Menstruation is a phase that every woman has to undergo no
matter whether it gives her pleasant or unpleasant experiences. For most Indian girls who are in periods, the
experience may not be pleasant one. Even though it is actually a biological
purification of reproduction system, socially the girl in puberty may be
considered as un-pure. She may be
treated like a secluded dirty living creature. I would not have believed this
until the day I saw a woman in her 30’s standing in her own portico in a hot
summer afternoon. When asked as why she was standing in the hot sun, her answer
was, ‘I have my periods’. Against such
social taboos, several activists have taken out vigorous campaigns, amongst
which #HappyToBleed is foremost which was created to spread awareness about
menstrual hygiene and also a protest against
restrictions on menstruating women to enter specific temples . While I support such move towards
creation of awareness regarding menstruation, my concern lies with a separate
issue. Some societies in India celebrate the puberty of girls in special ways.
Most mentionable of this is the south Indian culture of celebrating puberty.
Several sociologists may provide explanations as why this particular occasion is
celebrated with such pomp and gaiety.
The common ritual that is followed throughout the day ( a specific day
is fixed after the girl ends her very first 4 days of menstruation), involves
special pujas and showering the girl with
gifts , bathing of the girl with water mixed with herbs, feeding the girl with
nutritious meals including fresh vegetables and fruits, adorning her with new
clothes and ornaments which may symbolise that she is no more a little girl,
but has “attended age” for reproduction, followed by a feast for relatives and
friends. When I was invited for a puberty function for the first time, I was
confused as what to gift; I carefully chose a Whisper packet and wrapped it in
a gift pack, thinking this would be an ideal gift for the girl who has started
her menstrual cycle for the very first time. But later, I was told that the
right gift would be a simple flower “gajra”
for decorating her hair and a box of sweets. Stuffs like a pack of sanitary napkins
or awareness materials including books or CDs on menstrual hygiene are not included
as parts of gifts from women invitees except when the woman concerned is the
girl’s mother or own aunt (but this may be a rare occasion). Strangely
enough, many families pay very less attention to make the girl as well as other
female children aware of menstrual hygiene, even though this occasion could very
well be used for this. Some even call
this as “pre-wedding ceremony” since in earlier times such ceremony would
involve an implied announcement that the girl is ready for marriage. Some
families lavishly spend for these ceremonies. However, notably, while this is a
common cultural practice in south India, celebrating puberty in such a fashion would
not be seen in some other parts of India including eastern India or northern
India. This puberty function is necessarily
accompanied with something called “puberty function photography”. Some families,
who can afford to hire professional photographers, document the whole ceremony.
Several families have also created YouTube videos of these ceremonies.
While this is a completely family affair and may be this could be taken
as a positive note against menstruation taboo, one must also consider the other
side of the coin. Many girls may not like the whole ceremony of publicising
their biological developments. Some may not even like to be photographed as the
“puberty girl”. Some of the girls with
whom I had interacted on this issue, told me that they felt extremely awkward
because they felt that they were being sexually objectified. That is because
the occasion is not a birthday or a wedding reception, but something which is “privately
hers”. What is most embarrassing for
most of these girls is being photographed as a “puberty girl” by young boys who
may be brothers or brother’s friends. These boys who may be in their pre
adolescent age or in adolescence, may not have awareness about puberty. But the
ceremony may only make them understand that the girl is ‘sexually ready’. I
felt really sad when I saw a young girl in the midst of her puberty ceremony
pleading with her brother and cousins to stop objectifying her and shut
the camera off. It was clear: may be the boys were clicking her to make their
own albums of “puberty girl” to be shared later with family and friends, the
girl could definitely understand that she was being marked for her biological,
rather sexual changes and she did not wish to be photographed for that
particular occasion.
Does such photography have really anything
to do with sexually objectifying a young girl? I have two contradictory
opinions: if awareness campaigns like the #HappyToBleed campaign can create positive
awareness about menstruation and can get good response from men, then why not
publicise puberty photography? This can be used to spread awareness about puberty
and reproduction among children in a very child-friendly way. But at the same
time, I must say, our society is still not ready to handle progressive thoughts
about menstruation of women and girls. There are umpteen examples of online
harassment of women and girls by misusing their photographs. Amateur puberty photography
of young girls (especially on occasions of ceremonial bath in their wet clothes)
may attract unwanted attention from harassers who may make unethical use of
such images. The photographs or video
clippings may also attract sexist comments from strangers if the said
photographs or videos are made open for public viewing. In such situations, instead of happy memories
for a special occasion, the images may bring huge trauma to the girl in question. Added with
it, if the parents and family members of the victim are not aware of cyber ethics,
the girl may face great hardships even for socialising with her friends through
digital communication mediums or even for continuing her studies because no one
would like to lodge a police complaint on these images . Even if some one does,
he/she may have to face upheal task to make the concerned police officer (in case he/she is unaware of
the nuances of online victimisation, sexually objectifying remarks and laws regarding
this) understand what makes the offence
and why.
I feel instead of encouraging the children
to have a hand on amateur photography during the puberty ceremony, the families
should consider teaching the children about menstrual hygiene and role of puberty in every one’s life. Then comes
the issue of teaching cyber etiquettes as what should be photographed, how the
girl should be photographed and why it is necessary to take her consent before
clicking her and also before uploading her images as “puberty girl”. If the puberty function is arranged in this
manner, I am sure, children may not only be made aware of reproduction,
menstrual hygiene and sexuality through the unique learning method, they may
also become crusaders against online victimisation of women and girls.
Please Note:
Do not violate copyright of this blog. If you would like to use informations
provided in this blog for your own assignment/writeup/project/blog/article,
please cite it as “Halder D. (2016), “Puberty
photography: are we sexualising our girls?” 6th June, 2016, published in
http://debaraticyberspace.blogspot.com/
