This one can be long, because I'll probably end up rambling, to be honest.

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Don't say periods or menstruation. Use code words. It's embarrassing.

Don't come out of your room when on your period.

Don't come near the men of your house when on your period.

Periods make you impure.

Hide your pads/tampons while discarding them from the eyes of men.

Make sure not to stain the sheets, what if your father or brother see it?

Don't choose professions involving hard core physical activities, it's not a woman's cup of tea. They menstruate.

Being in the vicinity of men when on your period would make the MEN impure. 

Don't go to holy places during your period. It's impure. 

Don't enter the kitchen on your period. It spoils and contaminates the food.

Use cloth when on your period, sanitary pads are expensive. We can't waste money on such frivolous things.

While most of these myths are common in the rural parts of India, so many of them are also prevalent in the developed parts of this country too. Now don't come at me, shouting and calling me an anti-nationalist for calling India out like that. Because I will, and there's nothing anti-nationalist about that. Because firstly, anti-nationalist is when you don't want your country to progress. I do. THAT is why I'm talking about this in the first place. Because I want us to stop believing in this shit, and doing so we can move one step closer towards development. Secondly, I don't live in London or America or UAE. I live in India. So I'll speak in India, for India. Besides I don't even know the myths- if any- that people have in other countries, to be honest.

Now let's move on to the taboos shall we? Yes, I will be talking about and replying to each one of those taboos. Individually.

"Don't say periods or menstruation. Use code words. It's embarrassing." 
What is embarrassing about periods, really? The fact that it is natural? The fact that you bleed? OH WAIT. The fact that it's vaginal? Oh but, so is urinating. But we've surpassed the days women had to use terms like powder my nose to indicate they need to urinate, haven't we? High time we come to terms with the process of menstruation too. When I was young, I remember using words like "chucks" or "downs" to discuss about periods among my friends at school, so the boys wouldn't get an idea of what I was saying. What good was it, though? We provided the boys with a comfort zone. And as I have said before, when you provide people with a comfort zone for a prolonged time, they become reluctant to leave it when they really should. Make them face the truth, make them face the reality. Because, let me tell you, when girls at our school started using codewords, the guys figured it was something which seemed to embarrass us. So after a few years, when they'd see one of the girls sneakily take out a pad from their bags- for that's what they've always been instructed to do- they'd laugh and make fun of them. I never knew this because I barely talked to any guys back in school. But during one of our sex ed sessions, I learnt that girls were teased about periods by their own friends. Friends who are supposed to make them feel safe and comfortable about things which are so natural, no matter if they don't go through that shit themselves. I was disgusted. 

"Don't come out of your room when on your period."
I don't have this kind of taboo in my life. I haven't been told to do something like that. But I'm not speaking here for myself, I'm speaking for all the women. If you have seen PadMan (Fantastic movie by the way. Do check it out, it's a biopic) you might have seen how the women- no matter what age- would be given a small bed in a balcony where they would isolate themselves until the end of their period. Such things happen all the time in remote/rural areas, and probably even the urban areas. Why? Because it is considered to be impure. It is considered to spread amongst the men if you touch, or perhaps even speak to them. As if the men of your house are very pure. Wouldn't let you throw the women of your house into some sort of a lonely chamber of depression for like a week if they were so pure. 

"Don't come near the men of your house when on your period."
Why is it that our society tends to protect the men from all the pains of the world at all costs (Again, I'm blaming the society and it's system, not the men. Not ALL the men. The society comprises of more than just men you know.) and pretend to care for them, but when they actually get hurt, instead of making them feel better, they just leave them be like deal with your problems or man up or pain will make you stronger. Like come on society, how much of a jerk could you be? You constantly torment the women and transgenders, and you constantly pretend to care for the men, while you actually don't. 

"Periods make you impure."
Because it's discharged from a vagina? Oh sure, then let's call everyone who can urinate impure. Oh it's about the blood? But everybody bleeds. Sort your shit.

"Hide your pads/tampons while discarding them from the eyes of men."
I probably have no right to say this. I really don't. I have absolutely zero right to ask you women to stop doing this, because somehow, somewhere, I myself have been so brainwashed about this ever since I was young, that I still haven't been able to stop doing this. But I'd like to. I really would. And I'm trying. As I said, menstruation is a natural process, and there's nothing shameful or disgusting about it. So I don't understand why we are made to hide our sanitary napkins. But I've constantly faced so much of nudging that I've formed a habit to sneakily throw my used pads in my own house. I can't be comfortable in my own house. Why? Because my father can't know I'm menstruating or it'll turn out be embarrassing. Why? Because it's impure. WEIRD.

"Make sure not to stain the sheets, what if your father or brother see it?"
So what if they see it? See I don't like to stain sheets either, and I really don't have anything against people who instruct women to not stain the sheets, cuz it is difficult to get rid of those, right? The point is, that if I accidentally stain the sheets, I'll be made to feel guilty for doing so. But that wouldn't be because the stains don't go away easily, it'd be because my father or brother or other men of the house might see it and would have to face awkwardness because of it. Why are most men so awkward when it comes to periods? Especially their own daughter or sister. You are her family, you are supposed to make her feel safe and comfortable. You are supposed to tell her that if she's going through cramps, you are there for her, and it'll be fine. You are not supposed to just look away awkwardly and go to some other room of the house when she is in pain in order to avoid the whole conversation altogether. What if you were a single father? How'd you deal with it? Just because a woman gets periods every month, she doesn't grow accustomed to them. The pain might be different each time, or maybe it is the same each time, but it still is no good. We hate it, and we could give anything in the world to not have it. Take it from me. It's a terrible thing, and we expect comfort and warmth when we go through that shit each month, not narrow-mindedness.

"Don't choose professions involving hard core physical activities, it's not a woman's cup of tea. They menstruate."
You know how almost every Indian kid at some point in their lives has aspired to become an IAS/IPS. Maybe it was a serious dream, or maybe it was just a phase, either way, it's a beautiful thing to dream, no matter for how long. I had that phase too. But I was told to dream of something else. Because I'm a female, and females get periods which makes it difficult for them to do such work. It's very practical, really, I agree. It's got no taboos about it, true. But just because we get periods every month doesn't mean we will restrict our dreams and aspirations because of it. I mean come on a woman can push an entire human out of her vagina you think she isn't capable of working during her periods. Sure if she doesn't want to, sure if she can't, nobody will force her to. But to restrict her from doing things she really wants to, even if she thinks she can, it's just bloody annoying. Our bodies can do wonders, you have no idea. Hell women work during their maternity period. You think bloody menstruation can limit their capabilities? NO. 

"Being in the vicinity of men when on your period would make the MEN impure."
At this point I just want to ask: Are your men so fragile or is my aura so powerful that merely my presence can affect them in this way?

"Don't go to holy places during your period. It's impure."
Okay now I know that LOADS of you people might want to come at me now. You might think of me as some sort of atheist or anti-religion person, but honestly, your or my beliefs here have no relevance to a simple fact. If you are a believer, I just want to ask you this, isn't God the one who has given us life and everything else? So it was obviously God who gave the women periods too. Why would God not want to be in the vicinity of something He has made Himself? Use logics, I beg of you. And if you are a non-believer, I just want to ask you this, why in the name of all that is real do YOU have a problem with anything holy or unholy that I am doing? Just chill out people, it's periods. It happens to every woman, every month. IT IS NORMAL. 

"Don't enter the kitchen on your period. It spoils and contaminates the food."
Okay, this is something I had no idea about until I looked up all the taboos related to periods on the internet. Apparently, there is a belief people have which says that if a woman during her periods enters the kitchen, merely her touch can contaminate the food and water, which can be poisonous for other people in the house. First off, ARE YOU SO HIDEOUS that you are going to do nothing about the fact that the woman on her period practically consumes the food and water which YOU think might be contaminated? Like oh I don't give two fucks about what will happen to you, the men of the house shouldn't be poisoned. Secondly, using science to explain the baselessness of this taboo is going to be of no use, so I will use a simple logic, an observation one can make in day-to-day life. Your daughter or daughter-in-law or sister or friend or whoever she is CONSUMES that "contaminated" food and water everyday. DID SHE DIE? IS SHE SICK (Sick of you, maybe, but definitely not sick because of the food)? IS HER LIFE IN THREAT? Are you just dumb or are you so blinded by your empty faith and pointless beliefs that you can't use your common sense at all, because all you do is blame the women of your house for absolutely no reason. Sucks to be you, to be honest.

"Use cloth when on your period, sanitary pads are expensive. We can't waste money on such frivolous things."
'We can't waste money on such frivolous things.' Here is where I'd like to rant more on the importance of hygiene during periods, for the women to know what is important for them, and for the others to realise that hygiene is not "frivolous". 

Study claims that no access to menstrual hygiene is the fifth biggest killer of women in the world, i.e. lack of proper sanitation and hygiene facilities during periods lead to the death of 800,000 women in the entire world in one single year. According to a report by Dasra, nearly 23 million girls drop out of school every year, due to lack of proper hygiene facilities. In a lot of parts of India, women are still made to use cloth instead of sanitary pads or tampons, which are considered a frivolous expense. However, lack of clean water, hygiene, sanitisation, use of unhygienic cloth, etc. can lead to various health problems in women. Some of these include dermatitis, UTIs (Urinary Tract Infection), genital tract infection, bacterial vaginosis, all of which can lead to cervical cancer. These infections can also affect the fertility of a woman, or her pregnancy. 

More over, the menstrual blood also nurtures the fetus in the womb. And children are, in fact, considered the purest form of human life. So much for all the "impurity", eh?

And since some of you people don't understand shit unless spoken to in your own language, maybe look after a woman's hygiene for the sake of her future progeny. No matter what the reason, be it her life, be it the life of her children, just don't make her sacrifice her hygiene. Look after her needs, provide her with safe water and sanitisation. Don't consider sanitary pads or tampons or menstrual cups to be a frivolous expense. They are as necessary for a woman as food and water for human survival. 

Don't make her feel ashamed for going through something so natural, make her feel safe. Make her feel comfortable. And please for the love of everything that is real, DO NOT crack the is it your time of the month joke. You might find it hilarious on your side, but hate to break it you love, it ain't funny AT ALL. It's old and annoying and boring and triggering, and do not use it unless you want to hear the same back from us, no matter if you do get periods or not. 

Here I take your leave.

Love love,
Vri xx. 

To all the people who I told about this rant, no it ain't 5k words long. It's only 2.4k words long. Leave me alone I am AWFUL with calculations.

Okay but don't LITERALLY leave me alone. I'd die :')