Well, it wasn't a bogus one. Yesterday, I felt the pain in my lower abdomen again & sure as clockwork, my period is right on schedule. So, yesterday, I had to rush out to the nearest shop to buy me some pads.
While at the checkout counter, we ('we' comprises of the nasi lemak (rice cooked in coconut milk) lady, the shopkeeper's son and I) had an interesting discussion about the 'taboo' surrounding menstrual cycles and how girls used to find out about 'it'.
There I was, holding the pack of sanitary pads and handing it over to the shopkeeper's son. The nasi lemak lady saw that he just packed it in a plain colored plastic bag, so she said, "Why don't you put it in a black plastic bag?" To which, the shopkeeper's son said, "We've run out of black plastic bags."
I then said, "It's ok, it's not as if everybody doesn't know what it is for anyway."
That remark started the discussion. The nasi lemak lady remarked that these days, girls/women no longer looked bothered or embarrassed about buying pads in public. She told us that when she was younger, she used to sneak around the shop, waiting for the perfect moment when there would be no men at the counter, before paying for her pads. Even then, the pads would have to be wrapped in newspaper and then placed inside a black plastic bag, so that the content wouldn't be known.
This was exactly how I used to buy my pads, before I got tired of sneaking around and feeling ashamed of something so fundamental. I didn't even know about the menstruation cycle before I first had it at the age of 11. Truthfully, I cried my eyes out after I discovered that I had peed blood. On that fateful day, 21 years ago, I thought that I was going to die or something, just because I peed blood and didn't know what to do. Luckily, Tok Pit, our babysitter/housekeeper found out about it and so, she was the one who sat down beside me and told me everything about periods and its cycle.
While I was growing up, I was never told about menstrual cycles. Both my mom and eldest sister didn't say anything about it to us, smaller girls. All I know was that there are times when my mom and sister couldn't join us during family prayers because they are 'sick'. Nobody told us what their sickness was & we didn't ask anyway, not that I remember. So, imagine my fear when blood came out when I peed that first day I became baligh.
I remember the pads I used to wear were just like strips of cotton with sticky bottoms. My father used to buy them for us, and he brought them home always wrapped in newspaper and in a black bag. As I grew older, my taste in pads got better (Kotex, Whisper) but the stigma of buying pads in public sticks. I could never buy pads without feeling ashamed/embarrassed. But as I hit my 20's, I slowly realized that every women are going through the same cycle as I am. And I am sure every father/brother/husband who lives with a woman would know about it as well, so why the shame? Thus, I began to feel less and less embarrassed about buying sanitary pads in public.
So, our impromptu discussion brought back quite some memories. The nasi lemak lady even laughed while she told us the story about how she and her friends helped another friend who had a mishap at school. That girl discovered a little stain on her school uniform and was crying about it. You know how it is, a RED stain on white baju kurung? Oh, the shame! So, a group of them formed a wall around the girl and slowly walked with her to the toilet. Then the nasi lemak lady ran to tell their class teacher who was luckily a lady teacher. She took the girl home for a change of uniform and brought her back to school, with her pride intact.
Personally, I'm not sure why my mom never discussed menstruation/periods with us, or maybe I was too young to remember if we did have that discussion. Nevertheless, if and when I do have daughters of my own, I'd be sure to fill them in on the sisterhood of the pads. I don't want them to go through what I went through when I first had mine.
I then said, "It's ok, it's not as if everybody doesn't know what it is for anyway."
That remark started the discussion. The nasi lemak lady remarked that these days, girls/women no longer looked bothered or embarrassed about buying pads in public. She told us that when she was younger, she used to sneak around the shop, waiting for the perfect moment when there would be no men at the counter, before paying for her pads. Even then, the pads would have to be wrapped in newspaper and then placed inside a black plastic bag, so that the content wouldn't be known.
This was exactly how I used to buy my pads, before I got tired of sneaking around and feeling ashamed of something so fundamental. I didn't even know about the menstruation cycle before I first had it at the age of 11. Truthfully, I cried my eyes out after I discovered that I had peed blood. On that fateful day, 21 years ago, I thought that I was going to die or something, just because I peed blood and didn't know what to do. Luckily, Tok Pit, our babysitter/housekeeper found out about it and so, she was the one who sat down beside me and told me everything about periods and its cycle.
While I was growing up, I was never told about menstrual cycles. Both my mom and eldest sister didn't say anything about it to us, smaller girls. All I know was that there are times when my mom and sister couldn't join us during family prayers because they are 'sick'. Nobody told us what their sickness was & we didn't ask anyway, not that I remember. So, imagine my fear when blood came out when I peed that first day I became baligh.
I remember the pads I used to wear were just like strips of cotton with sticky bottoms. My father used to buy them for us, and he brought them home always wrapped in newspaper and in a black bag. As I grew older, my taste in pads got better (Kotex, Whisper) but the stigma of buying pads in public sticks. I could never buy pads without feeling ashamed/embarrassed. But as I hit my 20's, I slowly realized that every women are going through the same cycle as I am. And I am sure every father/brother/husband who lives with a woman would know about it as well, so why the shame? Thus, I began to feel less and less embarrassed about buying sanitary pads in public.
So, our impromptu discussion brought back quite some memories. The nasi lemak lady even laughed while she told us the story about how she and her friends helped another friend who had a mishap at school. That girl discovered a little stain on her school uniform and was crying about it. You know how it is, a RED stain on white baju kurung? Oh, the shame! So, a group of them formed a wall around the girl and slowly walked with her to the toilet. Then the nasi lemak lady ran to tell their class teacher who was luckily a lady teacher. She took the girl home for a change of uniform and brought her back to school, with her pride intact.
Personally, I'm not sure why my mom never discussed menstruation/periods with us, or maybe I was too young to remember if we did have that discussion. Nevertheless, if and when I do have daughters of my own, I'd be sure to fill them in on the sisterhood of the pads. I don't want them to go through what I went through when I first had mine.
Ahahahaha Kak Anis, orang first time masa umor 15tahun tau.Masa tu dah cerdik sikit. And dekat sekolah pun cikgu perempuan / ustazah selalu buat perjumpaan pelajar perempuan to discuss about this. So dah tau sikit2. Tapi bila first time orang datang, bleh tak orang tak tau mcm mana nak pakai pad tu. HuhuHu. Terpaksa tebalkan muka tanya mama macam mana nak pakai. HaHaHa..!!
ReplyDeleteok la tu ada org bgtau heheh..k.anis mmg tak ingat la samada mak k.anis ada bgtau ka dak pasai benda ni tp hari 1st tu mmg nangis mcm apa ja sbb takut sgt..sibbaik Tok Pit ada..
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