Notes From the Field: Using Grassroots Comics to Break the Silence on Menstruation

Introduction

Adolescent girls constitute a vulnerable group not only with respect to their social status but also in relation to health. Menstruation, though a natural process has often been dealt with secrecy. Hence, knowledge and information about the reproductive functioning and reproductive health problems amongst the adolescent girls is poor (Adhikari, Kadel, Dhungel, & Mandal, 2007).

Due to socio-cultural taboos, most adolescent girls in India usually lack knowledge about the most important physiological change in their body, menstruation. Hygienic practices during menstruation are of utmost importance for reproductive health as poor practices increase vulnerability to reproductive tract infections (Dasgupta & Sarkar, 2008). Menstrual hygiene management is a neglected issue that is insufficiently acknowledged. Although access to sanitary pads has improved in the last decade, many women and girls in rural India still use unsanitary materials such as old rags, dried leaves, grass, sand or newspapers because they do not have access to affordable, hygienic and safe products and facilities. Due to social taboos and the stigma attached to menstruation, girls and women dry their menstrual cloth out of sight, hidden in a damp and unhygienic place. Unsafe disposal of used sanitary materials and poor hygiene practices like not washing hands after changing a sanitary towel can also lead to the spread of infection (UNICEF, 2008).

In India, menstruation and sexual maturity are surrounded by myths and misconceptions with a long list of do’s and don’ts for women. These topics are rarely discussed openly and often a source of embarrassment. Yet information on these topics is critical for the wellbeing of women and girls.

The lack of factual information, compounded by the prevalence of myths, means that girls are unable to manage their period in a hygienic and safe manner. Most girls are left to cope as best they can with rags and other insufficient protection (Shukla, 2005).

There is a need to provide information to young women and girls on subjects like menstruation in ways that are acceptable to their parents, schools and the larger community and that allows them to raise their concerns and ask questions. For engaging girls in a conversation on menstruation, the methodology needs to be fun and interactive so that they can share their own experiences and challenges and at the same time learn about menstruation and how to take care of themselves during their periods.

Popular mass media has proved to be an appropriate means to initiate a discussion on menstruation. The commercial movie Padman is an ideal example of how one can use the power of celebrity to influence mindsets of people. The movie is based on the life of Arunachalam Muruganantham, a social entrepreneur, who developed the technology for production of low-cost sanitary napkins. Social media has also organised successful campaigns using hashtags, such as #MenstruationMatters, #YesIbleed, #Letstalkperiod, #MenstrualHygieneDay to share stories, information and personal experiences on popular social media networks such as Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, etc.

Comics are another popular medium for talking about taboo issues like menstruation. The Menstrupedia Comic: The Friendly Guide to Periods for Girls, for example, is a fun guide to periods for girls above nine years (AnimationXpress, 2015). It is entertaining, easy to understand and a medium that young people can relate to. Comics also deliver serious, hard-hitting messages in a subtle and non-threatening way. While mainstream comics are developed by professional artists, grassroots comics ² are created by common people and become a vehicle for them to express their own ideas and thoughts. Founder of World Comics India, Sharad Sharma, has used the concept of grassroots comics to encourage people to share their life stories and the issues they care about. Through this process, comics can become a powerful medium for social change where the creators of the comics are the champions of this change.

Objectives of the Workshop

The workshop aimed at promoting the adoption of low cost, eco-friendly sanitary napkins by adolescent girls through grassroots comics.

Debunking Myths and Taboos Using Comics

On analysing the data from the pre-workshop assessment of menstrual practices, it was evident that girls in the sample were unaware of menstruation prior to its onset. Not unexpectedly, they had practically no knowledge on the need for menstrual hygiene but were well aware of the stigma and taboos associated with this biological process. It was noted that age made a difference to the level of awareness among girls. Other factors that contributed to a better understanding of menstrual hygiene were the presence of an inspiring teacher and a good health worker.

Using the test results as background information, a discussion was initiated using a video where a girl and her grandmother talk about the importance of menstruation as a biological process and how girls should look after themselves during their period. A dialogue followed where the basics of menstrual hygiene management were emphasised as well as the importance of using suitable sanitary protection, its proper usage, storage and disposal. Girls also shared how they were trying to cope with changes in their body, and the support they needed from the school and family members to help them manage their period. Each girl had a different story to tell ranging from conversations with mothers and grandmothers to an incident witnessed in extended families or even stories of how friends had dealt with the issue. The discussions helped in bringing out hidden fears and problems while activities and games tried to equip the girls with relevant information so that they could learn to negotiate their pubertal phase better.

Participants were then introduced to the fundamentals of designing a comic book, and a sample comic was put together based on a story shared by them so that they could understand the process better. Once they felt more confident about the idea of designing a comic book on their own, participants were asked to pick a story of their choice which they would like to illustrate and share with others. All the participants then shared their ideas and the message they intended to share through four-panelled comics. From the stories that emerged, it was clear that grassroots comics served as a perfect medium for providing participants the space to freely express their views regarding menstruation while also enjoying the creative indulgence of the comic-making process. It acted as a catalyst for encouraging girls to clarify doubts regarding the issue from which they had shied away earlier and had not been able to articulate.

Some of the themes of the comics were as follows:

The first period: These comics narrate how girls were totally unaware about the process of menstruation before menarche or the first time they got their period. Their reactions ranged from being scared and shocked to being completely terrified. In one of the comics, the girl who has just started her period for the first time, assumes that this was God’s way of punishing her for something she had done. In most of the comics, the source of information is a female relative—an aunt or an elder sibling—though some of the comics also depict the health worker telling a menstruating girl how to take care of herself.

Myths and misconceptions: These comics illustrate the prevalent myths and taboos that a menstruating girl observes in the village. There were several myths that the girls depicted, such as not touching pickle, not feeding the cow, not interacting with men in the village lest they fall ill, etc. One of the comics illustrates the deep suspicion of health education programmes and depicts a grandmother telling her granddaughter not to listen to anything shared by the health worker about menstrual hygiene as it might be a trap to lure her into prostitution or make her sexually frivolous.

Sanitation practices: These comics deal with hygienic menstrual practices, especially the use of pads instead of dirty rags and the impact of poor menstrual hygiene on women and girls. They also discuss the importance of safe disposal of used pads.

Every story was discussed and a few were then selected to be compiled into a resource book. The five comics selected have been reproduced in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.

OPEN IN VIEWER

Figure 1.

Source: Made by workshop participants as part of the research methodology.

OPEN IN VIEWER

Figure 2.

Source: Made by workshop participants as part of the research methodology.

OPEN IN VIEWER

Figure 3.

Source: Made by workshop participants as part of the research methodology.

OPEN IN VIEWER

Figure 4.

Source: Made by workshop participants as part of the research methodology.

OPEN IN VIEWER

Figure 5.

Source: Made by workshop participants as part of the research methodology.

The final comic book is an effective tool for initiating a dialogue among participants on safe menstrual practices and debunking myths and taboos about menstruation. Each comic strip has a couple of questions to help the reader reflect and understand the issue better. The book concludes with a page of quick facts relating to the basics of menstruation, a list of hygienic menstrual practices, details about sanitary napkin usage and tips on nutrition during menses.

The participatory workshop was successful in breaking the silence on menstruation and creating awareness about menstruation and hygienic menstrual practices. With a little support from the field staff at the Barefoot College, girls who previously felt shy about asking the health worker about sanitary napkins were now confident enough to freely interact with them. Most of the girls also observed several social taboos and restrictions during their monthly period. The workshop helped them to understand the irrelevance of these myths and taboos today and the negative impact they could have on their health and wellbeing.

Conclusion

The workshop highlighted the huge knowledge gap among adolescent girls regarding the issue of menstrual hygiene. This lack of knowledge gets aggravated with social restrictions and taboos surrounding it, and consequently, girls get confused between scientific facts and misconceptions or myths. Once the girls were exposed to information in an acceptable format, they demonstrated a willingness to learn and care for themselves during their monthly period. Grassroots comics were an effective medium for holding the interest of the girls as well as giving them a chance to share their stories and experiences of menstruation—an issue that is normally taboo. While such workshops could be repeated with girls in other contexts, mothers and perhaps even grandmothers also need to be involved in the discussion.