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Talking about a menstrual revolution: Asia's period problems

Published : Monday, 9 March, 2020 at 12:00 AM  Count : 275

Talking about a menstrual revolution: Asia's period problems

Talking about a menstrual revolution: Asia's period problems

HONG KONG,  Mar 8: No more euphemisms, no more opaque marketing, no more superstitions, and no glossing over cramps, bleeding, or pain: Reframing current attitudes is vital for female empowerment and health, as well as the environment, says the 29-year-old founder of LUďż˝NA Naturals, which hails itself as Asia's first period care company with an all-female leadership team.
She is not alone in wanting to change the conversation: Last year the UN warned that taboos around menstrual health were "disempowering" women worldwide, calling for action to end it.
"Period stigma is the biggest barrier to the global advancement of women," agrees Cotes-James, adding: "Periods can still cause us to feel dirty, ashamed and frustrated. If menstrual taboos persist and society continues to devalue our fundamental female biology, what hopes do we have of ever being seen as equal?"
On average women will spend up to eight years of their lives on their period, according to UNICEF. They are vital to the continuity of the human race, but myths and misconceptions still dominate worldwide.
The arrival of menstrual cups, period underwear, which can remove the need for products entirely, and apps that track your cycle have led to a new culture of openness in a generation keen to verbalise the long-hidden realities of the female experience and reproductive rights -- from #MeToo and #ShoutYourAbortion, to miscarriage awareness campaign #Iamthe1in4 and #Trustaftertrauma, where women share their stories of obstetric violence.
Bloggers and vloggers lay bare the realities of how period products work on social media. There is even a period emoji in the pipeline.
Normalising menstrual health can only be good for women's overall health, says Cotes-James, whose firm sells organic cotton pads, liners, and tampons, as well as medical grade silicone menstrual cups, but also works to help low income communities across Asia who don't have access to safe, hygienic products.
She explains: "Instead of seeing menstruation as a powerful indicator of well-being we are taught to shun it. In doing so, we ignore vital signs of underlying health issues. For example, around 1 in 10 women have endometriosis, yet it still takes almost a decade on average to diagnose.
"A huge part of this is the fact that we don't pay attention to telltale signs like how much blood we lose every month, or dismiss painful menstrual symptoms as normal because society has led us to believe that they are."
Using a menstrual cup, could help women gauge if the amount of blood they lose falls within the normal range, she says, adding that open discussons about cramps, nausea, or pain, will help us understand whether there is an issue within our bodies.  In parts of Asia, the situation is even more complex for women as deeply ingrained cultural and religious beliefs often add another layer of restrictions on them.
In rural Nepal, women are still exiled to outhouses during their periods, despite the practice being illegal and resulting in deaths from exposure as well as sexual and animal attacks. In parts of South Asia, menstruating women are seen as unclean, spreading disease, and are forbidden from touching communal food, while across the region having a period renders people too impure to visit temples.
Even among tech-savvy professionals in city centres, myths persist -- some fear using tampons is akin to a sex act, others believe virgins cannot use menstrual cups or believe they cannot swim or exercise during their period.      -AFP






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