Menstruation Body Awareness

Abstract

Young women in developing countries are struggling on a daily basis to overcome problems in education and gender inequality. In places where there is a stigma around menstruation, there is a lack of menstrual sanitary products easily obtainable for women. Due to this, women face direct interference with their daily activities, including obtaining an education. In order eliminate the stigma from menses and the interruptions it causes in female’s lives, an incentivized program that will take place after school will educate the women on the topic of menstruation, teaching them how to make reusable sanitary products and how to maintain hygiene. Given the success of this program, the women will be offered employment opportunities to give

As a result of a lack proper education, women are misinformed about the changes their body is going through, adapting a negative self-image. In parts of India, the onset of menses is referred to as “menstrual pollution,” which is a concept that further encourages a sense of embarrassment in women (Dube, 1988). The negative mindset is only perpetuated and historical views persist throughout modern day when such ideas are not terminated. Research discussed in “Menstruation and Body Awareness” elaborates that a lack of education coupled with a prevalent taboo has made it nearly impossible for adolescent girls to become aware of the biological processes taking place in their bodies, allowing many myths to be spread. In a case study done in Pune, India, women were encouraged to ask questions that they had about the process of menstruation. While many girls asked questions pertaining to anatomy, symptoms, and sanitary pads, “more than one in six (17%) girls asked questions that were categorized as myths and taboos” (Chothe et al., 2014). This is indicative of the fact that women are consistently denied the proper information on menstrual and are lead into a cycle of neglect that perpetuates the marginalization of proper education and

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