Facebook campaign protests demand for scanner to detect menstruating women at temples

 

Situated in the southern state of Kerala, Sabarimala is one of the most popular Hindu pilgrimage centres in India, but it still prohibits the entry on women in the menstrual age group. Last week, Prayar Gopalakrishnan, the new chief of the Travancore Devaswom Board that manages the Sabarimala temple made it clear that the practice is unlikely to change anytime soon. 
He stated that women would be permitted to enter the temple after the invention of a scanning machine which could check whether it was the 'right time' or not, or whether a woman was menstruating or not.

#HappyToBleed #BreakTheSilence
Posted by Feminism in India on Sunday, 22 November 2015

In response, 20-year-old Nikita Azad launched the #HappyToBleed campaign to protest against menstrual taboos, and was soon joined by other angry women.

Recently Devaswom chief of Sabrimala temple has given a misogynist statement that once purity checking machines (that...
Posted by Feminism in India on Friday, 20 November 2015

"Women are denied entry to the temple because of the belief that menstruation makes them impure," the Facebook page of the campaign states. "We have started #HappyToBleed as a form of resistance against patriarchal beliefs about menstruation, and chauvinist notions that consider women the property of men or society."
The campaign is inviting women to participate by taking a picture of themselves holding a chart or sanitary napkin with the words #HappyToBleed.

Aditi Gupta of Menstrupedia says, "I have a uterus and I bleed once every-month. God does not get angry if I pray...
Posted by Feminism in India on Sunday, 22 November 2015

Earlier this year, students from various Indian universities held their version of the global Pads Against Sexism campaign to raise awareness about sexism and rape by sticking sanitary pads with messages across their campuses.
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