re: t91st Academy Awards | 7 pm on ABC

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And India.

It’s a valid issue.

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Some of y’all are trying to hard. There is plenty of valid virtual signialing to hate on without being assholes about real shite

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In the village of Hapur, about 37 miles away from New Delhi, a young girl is asked what periods are. She giggles shyly and looks away. “I know what it is but I feel shy,” she says. “I can’t say.”

Shots of young girls and women laughing awkwardly, coyly and sometimes knowingly when talking about menstruation are at the core of “Period. End of Sentence.” — a documentary short nominated for an Oscar this year. The film, now streaming worldwide on Netflix, captures the taboo around menstruation in rural India and the efforts of one group of high school students from North Hollywood to start a conversation.

The shame surrounding menstruation in rural India means that misinformation abounds and often even elderly women cannot explain what causes periods. It is a subject discussed in hushed tones, if at all.

During their period, Indian women are often barred from entering temples and kitchens and made to sleep separately from their family because of the perception that they are impure. It is seen as an illness — as it is described by a young man in Hapur interviewed in the documentary.

This stigma was at the center of India’s most recent battle for women’s rights. In 2018 India’s Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitutional to bar women between 10 and 50 (those considered to be of menstruating age) from entry to Sabarimala, a famous Hindu temple in India. This rule was instituted on the grounds that the temple’s deity, Lord Ayyappa, is considered celibate.

The ruling enraged religious conservatives in India, and when two women made history by entering the temple last month, violence followed and the head priest carried out a “purification ritual.” Speaking of the controversy, the cabinet minister Smriti Irani likened it to carrying “sanitary napkins seeped in menstrual blood” into the house of God.

Lack of access and affordability means that only 12% of India’s 355 million menstruating women use sanitary napkins, according to a 2011 study by Nielsen. Most women are forced to use old cloth or rags. The lack of access to sanitary napkins makes it difficult for young girls between 12 and 18 to continue their education once they get their period. About 23% of girls in this age bracket drop out of school after they start menstruating.

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