Do Homemakers Need to Be Paid For Their Work?

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Actor Kamal Haasan has now forayed into politics after floating his political party Makkal Needhi Maiam’s (MNM). A couple of days back when releasing the party’s portfolio Haasan promised payment to homemakers — along with computers with high-speed internet to all households and transformation of farmers to agri-entrepreneurs — if his party is voted to power in the 2021 Tamil Nadu assembly elections.

Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor supported this proposal of paying homemakers and took to Twitter to hail this initiative

“I welcome @ikamalhaasan’s idea of recognising housework as a salaried profession, w/the state government paying a monthly wage to homemakers. This will recognise and monetise the services of women homemakers in society, enhance their power and autonomy and create near-universal basic income.”

A New Concept

This is a very new concept that hasn’t been talked about much in our society. It brought many questions to my mind – How? Is it even possible? Is it right?

A picture that had gone viral a few months back on being on the cover of cover of Kerala’s Gender Budget 2020 flashed through my mind. It was a painting by a 10-year artist, Anujath Sindhu Vinaylal showing the daily chores of his mother and the mothers in his neighbourhood.

A homemaker, especially in a patriarchal society like ours, takes care of so many things around the house. She is considered the primary responsible person for cooking, cleaning, shopping, caring for the elders, her kids’ upbringing, her husband’s needs and happiness. The list is endless.

Most of the time, all these responsibilities aren’t officially handed over to or taken up voluntarily by the woman. It is almost an unsaid understanding that the moment a woman gets married into the family, these tasks just become her duty. The expectations are obviously way higher if the woman does not have a profession and does not go out to work.

If you don’t realize your worth, no one else will

The fact remains that for most of the homemakers, life is not very easy. Earning money is still considered the most important contribution to the functioning of a family. This thought shapes the way the family and the society views the role of a homemaker – as secondary and less important compared to the one who “provides” for the family. There is very minimal to no acceptance or acknowledgement of the time and effort a homemaker puts in to make lives smoother to all around her.

Infact, a homemaker has to prove her worth by playing several roles and taking up several responsibilities. It would not be very surprising to hear, ‘Ghar par hi tho thi poore din’, being said to her, in case she voices her fatigue after a day’s work occasionally. But what is most disheartening is that many times the woman herself does not value the hard work she puts in and plays down her role in the family.

Love can’t be measured with money

Shashi Tharoor’s tweet in support of homemakers getting paid drew reaction from many people. One of the notable reactions came from actress Kangana Ranaut, who is fiercely independent and known to speak her mind.

Replying to Shashi Tharoor’s tweet, Kangana said, “Don’t put a price tag on sex we have with our love, don’t pay us for mothering our own, we don’t need salary for being the Queens of our own little kingdom our home, stop seeing everything as business. Surrender to your woman she needs all of you not just your love/respect/salary.”

A woman has been blessed to be affectionate, caring, and sacrificing. A mother’s love is incomparable to anything else. When we talk about paying homemakers, are we guilty of trying to put a price on all these emotions. Is it even possible to appraise all the small and big things a homemaker does through the day? It does not even seem possible to imagine a homemaker doing her chores for the money, and not the love and care for the family.

What’s right, what’s wrong? Is there even a right or a wrong?

We may have several other questions in our minds regarding this –

Will getting paid for house work give it the same level of dignity as any other salaried job?

Will it help reduce the sense of patriarchy that we see around us?

Will it help a woman feel more worthy of herself?

Is money the ideal way to acknowledge and appreciate a homemaker’s efforts?

Will we ever become a society where a homemaker can proudly say – ‘I am a homemaker’?

Let this be a start for us to do some thinking. There may be many opinions and many suggestions. But there should be no doubt that homemakers need to be celebrated for all that they do. Homemakers play as much an important role in society as others and it is about time we acknowledge this. What would be the ideal way to do this – give them respect and acknowledgement or payment or both? That’s still up for discussion.

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Did you know that menstrual cups have been around since 1930? And the very first design patents for its similar versions, called catamenial sacks, were granted in the 1860s! Menstrual cups, in fact, are one of the oldest period products known to humans — predating the first pads by a decade and tampons by more than a half-century.

However, it wasn’t until recently it took its popularity to the next level!

In 2013, the search “menstrual cup” had a popularity score of 21, but it increased to 83 only five years later.
Source

And the global market for the same has been estimated at between $46 million and $1.4 billion by 2023.

Then why is it still a secret to so many people? Why are menstruators not using menstrual cups or why are most of them not aware of it in the first place?

According to a recent survey done by our team, most of the Indian menstruators refrain from using menstrual cups because:
~ They are not aware of it.
~ They do not want to insert a ‘foreign’ object inside their vagina.
~ They do not get approval from their mothers to use an ‘insertable’ period product.

This Menstrual Hygiene Day, Infano partnered with Asan, a menstrual cup brand, to understand the instances that helped menstruators to convince their mothers to let them use a menstrual cup or to simply switch to it. We talked with a few menstruators and here’s what we got!

“ ‘Can I introduce a menstrual cup to my teenage daughter? Are menstrual cups safe for young girls?’ are the most commonly asked questions on Asan’s website every day. The thoughts related to insertable menstrual products, virginity and discomfort hovers in the mind of many mothers. They are hesitant and have their biases related to the product,” says Mamta Kandari, Head of Impact, Asan.

^{_{“The first time I saw the Asan cup, I did not know how to use it. In fact, I had never seen or imagined a menstrual cup and I thought I’d be wearing pads for the rest of my life! But then my mother and sister both used the Asan cup and explained to me exactly how it works. After they used it, they were able to support me in figuring it out and now all three of us use the Asan cup. It means I can go to school and for my training without any issues during my period.”}}
_{– Deepika, 15, Kanakapura, Asan donation beneficiary.}

“At Asan, we encourage mothers to try the Asan cup themselves first as it makes a huge difference. As soon as a mother adopts to the cup, they understand its incredible benefits and then supports their daughters to make the switch. After they have experienced the comfort which comes with the cup, the way they look at periods completely changes, and they want their daughters to experience the same benefits,” Mamta continues shedding more light on Deepika’s story.

_{“I am a little shy about my body, thus it took a while to build enough courage to convince my mother. I made a PowerPoint presentation about menstrual cups, stating the benefits I or my family would get from them along with the negative aspects of reusables and the benefits of menstrual cups. And that worked for me! She was SUPER cool about it. Hope this helps!”}
_{– Niharika, 17, Rishikesh, Menstrual Cup User.}

“When I was 14, I started searching for different alternatives to our daily routines to live a more low-waste lifestyle. Every time on period, pads would pile up, and the plastic made me nauseous. I soon started to research the other products in the market. After scrolling through countless companies, evaluating cloth pads, period underwear and the menstrual cup, I was convinced that the Asan cup is a win-win in every possible way. The cup is eco-friendly, economically viable as its investment for the next decade, and can last you 12 hours — this was a plus point for me as I have a heavy flow and constantly play sports. Committing to making the change was nerve-racking, but a determined me didn’t look back after I bought the Asan cup. I was assured I wanted to make the transition.

At the time, my mother was a little hesitant about me starting to use the cup, as she wasn’t convinced if the cup was suitable for teenagers or not. I knew I wanted to make the switch and I had to assure her that the cup was a safe and comfortable product for teens. For this, I made a PROs and CONs list of all the sustainable products in the market and reviews of the products, as well as my opinion on them. I was able to persuade her to let me order the Asan cup immediately as she was certain that the cup was the best alternative.

The insertion and removal of the cup were tough and nerve-racking the first time I tried, now it has been more than a year and I’m a pro. The ring makes Asan unique since it is easy to locate and remove the cup. I love Asan’s mission to eradicate period poverty. I cannot stress more how easy it has made the six most irritable days of the month rather manageable. Asan surely lives up to its tagline: The Best. Period.”
– Kaashvi, 15, Bangalore, Asan cup user & volunteer

_{“Menstrual cups are much easier, once you get used to insertion and comfortable with the procedure. I was 26 when I started using it. It normally just requires emptying once or twice a day. But my mom or people whom I know of their age weren’t comfortable with the whole process. She was so against using it and it took me a few cycles to get the hang of it. Eventually, I believe, it becomes easier switching to cups.”}
_{– Pooja, 28, New Delhi, Menstrual Cup User.}

“Switching to menstrual cups was not an easy decision. Today, after almost 2 years of using it, I can share confidently that no matter what kind of fear or doubts you are carrying, it’s all worth overcoming them to enjoy the comfort that comes with it.

I dreaded the idea of inserting something inside my vagina. And a sea of questions entered me before it could. What if it is stuck inside, what if I pull out and the blood splatters all around, what if it pains, what if it gets lost inside, what if I get infected due to the silicone material it’s made of, and even questions like what if I need to pee or take a dump while it’s inserted. I know it makes me sound so unaware of my own body, but I need to be honest with anyone who is looking for answers to these questions.

To top it all off, one of the videos by a famous influencer showed how terrible she felt about it after using it for one day. I recommend not watching videos but instead asking people/ friends around you, who are using it. It would be much more authentic and comforting. Whatever is keeping you away from switching to menstrual cups, ask the questions to someone you know.

I had bought the cup, but couldn’t use it for 3 months… then one day, a friend of mine casually mentioned how she has switched to menstrual cups. And I flooded her with my questions and concerns. All I ended up with was a sense of surety that I am going to try it out at the earliest.

I remember the first day I used it — I could not insert it easily — took many rounds of trying, pulling out and figuring out the way. And it took me almost 3 months to get comfortable with the process of insertion and pulling out. I got the trick! Everyone has their own way and it takes you to do it yourself instead of thinking about it.

The pros are many, but the biggest con is beautiful as well. For me, it was that you can be so unaware of its existence inside you, that you can forget to pull it out after every few hours. It just stops bothering you. How great is that!”
– Anamika, Jaipur, Menstrual Cup User.

Further explaining the brand’s approach, Mamta continues, “during Asan’s 1-for-1 donations sessions, we always invite mothers and daughters to attend sessions together, and gift them both the Asan cup. We find this approach holistic and more effective, because of the support that they receive from each other. If a mother does not menstruate anymore, we still take the time to explain the benefits of the cup and how it works in a lot of detail.”

_{“Asan’s responsibility is to educate both mothers and daughters — not just about our menstrual cups but also about periods, the reproductive system and puberty. We try to provide accurate information in local languages so everyone understands their bodies. Once we’ve done that, the choice of using the Asan cup is up to each person. We find that 90% of mothers and daughters who attend our sessions and understand the benefits do choose to try it”}
_{– Ira Guha, Founder & CEO, Asan.}

To know more about Ira’s & Asan’s journey, click here.

You can visit Asan here or can connect via Facebook or Instagram.

This #MenstrualHygieneDay, #Infano along with #TheLogicalIndian, is addressing nuanced conversations on period centering on the well being of the menstruators as they power through every day. Share your experience with menstrual cups and your mother’s role in it in the comments because your story can trigger an important aspect that we all need to know and talk about! #IPeriodMyWay #MHD2022