A Revolution

Not so long ago in the US, women who wore jeans were considered “Tomboys” and few questioned traditional gender roles. I try to think of this as I struggle with the stories Mavelikaran women share with me. Stories that, had I been my Grandmother, I would also tell. I feel lucky to be born in the aftermath of the 60s generation of feminists who changed American history and gave American women more options. As I listen to women in Mavelikara, I am learning about a different type of revolution.

While living in a ladies hostel, I have learned a few code words for “menstrual cycle” similar in nature to those used in the US. One is “the dog bit me,” another is, “someone is in town.” My supervisor, Prabhaa Miss, told me that she recently heard a new code word…The Bloody Revolution.

She and I shared our amazement and excitement. It is a strong phase, almost violent, but demonstrates agency in its violence unlike being “bit by the dog.” It goes beyond the already audacious mention of blood, to take ownership of ones cycle in a proud, life-changing manner as something that strengthens a woman, something for which she can be proud. One of many cycles we experiences in our lives, and one that women cannot control (on top of many of the other things that some women cannot control in their lives). Not until it is a Revolution, that is!

Prabhaa Miss feels that if mothers raise their children to understand equality, things will begin to change. Though nothing will change for her or her generation, her twelve-year-old daughter is being given a great gift. What a powerful position mothers are in, to be able to raise their children with values that are in direct disagreement with their husbands’ values, (because in Mavelikara, raising children is a woman’s duty). Mothers in Mavelikara are giving their daughters the equality they themselves are without through agency they have only because of the inequality of enforced traditional gender roles. Now THAT is a revolution!