‘Phool murjha jaayengey’: Dolly Singh on battling period myth in childhood

According to perception architect Vivek Vashist, “Menstruation, by its very nature, represents something untamed, cycles, blood, creation, decay, things we can’t neatly box or schedule. So society built taboos around it to contain the chaos, to pretend control.”

At its core, every taboo is an attempt to domesticate what makes people uncomfortable. Periods just happened to sit at the intersection of mystery, power, and fear, the perfect storm for control disguised as sanctity, he told indianexpress.com.

The psychological impact

Societal conditioning, eventually, has a psychological impact on women, Vashist elaborated. “It starts associating normal biological processes with shame. Every stain becomes a symbol of failure, every conversation about periods becomes a test of discretion. Over time, that secrecy seeps into her sense of identity; she learns to shrink, to whisper, to disappear at the very moments her body is doing what it’s designed to do,” he added.

The result is disconnection. Women grow up managing their bodies, not listening to them. “She’s told to be discreet, not curious; clean, not powerful. This quiet policing of her biology erodes self-worth because it sends a subconscious message: “Your natural is unacceptable,” stressed Vashist.

And when society teaches a woman to distrust her own body, it doesn’t just steal her comfort — it steals her confidence.

“What we’re seeing today isn’t full acceptance; it’s a rebrand of control. The language has softened, the packaging has become progressive, but the underlying discomfort remains. Periods are still treated as something that must be explained, taught, or handled, not simply lived. When people say, ‘We must teach kids about menstruation,’ there’s often a hidden undertone: that it’s a subject requiring careful correction, a contamination to be cleansed through awareness. That framing itself perpetuates the stigma. It subtly suggests, ‘This is something we must manage,’ rather than ‘This is something that simply is,’ the expert said.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by HAUTERRFLY | A Fork Media Group Co. (@hauterrfly) 

The way out

The flashy campaigns and heroic slogans do serve a purpose — they crack open the door, suggested Vashist. But they also create a new kind of performance: people earn social credit for “breaking taboos,” while the conversation still revolves around the taboo. It’s progress dressed in the same old hierarchy.

True normalisation won’t come through workshops or hashtags; it’ll come through silence. Throughout the day, menstruation must be mentioned as casually as sleep or hunger when it’s not a movement, but a fact of life. “That’s the difference between performative change and energetic change. One looks progressive; the other feels natural,” he concluded.

DISCLAIMER: This article is based on information from the public domain and/or the experts we spoke to. Always consult your health practitioner before starting any routine