Media Research Critique
“How Taboos Around Menstruation Are Hurting Women’s Health” is an article written by Colin Schultz for Smithsonian. The article focuses on the taboo discussion of menstruation that occurs in various countries around the globe. Specifically, Schultz mentions the lack of education given to women in India about menstruation due to cultural beliefs following women’s reproductive health. Throughout India, many women are forced to end their education once beginning their menstrual cycle, furthering the gap of education and achievement between men and women. Women are then not given the proper tools, whether it be supplies or education, to combat their menstruation. This forces the women in India to use harmful materials, such as woodchips or dirty cloths, to handle their menstrual blood. Using improper materials around such a sensitive area is said to be directly linked to the rising number of women infected with cervical cancer. (George, 2012) To summarize: the taboos and cultural feelings towards a woman’s reproductive system are directly linked to the rising number of women infected with cervical cancer or cervical related illnesses.
This is significant, as throughout our stay in India, we have spent a majority of our days at the Public Health Research Institute of India, which specializes in reproductive health in India. This organization not only operates a clinic where women can be screened and treated for many reproductive disorders, but is also involved in various community field work events as well. This organization will administer medical attention to women via mobile clinics to locations where women who are too far from clinics for seek any type of medical help. While in the community, the organization nurses not only give medical attention, but educate the women on how to properly handle their menstrual cycles and improve other forms of reproductive health.
This article raises the question on the humility of women. Are we so abominable that we are not deserving of the basic human right of life? Are women around the world so inferior to men that their natural, humanistic physical processes are not deserving of fundamental recognition? A study conducted by Shepherd and Gerend (2013) examined the stigma following women who were diagnosed with cervical or ovarian cancer, and divided participants into four separate groups representing conditions in which women were diagnosed with the disease. In the condition in which women were diagnosed with cervical cancer because of an HPV diagnosis, participants described those women as “less wise,” “dirty,” and found themselves to be “grossed out.” (Shepherd & Gerend, 2013, p.94) This stigma is significant of recognition, because of one question alone: where did they get the STI from? With the repetition of the act of men in India passing along a detrimental STD or STI and leaving the woman to die alone before passing it along to another, (Jay, 2018) it is worth questioning the way in which women are considered important, and how to combat the stigmas following women’s sexual health.
I feel as though my negative reaction towards the article stems from the cultural differences between the United States and India on women’s reproductive health. Although menstrual cycles are a taboo subject in the United States as well, women are given the proper supplies to handle the cycle. Men, although they are still found to be uncomfortable about the subject as whole, are not willing to forbid women from seeking reproductive health services. In India, however, it was mentioned by Ms. Purnima Jay from the Public Health Research Institute of India that women must first ask permission to seek medical attention if relating to their reproductive health. Their husbands have the opportunity to say no to treatment, which can lead to death if cancerous lesions are found in their wives. Certain cervical diseases also have the ability to affect the family’s unborn child, if the woman is carrying. It was also discussed that women may be given permission to engage in an initial check by a reproductive health clinic such as PHRII, however if they are given a diagnosis, the man who gave the woman permission may refuse the woman to be given any further treatment. Articles such as these have furthered my stance on feminism, although furthering my engagement in global feminism. There are many issues surrounding women and women’s rights in the United States, however the issues are drastically different from those in India. The differences in how men are willing to treat their wives and mothers of their children vary culturally and are likely to insight a reaction out of any audience.
The article was inspired by a documentary titled “Menstrual Man,” where a man by the name of Arunachalam Muruganantham invents a “homemade sanitary pad manufacturing device that’s bringing low-cost, locally made menstrual hygiene products to rural India” (Schultz, 2013). This has inspired my Global Health Awareness Campaign to focus on women’s reproductive health, and more specifically, to bring awareness and concern on the lack of education and supplies given to women in rural India. Prerana Women’s Health Initiative provides cervical cancer screenings and other reproductive healthcare services to women in both rural and urban India, and it is my personal goal to aid these people in their important work. By bringing awareness to the importance of this work, and aiding with fundraising efforts to ensure its continuance, hundreds of women are saved from the inevitable demise from lack of treatment.
References
GEORGE R. The Taboo of Menstruation. New York Times [serial online]. December 29, 2012:19. Available from: Academic Search Complete, Ipswich, MA. Accessed May 12, 2018.
Poornima Jay, personal tour of the Public Research Institute of India, May 7th 2018.
Schultz C. (2014). How taboos around menstruation are hurting women’s health. Smithsonian Smart News. Retrieved from https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/how-taboos-around-menstruation-are-hurting-womens-health- 180949992/
Shepherd M. A., & Gerend M. A. (2013). The blame game: Cervical cancer, knowledge of its link to human papillomavirus and stigma. Journal of Psychology and Health, 29, 94-109.
“How Taboos Around Menstruation Are Hurting Women’s Health” is an article written by Colin Schultz for Smithsonian. The article focuses on the taboo discussion of menstruation that occurs in various countries around the globe. Specifically, Schultz mentions the lack of education given to women in India about menstruation due to cultural beliefs following women’s reproductive health. Throughout India, many women are forced to end their education once beginning their menstrual cycle, furthering the gap of education and achievement between men and women. Women are then not given the proper tools, whether it be supplies or education, to combat their menstruation. This forces the women in India to use harmful materials, such as woodchips or dirty cloths, to handle their menstrual blood. Using improper materials around such a sensitive area is said to be directly linked to the rising number of women infected with cervical cancer. (George, 2012) To summarize: the taboos and cultural feelings towards a woman’s reproductive system are directly linked to the rising number of women infected with cervical cancer or cervical related illnesses.
This is significant, as throughout our stay in India, we have spent a majority of our days at the Public Health Research Institute of India, which specializes in reproductive health in India. This organization not only operates a clinic where women can be screened and treated for many reproductive disorders, but is also involved in various community field work events as well. This organization will administer medical attention to women via mobile clinics to locations where women who are too far from clinics for seek any type of medical help. While in the community, the organization nurses not only give medical attention, but educate the women on how to properly handle their menstrual cycles and improve other forms of reproductive health.
This article raises the question on the humility of women. Are we so abominable that we are not deserving of the basic human right of life? Are women around the world so inferior to men that their natural, humanistic physical processes are not deserving of fundamental recognition? A study conducted by Shepherd and Gerend (2013) examined the stigma following women who were diagnosed with cervical or ovarian cancer, and divided participants into four separate groups representing conditions in which women were diagnosed with the disease. In the condition in which women were diagnosed with cervical cancer because of an HPV diagnosis, participants described those women as “less wise,” “dirty,” and found themselves to be “grossed out.” (Shepherd & Gerend, 2013, p.94) This stigma is significant of recognition, because of one question alone: where did they get the STI from? With the repetition of the act of men in India passing along a detrimental STD or STI and leaving the woman to die alone before passing it along to another, (Jay, 2018) it is worth questioning the way in which women are considered important, and how to combat the stigmas following women’s sexual health.
I feel as though my negative reaction towards the article stems from the cultural differences between the United States and India on women’s reproductive health. Although menstrual cycles are a taboo subject in the United States as well, women are given the proper supplies to handle the cycle. Men, although they are still found to be uncomfortable about the subject as whole, are not willing to forbid women from seeking reproductive health services. In India, however, it was mentioned by Ms. Purnima Jay from the Public Health Research Institute of India that women must first ask permission to seek medical attention if relating to their reproductive health. Their husbands have the opportunity to say no to treatment, which can lead to death if cancerous lesions are found in their wives. Certain cervical diseases also have the ability to affect the family’s unborn child, if the woman is carrying. It was also discussed that women may be given permission to engage in an initial check by a reproductive health clinic such as PHRII, however if they are given a diagnosis, the man who gave the woman permission may refuse the woman to be given any further treatment. Articles such as these have furthered my stance on feminism, although furthering my engagement in global feminism. There are many issues surrounding women and women’s rights in the United States, however the issues are drastically different from those in India. The differences in how men are willing to treat their wives and mothers of their children vary culturally and are likely to insight a reaction out of any audience.
The article was inspired by a documentary titled “Menstrual Man,” where a man by the name of Arunachalam Muruganantham invents a “homemade sanitary pad manufacturing device that’s bringing low-cost, locally made menstrual hygiene products to rural India” (Schultz, 2013). This has inspired my Global Health Awareness Campaign to focus on women’s reproductive health, and more specifically, to bring awareness and concern on the lack of education and supplies given to women in rural India. Prerana Women’s Health Initiative provides cervical cancer screenings and other reproductive healthcare services to women in both rural and urban India, and it is my personal goal to aid these people in their important work. By bringing awareness to the importance of this work, and aiding with fundraising efforts to ensure its continuance, hundreds of women are saved from the inevitable demise from lack of treatment.
References
GEORGE R. The Taboo of Menstruation. New York Times [serial online]. December 29, 2012:19. Available from: Academic Search Complete, Ipswich, MA. Accessed May 12, 2018.
Poornima Jay, personal tour of the Public Research Institute of India, May 7th 2018.
Schultz C. (2014). How taboos around menstruation are hurting women’s health. Smithsonian Smart News. Retrieved from https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/how-taboos-around-menstruation-are-hurting-womens-health- 180949992/
Shepherd M. A., & Gerend M. A. (2013). The blame game: Cervical cancer, knowledge of its link to human papillomavirus and stigma. Journal of Psychology and Health, 29, 94-109.