A Series of Unfortunate Periods: Temples, Periods, and Contraception
A Series of Unfortunate Periods: This ongoing series on menstruation aims to shine light on different ways people who bleed navigate social, cultural, religious, and political spaces. Thaen X recognizes that menstruation does not define “womanhood”. Not all women bleed and it isn’t just women who bleed.
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A few years ago, my cousin, frustrated that she was among the last of her friends to get her period, insisted that she have a huge “saree party”. What she was referring to was a samatheeya veedu. Complete with a dance floor, a few outfit changes, and a chocolate fountain, my cousin got what she wanted: a celebration of her transition out of childhood, a coming of age party. What she didn’t enjoy, however, was being told where and when she can go places, including the temple. Often a contentious debate among family, friends and even among strangers on the internet, the banning of menstruating people from temples and other faith based spaces, consumes and dictates our choices on an everyday basis.
Although the Tamil community has a multitude of experiences related to menstruation, many of the people I spoke to for this article attest to the changes around navigating social space and faith based spaces after starting to menstruate. The restrictions that are placed on certain bodies come in the form of expectations surrounding religious space, sexuality and sexual expressions, and who you now get to interact with. Why, as a community, are we okay with the use of contraception for medical reasons, or as this article will explore, when practising our faith but not when it comes to sexual freedom? Moreover, why are some aspects of menstruation appropriate for the public while others kept far away and private? How do we maintain agency over our bodies while practising our faith?
“The restrictions that are placed on certain bodies come in the form of expectations surrounding religious space, sexuality and sexual expressions, and who you now get to interact with. ”
Karthiga R.*, 29, planned her entire trip to visit Hindu temples in Chennai, Tamil Nadu earlier this year, around her period. “I ended up going on the pill because, as you may know, periods are inconsistent, at least mine is,” Karthiga tells Thaen X, shaking her head in dismay at the mere thought of her menstruation cycle. For Karthiga, reflecting on the use of contraception to practice faith brought up feelings of frustration towards the lack of sex education within the Tamil community. “What I don’t understand is how come as a community we’re okay with using contraception to go to the temple but we’re afraid to talk about it within the context of safe sex?”
The use of contraception, although stigmatized in many communities, is rendered an option in the realms of worship and pilgrimage. For Vino J.*, 30, her use of contraception to participate in temples festivals during her time in Jaffna is a way to maintain autonomy and take up space. “I understand that it may seem like we are adhering to the restrictions placed on our bodies, but I think it’s a way to push back as well,” she tells Thaen X. “We absolutely have to question why we follow these practices, whose bodies are constantly policed and monitored, but we should channel our anger towards the systems that are in place that enforce these rules, rather than at people who bleed themselves.” Vino is not alone in her assertion that frustrations towards oppressive practices need to continue being challenged. However, taking up space, as Vino emphasized, looks different for everyone.
“The use of contraception, although stigmatized in many communities, is rendered an option in the realms of worship and pilgrimage.”
For example, Christina N.*, 26, attending the temple while menstruating doesn’t bother her. “Who’s going to know when I’m on my period, other than me, anyways?” she asks Thaen X, rhetorically of course. For Christina practicing her faith while on her period is one way she resists deeply ingrained cultural norms that are rooted in class, gender, and caste based oppression. “Socially it has been ingrained in us that you should not go to the temple because it is considered unclean. It is important to acknowledge that it is a social piece that only impacts people who bleed.” While we often come into contact with this discourse socially, colonial court systems have also played a part in upholding and later succumbing, in come cases, to pressures to remove banning menstruating people from entering temple spaces.
Christina considers her period as a new cycle within herself, a cleanse her body goes through every so often. “It is also important to point out that this isn’t necessarily a Tamil practice, it’s a Hindu practice, that has been enforced on us by folks of caste privilege… enforced on us by the temple sector itself,” she tells Thaen X. Christina highlights the need to push for dialogue around how periods, deemed unclean, are tied to a larger oppressive systems that benefit class and caste privilege.
As the discussion around periods and religious spaces push our analysis and continue to evolve, ultimately, there is one thing that rings true: your body, your choice. Facilitating agency, practising bodily autonomy and doing what feels right for you are all important factors that should determine how you navigate these spaces while bleeding.
* names are changed in respect of requests to remain anonymous
