The secret river the politics of menstrual hygiene management in the WASH sector
Kuntala Lahiri-DuttSenior Fellow, Resource Management in Asia Pacific
ProgramAustralian National university
Contact: [email protected]
The ritu: seasons and menstrual cycle
Tradition:• ‘… the rhythms of the body and the rhythms of the cosmos are
in harmony..’ (Veena Das)• bodily fluids—menstrual, vaginal and amniotic—indicate
generative capacity• premodern cultural traditions are also androcentric/patriarchal
- yet did not subscribe to a mind/body divisionIngestion of menstrual blood:‘The underlying logic explaining why things defined as pure were always spoken of as healthy is evident when cleanliness is viewed in terms of seed imbued with power, which, if tempered, engenders social and personal well-being.’ (Hanssen)
Medicalizing menstruation
Effects of representing it as a ‘condition’:• waste product of the body – arousing disgust, requiring
sanitisation• association with being ‘unclean’ – overlays discourses of
purity and pollution• accomplished through ‘hygiene’ products• the body can carry out its ‘normal’ daily activities in spite
of menstruatingEssentialism:• must be experienced in the same manner – deviations as
ab- or sub-normal state
An alternative
Disposal