Say it like it is

Onlookers at the period festival

Terminology affects the experience of menstruators, believes Aditi Gupta, co-founder and managing partner, Menstrupedia, a start-up that devises innovative ways to spread awareness about menstruation. She points to how even doctors, especially in Tier-2 cities, refer to periods as “woh din [those days]” or “women’s problem”. “I think that just the usage of the correct term — menstruation or periods — will solve a lot of our problems,” explains the co-creator of the Menstrupedia Comic, the first of its kind in India. We also need to name the body parts correctly in all languages, she suggests — for instance, vagina or urethra. “Vagina, especially, is often referred to in demeaning ways in a lot of languages that furthers the idea that it can be branded impure,” she explains. While it’s important for policy-makers, medicos and social workers to use the right terms, the on-ground reality is different. “Often, to spread awareness, policy-makers and change-makers are the ones who end up creating more myths. I have heard top-most executives working to better menstrual health saying things like, ‘We teach the girls that periods are a good thing because your body is getting cleaned’” she reveals.