Things haven’t changed too changed in INDIA . The Menstruation is still a bad thing in our country. We can not even discuss freely these problems & related it or seek any information about it to others. Even Women in house feel so embarrassed , including men , while watching television & there are advertisements of sanitary pads. The chemist at shop wraps the sanitary pads in a black colored polythene bags, so that no one gets to see a packet.
Rupi Kaur had posted a picture on Instagram of a girl fully clothed and menstruating. The image was taken down for violating community guidelines.
Here is the letter to Instagram after the image was taken down. Here is what the letter says:
Thank you @instagram for providing me with the exact response my work was created to critique. You deleted a photo of a woman who is fully covered and menstruating stating that it goes against community guidelines when your guidelines outline that it is nothing but acceptable. the girl is fully clothed. The photo is mine. It is not attacking a certain group nor is it spam and because it does not break those guidelines I will repost it again. I will not apologize for not feeding the ego and pride of misogynist society that will have my body in an underwear but not be okay with a small leak. When your pages are filled with countless photos/accounts where women (so many who are underage) are objectified, pornified and treated less than human. Thank you. This image is a part of my photoseries project for my visual rhetoric course. You can view the full series at rupikaur.com
Here's what she wrote to Tumblr.
Dear Tumblr family,
Instagram has chosen to once again, take down this image for violating community guidelines. Despite the fact that about 95% of comments were beautiful. Flowering. And in support.
This just goes to show who is sitting behind the desk. And whose (sic) controlling the show. Whose (sic) controlling the media and who is censoring us.
It’s sad in this world. That this is still happening. I know that some communities and cultures go out of their way to shun and oppress a woman on her period. I guess Instagram is another one of them.
Some women aren’t allowed in their religious place of worship. Out of their homes. To do certain things. And are told they are sick. As if the period is a common cold. Yes. This is here in North America. I have been hospitalized many times because of issues associated with my period. I have been suffering from a sickness related to my period. And ever since I have been working so hard to love it. Embrace it. Celebrate it. Even thought it’s given me so much pain in the past few years. and they want to tell me I should be quiet about this. That all of this we experience collectively does not need to be seen. Just felt secretly behind closed doors. That’s why this is important. Because when I first got my period my mother was sad and worried. And they want to censor all that pain. Experience. Learning. No.
I am going to share the photo again once I figure out how to go about it. I would appreciate if you could “at” instagram and express your thoughts. Or even share the photo on whatever social media platform.
Here's what she wrote to Tumblr.
Dear Tumblr family,
Instagram has chosen to once again, take down this image for violating community guidelines. Despite the fact that about 95% of comments were beautiful. Flowering. And in support.
This just goes to show who is sitting behind the desk. And whose (sic) controlling the show. Whose (sic) controlling the media and who is censoring us.
It’s sad in this world. That this is still happening. I know that some communities and cultures go out of their way to shun and oppress a woman on her period. I guess Instagram is another one of them.
Some women aren’t allowed in their religious place of worship. Out of their homes. To do certain things. And are told they are sick. As if the period is a common cold. Yes. This is here in North America. I have been hospitalized many times because of issues associated with my period. I have been suffering from a sickness related to my period. And ever since I have been working so hard to love it. Embrace it. Celebrate it. Even thought it’s given me so much pain in the past few years. and they want to tell me I should be quiet about this. That all of this we experience collectively does not need to be seen. Just felt secretly behind closed doors. That’s why this is important. Because when I first got my period my mother was sad and worried. And they want to censor all that pain. Experience. Learning. No.
I am going to share the photo again once I figure out how to go about it. I would appreciate if you could “at” instagram and express your thoughts. Or even share the photo on whatever social media platform.
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