What is Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder (PMDD)?

| By Shruti Menon | “Half the month I was extroverted, firing on all cylinders. Then I would hit ovulation. And at that time I became dysfunctional, shy, and withdrawn. It’s like I woke up one day and became a completely different person. And from then until I started menstruating I became utterly dysfunctional. Then

Pubic Hair: To Be or Not To Be?

| By Shruti Menon | Have you ever wondered whether to keep your vagina hairy or bald? Well, you are not alone! A lot of us go through the ritual ordeal of grooming our pubic hair: waxing comes along with an excruciating pain for many, and shaving may come with red-itchy bumps and cuts. There

Menstrual Education: The Schooling We Want And Need

| By Pooja Gulati | In the South of India, one temple had requested for a machine that recognizes whether a woman is on her period or not before setting foot in the temple — to ensure that she only does so if she is ‘pure’. In another horrifying incident, a 12-year-old girl died by

A Dive Into Period Positive Cultures From Around The World

| By Juliee Kamble | Disclaimer: This article deals with menstruation in binaries because these communities treat menstruation as a women’s issue. Paddling foundation does not endorse this opinion. The way communities threat their menstruators tells us a lot about their socio-cultural make up. By understanding how menstruation is treated in different cultures, we get

Queer Periods: A Case of Identity Crisis

| By Ria Sewlani | “Men do have periods. Trans men, trans masculine people, agender, genderqueer, and non-binary people have periods. Because of the way we talk about periods, some of us feel broken when we bleed. I feel broken when I bleed.” — Quinn Rhodes, a genderfluid blogger. All of us dread those days

Denial of Healthcare & Sanitation: Stigma of Sex Work in India

| By Avnee Satija and Priyanka Gulati | For female sex workers in India a loss of income during their menses could mean swelling their poverty. India’s sex industry, that employs millions of people, is rife with social stigmas. But the multifold oppression of female sex workers makes menstrual hygiene just one of their worries.

Feeling insecure about your body on your periods? It’s not you, it’s period-related body dysmorphia!

By Avnee Satija It’s 9:00 a.m. in the morning and you have just woken up with your period. You rush to the loo and as you change, you notice yourself in the mirror, period cramps now become the least of your worries.  There are days when I wake up and can’t look at myself in

Still Not Switched To a Menstrual cup? Here’s Why You Need To!

By Shruti Menon People have been trying to be sustainable in various realms of their life with the realisation of the impending consequences of climate change. Concomitantly, people have been trying to be sustainable in their menstrual practices as well.  When I became aware of the sheer amount of waste that I would create every

Menstruation beyond one gender.

Written by Shruti Menon Image Credits: Clue Cass Clemmer is a transgender artist and educator. They created Toni The Tampon, a colouring book and Instagram account that breaks period taboos and helps parents teach children about menstruation. This excerpt from a powerful poem written by them documents the plight of being a queer menstruator. “See

Maharashtra’s Beed District: The Womb-Less Village.

By Priyanka Gulati Image source: The Quint Vrandavani Sandeep, a 36-year-old woman from a village named Umrad Jahagir, had a hysterectomy or had her womb removed two years ago. She tells Al Jazeera, “Given the water shortage, work is scarce. We cannot afford to lose it over our female problems (menstruation).” This situation is not unique to