Here's Why Some Women Are Against Period Leave - Infano Women's Health | Lifestyle

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I was just about to close my eyes for the night when my phone beeped. “Are you awake?” It was my friend Arwa Kapasi. She is the manager of a medical center in UAE. “I need to discuss something with you.” Knowing Arwa, I knew that whatever it was would have been bothering her to ping me at this time. “Yes, tell me,” I replied. “Are you for this period leave? I am not. And I wanted to know your opinion to see if someone could make me see the other side.”

Since Zomato announced ten day extra annual period leaves for women, social media has been abuzz with debates. For or against, I must say that at least the conversation is happening around a topic that was once shunned under the carpets and not discussed out loud. Period leaves were sick leaves only and that left women with no allowance for sick leaves when needed for other illnesses.

Now to get back to Arwa, I, for one, am for period leave. Or at least I was till she got me thinking. “If we want to be equal I don’t want to give them a reason to remind them I am a woman…. Give the guys off too. That way when we get hired they both men and women cost effective…. If I give this an option, I bet you even if not a single woman nurse in my clinic is facing the problem, will ensure they avail the leave… Bigger companies will prefer men over women and will make a shift in their hiring policies. And women won’t even notice that… Women who would acquire those leaves even by law will be considered not too dedicated and more of a liability….Also, it’s not fair to the men… Imagine the male banker who will have to handle more customers that day when his lady colleague calls in sick due to cramps?” These were some of her reasons.

Much ado about that time of the month?

Period leave is actually a privilege that could definitely be misused. But again we cannot oversee the necessity of it for those women who have a hard time during their menstrual cycles. Period cramps, heavy bleeding, nausea, loose motions- dysmenorrhea is real and I have seen women throwing up and bundling up in bed during their initial days. Though, this may not be the same case for everyone as this is a personal experience. Some have it worse than the other. Many of us pop in a pill and go about our chore. For some others, medication doesn’t work.

Also, we need to understand that most working women handle their everyday household chores at the same level as other housewives. Not everyone has a great support system at home or the luxury to afford cooks and maids. So for these women handling a painful period and functioning effectively to fulfill these responsibilities is a huge task. Also, access to clean and hygienic sanitation places and toilets at workspace (to comfortably change pad/ tampon/ drain menstrual cups) is again a privilege and a luxury, not all working women have.

In 2017, journalist Barkha Dutt had written an article titled “I’m a feminist. Giving women a day off for their period is a stupid idea.” As an offset to a campaign that was started by some women in India for a day off during their period.

She writes, “‘First-day period leave’ may be dressed up as progressive, but it actually trivializes the feminist agenda for equal opportunity, especially in male-dominated professions. Worse, it reaffirms that there is a biological determinism to the lives of women, a construct that women of my generation have spent years challenging. Remember all those dumb jokes by male colleagues about ‘that time of the month’ or PMS? Well, this idea only serves to emphasize that there is something spectacularly otherworldly about a bodily function.”

NO @ShashiTharoor menstrual leave ghettoises women, becomes one more excuse to close certain professional doors on women and treats the monthly period as a grand event instead of routine biology. Here's a piece I wrote in @washingtonpost on thi this https://t.co/OKqDslqpuZ https://t.co/f6N6sDS8Lw
— barkha dutt (@BDUTT) March 8, 2020

Journalist Faye D’Souza held a discussion on the same on her YouTube channel with women from different backgrounds. Faye asked if we have created safer spaces, stable work environments, hygienic sanitation places, where we expect women to work harder, dig themselves further, bear the pain and buck up and pretend as if nothing is happening. With these discussions, women, today have the power to clear these obstacles for the other women to come.

Should Companies Have Period Leave Policy For Women?@KushaKapila says, "The reality is the pain can get unbearable. When I got my period last week, I could not move for two days and because I am self-employed, I gave myself leave for two days."#PeriodLeave #Zomato #Women pic.twitter.com/JCS0gK4NWZ
— Faye DSouza (@fayedsouza) August 11, 2020

Digital content creator Kushka Kapila said, “The reality is the pain can get unbearable. When I got my period last week, I could not move for two days and because I am self-employed, I gave myself leave for two days.”

But gynecologist Dr. Kiran Coelho was of the opinion that the painful period was only a problem of 5% of women and younger women have it worse than the older women.

What is the solution?

When we ask for equal rights, we are asking that based on our skill sets and intellectual abilities. Physiologically women are different and certain allowances have to be made for them in that aspect.

Organisations should get a consensus from their women employees and come up with a system based on employee requirements of the organisation. If there are 50 women working and 40 agree that they don’t need menstrual leaves, then the other 10 can compensate by working a ½ hour extra to compensate for the missed hours. The onus is on them to achieve their targets on time.

“I feel we need an HR law and policy to be thoughtful and accommodating legally for the menstrual cycle”, added Arwa. “Give them an easy pass, which is still a privilege versus a man. And then adjust your shift to justify your missed hours or work”.

Work-from-home is another option that can be extended to women. “But we are here not accounting for labourers, factory workers, mine workers, and daily wagers”, said lawyer Trisha Shetty in the discussion with Faye.

“Most HR professionals’ support periods leave to women,” says Liyaquat Ali, an HR professional. “Some women cannot perform to their optimum during painful periods there is no point if it doesn’t add value to their productivity. So the work of the female staff on leave is equally delegated among her peers. But there is always a black sheep (male employee) in every organisation that objects and seeks a similar (non-monetary) benefit to this rule”.

While feminism stays divided on this, we would love to hear your thoughts on the same. Please feel free to comment below, or mail us on infano.care@gmail.com

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I’ve known Jyoti for more than a year — the first time we met, I had to wait for 15 minutes to reply to her, because she didn’t stop talking!! She has always been this bubbly and jolly woman who loves making people ROFL with her jokes.

Being from a Santhal family and an Adivasi tribe, she realized how the majority across the nation fails to recognize the indigenous tribes of the country. On the occasion of ‘International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples’ aka ‘World Tribal Day’, here’s a quick anecdote from Jyoti’s life telling who and what Adivasis/ indigenous people are, their tribe and this day is all about!

“Adivasi ho? Haan lagti bhi ho!”
“Adivasi? Matlab jungle se?”
“Do you guys also do hula-lala?”

These were a few of the common yet idiotic questions that people often asked while stumbling upon Jyoti. “Initially, I felt bad upon hearing such questions and refrained from answering them but eventually, I looked at them as an opportunity to teach people about my tribe, religion and to bust the myths that they carried,” Jyoti said.

Jyoti did her initial schooling from Daltonganj. “I only knew Santhali as a language, and I had no idea about Hindi. I remember my teacher scolded me because I couldn’t understand her words,” Jyoti recalled an incident from kindergarten. “That’s when my parents decided to talk to us in Hindi at home so that we can understand and learn and communicate with others. It was difficult, but I did it,” she continued.

On ‘World Tribal Day’, here’s a quick anecdote about who and what Adivasis/ indigenous people are, their tribe and this day are all about! — Jyoti making *Handia*

Jyoti did her graduation from National Institute of Fashion Technology. She was a quiet fellow throughout her college life, “I never really indulged in conversations much — whether it was about the religion or caste or festivals or home — or about my examinations ranks. I couldn’t tell them that I was a scheduled tribe and got admissions through ST quota. One of my good friends in college suggested that I must not tell others about my caste/ religion or tribe. I might be judged as someone from the lower class, and people may stop talking to me!”

But it was until she didn’t shift to Mumbai after her graduation. Her professional life in Mumbai taught her a lot, and accepting one’s identity was one of them. “Sometimes, I found their questions offending, but it was a great opportunity to teach them about the vivid culture we carry. So when they bantered about our food or dance, I jokingly said, “arre nahi yaar! This is what we eat, and this is how we dance/ wear clothes.” There was so much to tell and teach them — there still is. And gradually, people started taking an interest in my tribe, other tribes and such conversations,” Jyoti laughs.

Jyoti originally belongs to a small rural village in Jharkhand — Bankati. Her father was the only man who completed his education and took up a job at that time. Unlike several members of his tribe, he understood the value of education and pushed his kids to the same. People back in the village are still not very aware of the city lives and the value of education and other skills development. They mostly rely on farming and making ‘handia’ for livelihood.

What’s more fascinating are her festivals, food and religion, and I bet there would be so many people who wouldn’t be aware of these!

Jyoti belongs to the Santhal tribe, and her religion is Sarna, but since they have not been recognized by the government yet, she writes ‘Hindu’ in the religion column. Like other religions, they also have separate traditions and have different ways of worshipping. They don’t have temples but ‘Jaaher Grah’, but unfortunately, you won’t find any recognized Jaaher in Jharkhand. All the tribes following Sarna religion worship in Jaaher. “We also recently celebrated ‘Gomha Parab’. Our food is different, there is no caste as such, the way we drape sarees is different, our customs in marriages are different — and no, we don’t eat snakes or wear leaves!! People do farming, and we do eat rice,” Jyoti says further.

Jyoti and several other people like her have been judged and misunderstood because of the incomplete knowledge about the Adivasis we carry. “Adivasis are left only for entertainment I feel! They are deprived of so many rights and resources,” she says. How easy it is for us to hide our own shortcomings of not knowing about the people of our country and covering it with lame jokes!

World-Tribal-Day_-“Not-All-Adivasis-are-From-Jungles”-6 — Maghe Parab [Gurucharan Murmu[

According to IWGIA, India comprises an estimated population of 104 million Indigenous people and 705 officially recognized ethnic groups; however, there are many more groups that are yet to be recognized and given the scheduled tribe status by the government.

August 9 is celebrated as International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples to ‘raise awareness and protect the rights of the world’s indigenous population’. Being from Jharkhand, I’ve also known some of these tribes, but thanks to Jyoti, I’m more aware and trying to learn more.

How many of you are aware of such tribes and traditions?