can affect cup, tampon, pad users also. Every manufacturer of pad cup or tampon puts this disclaimer.
    Claiming study that 24 percent school girls miss school during their periods is just wester    n BS study. It's not the use of cloth but the practise and awareness of avoiding metalhooks and clasps in them that is important. Even so called expensive cloth pads have metal buttons to make it stay in place.
    Funny how the doctor recommends menstrual cup. 

    Pankajalakshmi Ram I can also quote a study about menstrual cups
    In recent years, menstrual cups—flexible cupsthat are inserted into the vagina during a period to collect menstrual blood—have been touted as a safer alternative to tampons. Now, a new study published in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology suggests that menstrual cups may also raise the risk of TSS. 

    Pankajalakshmi Ram Also I encourage girls to take time off during periods.
    Why, in the olden days ladies used to do heavy work the rest of the days and get the much needed break from heavy physical work on these days. The body needs it's downtime. But nowadays in the name of modernity we run 24 /7 and end up spoiling our health before middle age. I wish we went back to the olden system 

    Aparna Krishnan Yes, random articles, unsubstantiated. Unclear totally on why she died m Village after village, generation after generation has survived cloth healthily.

    We know well who benefits with such propaganda. Corporate India ! Procter and gamble ! Etc. 

    Chitra Sharan Generations of each of our families themselves survived on reusable cloth. Like I said earlier it has become a necessity for women who work long hours, wih heavy bleeding and no access to washroom to wash and dry.

    Aparna Krishnan Expensive cloth pads are being promoted, and gleefully brought.
  •  
    DrKaustav Sengupta conspiracy theory. this even happened on "tooth paste". West pushed "branded" toothpastes and stated that the "Neem" wood/ charcoal is not a "good practice" and then they started selling toothpastes with "neem" and "charcoal"! 

    Aparna Krishnan Surprising that so called well educated fall for this. 

    DrKaustav Sengupta "well educated" are educated in western system, let us remember that... 

    Aparna Krishnan Yes, right. 

    Gangadharan Kumar Wait till cloth becomes a trend in the west. Will get re-imported here - like yoga, vegetarianism etc. 

    Aparna Krishnan Already it's there in elite circles.




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In all the discussions around menstruation today, as the health and environmental problems of disposables are more and more evident, some expensive washable cloth pads are what are mentioned. At best.
The wisest, simple, no cost option practiced in simple homes in every village stays ignored. Unmentioned. Unacknowledged.
Cloth from old cotton sarees. Cut into squares. Folded. Used. Washed. Dried. Reused. A saree will do for a lifetime. The fact that it can be opened and dried makes it far superior to all stitched and purchased cloth pads.
Why does the simple wisdom of people stay unobserved ? Always.
Sanjay Maharishi, Saraswati Kavula and 6 others
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  • Chitra Sharan
    Having used both - disposable and reusable, these are some pros and cons.
    Reusable is the most preferred when, time is at our disposal, access to washroom and water is available and the bleeding is not heavy.
    When work is full time, time is controlled by someone else, access to water and space to wash and dry are limited, if there is heavy bleeding, disposable becomes the option.
    At the end of a day when disposable ones were limited and didn't have such absorbing capacity, the cloth would get dry in the edges and the chafing would be unbearable.
    When the space to dry in sun is not available, for social reasons or space constraints, the cloth doesn't dry properly and is not disinfected.
    We cannot judge people without knowing the constraints that prevents them from opting for reusable material.
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  • Aparna Krishnan
    Used it for a lifetime. Through travel, through drought times. As the others in villages too.
    Every choice has some pros and cons. Obviously disposables have seeming convenience.
    And yet a local, no cost option, just for those two reasons, is always to be given a first hearing.
    Anyway this post is about how local wisdom is unseen, unless an NGO has a documentation project !
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    • Chitra Sharan
      i have seen pictures of your house and others in the village - the space is never a problem, sunlight is never a problem, plus people can take breaks whenever needed.
      Urban areas are cramped (not talking about upper class) unless it is a big house. With neighbours peeping and superstitions around snakes coming for the smell, it is difficult. My domestic help uses cloth and throws them away. Never reuses and says even in her village they throw them away in pits dug for this and don't wash and reuse, whereas I have washed and reused. We cannot generalise anything based on our limited world view.
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    • Aparna Krishnan
      Yes, there will be contextual truths. Yet why does their wisdom not get highlight ed ? When fancy cloth pads are discussed ??
      That's what the post is about.
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    • Aparna Krishnan
      No need to boil in hot water at all. Many times I have shade dried, especially in small city baths. No problem. I reuse forever. No problem. Let men see the drying cloth, that's ok.
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  • Aparna Krishnan
    Open cloth is best. As it dries easily in single layer. Do more hygenic'. And free is far better than even discount ed !
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    • Soumya Prasad
      If you make your own, they are free. Certainly open dries faster and looks less like a "pad". But the design aspects of cloth pads - like wings, and greater absorbancy make them super comfortable.
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    • Aparna Krishnan
      Try simple cloth from an old soft saree. Also, what is available at no cost at home to people should never be substituted by a purchased item unless essential.
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  • Saraswati Kavula
    One correction - the saree / old handloom clothes are best. Using non cotton / sythetic sarees is as bad as using pads (health wise).
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    • Aparna Krishnan
      Non cotton will not absorb ! Yes, necessarily cotton.
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    • Saraswati Kavula
      i hae been using the old handloom sarees of my mother. i also use all my old handloom kurthas and pyjamas...biodegradable and skin friendly.
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    • Aparna Krishnan
      One saree lasts a lifetime ! Or two.
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    • Saraswati Kavula
      i change the cloths each time. sometime use them and wash and throw them. at times i reuse.
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    • Aparna Krishnan
      No infections, allergies at all. Wash, dry, and reuse. Done that a lifetime ma.
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  • Uma Shankari
    Adivasis in Orissa boil the cloth diapers after every period before storing it for the next one. They keep a separate vessel for the same.
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    • Aparna Krishnan
      Oh ok. We don't in our place. I don't. That's fine too.
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  • Uma Shashikant
    After the menstrual cup, many of my friends haven’t looked at anything else.
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    • Aparna Krishnan
      For people at large, cloth is best. No cost is very important for them. Also, cloth works fine.
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  • Chitra Sharan
    I too hear a lot of good things about the cup. But, I am averse to any foreign object being inside the body. Some have complained about the spill while removing it, size issues etc.
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    • Aparna Krishnan
      Yes, so I would leave village people with their traditional process of cloth. When it's working fine for them
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    • Chitra Sharan
      It works in your village 
      Aparna
      . In other places I have seen blouses with hooks being used and those causing injuries and also unclean cloth leading to infections. I read Turia's comment that all women in village would be hospitalised if this were true, maybe if we study data we will find incidence of cervical cancer and other infection related mortality to be high. As I say always, my world view is limited and I wouldn't want to generalise anything based on my limited exposure. I was surprised that my maid was throwing away used cloth and also says in her village that's the practice, whereas I have always washed and reused. Some of the beliefs we hold goes out of the window when we open our eyes to newer experiences.
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    • Aparna Krishnan
      I believe in the sense and sensibility of people. Seen it very closely very long
Aparna Krishnan
1 March 2016 at 15:57 ·
There is a plastic cup called the menstrual cup being promoted by the modern environmentally sensitive woman as an option to disposable napkins. It is one synthetic item versus another. But yes, it is much better than one-use disposable napkins as it is reusable.
But if the modern woman were to listen to the traditional woman, to the village woman, she may learn of the real sustainability rooted in life and living. The traditional process, in every village today (except if our TN Amma, and our AP CB Naidu, go distributing free disposable pads), is using folded peices of old cotton sarees or dhoti, and washing, drying (opened out it dries very fast) and reusing. I can validate it with decades of uninterrupted experience to quote.
And importantly - it is locally available in every home as are old sarees. The cup is another new plastic consumer item that needs to be purchased. Enough that rural people are buying toothbrushes and soaps, for us not entice them into this item now. Maybe in slums with one roomed tenements where 7 people live, drying cloth is hard. Then we need to address why people are having to live in the one roomed tenements !
How I wish modern men and women had a sense of respect towards traditional men and women in villages, and realized that the true lessons in sustainability are often best learnt there.
Ritesh Singh, Ashok Urs and 8 others
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  • The Worst Thing About the Menstrual Cup
    ASKAMMA.WORDPRESS.COM
    The Worst Thing About the Menstrual Cup
    The Worst Thing About the Menstrual Cup
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  • Aravinda Pillalamarri
    btw those modern women are in the villages too! Stay tuned for more stories in praise of the cup from rural women ❤
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    • 4y
  • A life-changing cup
    THEHINDU.COM
    A life-changing cup
    A life-changing cup
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  • Aravinda Pillalamarri
    In fact, when you compare the response of urban vs rural women, we understand what "comfort" is to each - the top comment of the urban women is that the cup is comfortable. the top comment of the rural woman is that it saves water. at first I wondered, is this more impt than comfort? but in fact, being able to wash with a mug vs a bucket of water makes a huge difference to her comfort, because she is the one who has to go get that water and worry about its availability or lack thereof.
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  • Aparna Krishnan
    I have lived through the worst droughts in my village 　. Washing cloth does not use much water. The biggest worry for them is the three pots of water that the cows need daily, which through hell and high water they orgabize. I would not try to save them some nugs of water and move them from a 100% locall and cost-free solution to something to be purchased.
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    • Aravinda Pillalamarri
      but washing the cup uses much less!
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    • Aravinda Pillalamarri
      in any case saris are neither local nor free.
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    • Aparna Krishnan
      Old and torn sarees are there in every home. "The biggest worry for them is the three pots of water that the cows need daily," - those nugs of water are ok.
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    • Aparna Krishnan
      We need solutions for the three pots of water per cow for all homes.
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    • Aravinda Pillalamarri
      not to worry, you need not save them, they will save themselves ðŸ™‚
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    • Aparna Krishnan
      it is all our collective problem. and we as a community are the cause of their waterlessness. in many senses its a shared problem - as you and i and all of us see.
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    • Aravinda Pillalamarri
      and when you and I save water (by, for example, using the cup) this will help everyone
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    • Suraj Kumar
      The cost of the cup is missing from the picture. That settles the debate. These aren't ordinary plastics. So they are naturally expensive.
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    • Aravinda Pillalamarri
      Suraj Kumar
       you need to buy only once.
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    • Aparna Krishnan
      Suraj Kumar
       its the essential principle. What is 100% natural and locally available should not be replaced by imported/monetized items 10/- or 500/-. In my understanding.
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    • Suraj Kumar
      We rich people are different 
      Aravinda Pillalamarri
      . Affordability of a Rs.500 or more product is a big decision for the poor.

Mentrual hygiene seems to be a choice area today for funding and projects. Its a wave. A lucrative wave.
The villages I have known have only seeked some intervention help for livlihoods, not for this. Ever.
The village women are well in control here.
Then why this wave ? And whom does it benefit ? The corporates ? Those who are getting projects ? Anyone else ?

Comments

  • Thirupurasundari Sevvel
    Few of them cater to the urban population who created maximum pollution - who are so used of sanitary pads ! - And it's made a difference , a change to cloth pad etc
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  • Aparna Krishnan
    Yes, the upper class needs to review its own lifestyle and move from disposables to cloth.
    But to go to the poor teaching them ! We would do well to learn from them on use of soft old cotton sarees, folded, used, washed, reused.
    What we do have of sustainability to teach them ? We have destroyed ourselves and the earth. We can only learn from the villages today. If we acquire the humility to.
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    • Aparna Krishnan
      That humility to learn is what is first needed. The humility to see that we have little to teach, and everything to learn.
      Very hard to come by today, as everyone gets projects and money and fame as they set out to 'save the poor'.
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    • Thirupurasundari Sevvel
      And manipulation of everything - is the key word now ! Everything gets exploited mam
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    • Aparna Krishnan
      It serves us well ! To claim to know everything and set out to save everyone !!
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  • Viswanath Lakshmanan
    From ur own experience, do u see any evangelist angle in this? Deriding ppl's existing ways is the first step in their game plan.
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    • Edited
    • Aparna Krishnan
      I see the brown skinned sahib out to civilize the native. His mission rooted in a contempt of all that is local and Indian.
      Of course there are mercenary details as well.
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