Pre- Menstruation Syndrome. For the longest time, this phrase has been used to describe a woman’s erratic tantrum, her irrational behaviour-her hysteria. And this is all justified as hormonal behaviour-something that women cannot control, something that is a natural, inherent quality in all women. The irrationality that is prescribed to women becomes located in the woman’s biological make-up. Patriarchy therefore has managed to justify all this- the excessively emotional woman, the complicated woman- as objective knowledge, as scientific data. And women themselves today buy into this. I have heard so many women lash out, be snappy, cranky, violent, downright ridiculous and pin it all down to pms. “I am pmsing” becomes a licence for everything and women exploit it to the hilt. But here is the problem, every time a woman promotes such behaviour, every time she accepts and acknowledges this, she legitimises what patriarchy has been trying to say for a very long time- Women are neurotic. Women are complicated. Women are from Venus. And the thousand other variations of these sentences.
Now, I don’t want my point to be mistaken for some mad denial of the aweful cramps, the headaches, the nausea and everything else that accompanies periods. Not at all. On the other hand, I fully understand how nerve-wracking they can be and the need to be depressed and miserable about this state. But I do feel that this must not be used as an excuse. That excuse can have larger ramifications in the subtle political battle that every single one of us is fighting. It gives everyone else a joke to snigger about- “It must be that time of the month”. A joke is never just a joke. This joke is evidence of the everyday construction of women as ferocious women that must be feared (note here, not for reasons of mettle or brilliance, but rather for her unpredictable outbursts) and every single joke, snigger and the act of women on their part too, is a perpetuation of that stereotype. When I searched for the definition of pms, here’s what the urban dictionary had to say about it- “PMS-A powerful spell that women are put under about once every month, which gives them the strength of an ox, the stability of a Window’s OS, and the scream of a banshee. Basically, man’s worst nightmare.
OMFG! SHE HAS PMS!!! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!!! *explosions and screams*”. The whole page actually is a long elaboration of these stereotypical misconceptions. For more examples- http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=PMS
Periods have been there since time immemorial. And half the population of the world has it. We need to stop giving it so much emphasis and stop creating this aura of taboo and mystery around it. All of us here are educated and informed about our rights, talk about feminism and make solid points. But I think radicalism needs to start with small, personal steps first- live that talk with every word and every action we take. If you are a woman, when “it’s that time of the month” try to be a little more cautious so that you are not giving off the vibe that it is really is that time of the month. It is so easy to get carried away with everything and then say “I am pmsing”. It lets you get away with so much and of course complacency sets in. If you genuinely get angry and your manic uterus added to that wrath, go ahead and apologise later for losing temper. Acknowledge that you are aware that the reaction was over the top. Let us stop using our uteruses in a fashion that only condones them.
Sparks in Vacuum 