Bollywood’s Take on Menstruation

As we know, menstruation does not have a positive stigma attached to it; many menstruators are embarrassed to discuss the monthly cycle that so many people around the world go through.

In India, however, infamous Bollywood actors and actresses are becoming a part of the movement to challenge the menstrual stigma. A new Bollywood movie named Pad-Man, starring Akshay Kumar and Sonam Kapoor, was based off the true story of a social activist introducing inexpensive sanitary pads in India. The movie portrayed the common misconceptions of menstruation and showed how many people thought the social activist was crazy for being obsessed with menstruation. It then proved all those haters (in the movie) wrong. The pads became a huge success and provided many more supplies to menstruators who previously could not afford the correct menstrual products. Pad-Man grossed over 1.2 billion dollars and shed light upon the up-incoming menstrual movement taking place all around the world. It allowed for the movie-goers to feel more comfortable with discussing the menstrual cycle and not feel ashamed when doing so. In addition, because a powerful Bollywood actor was the main role in the movie, people in India began challenging the preset stigma towards menstruation and the common idea that men were disgusted when discussing the menstrual cycle. People saw a whole new perception to common thoughts about menstruation.

Although this movie was just the beginning of the menstrual movement in India, it was a step towards breaking the misconceptions about menstruation.