Actress Saloni Chopra has been very vocal about slut-shaming, sexism and other social issues that run rampant through India.
On March 15, she took to Instagram to address all those who have shamed her, and other women, during her period.
In the post, Chopra questioned all the people who made her feel like something was wrong with her.
And those who refused to speak about a woman's menstruation.
She ended by saying that she will not be silenced and will speak about the normal bodily function whenever she damn well pleases.
Chopra's post has been widely shared, with thousands of women lauding her for speaking about it.
You can check out the entire note here:
"That's right, it's just blood.. Y'know who gave it more importance than it needs? You. You who celebrated my very 1st menstrual cycle.. said it made me a woman. Then you told me to never discuss it publicly. First you made me feel proud of becoming, then you made me feel there was something wrong with me. You told me I couldn't visit holy places.
You conditioned me to love cooking, but you wouldn't let me, that day. You yelled when I lit the diya in the mandir that morning. The kids at school laughed at me & my friends didn't sit next to me, bcos my blue skirt was red. I ate my lunch alone, crying in the washroom. I wasn't very proud of being a girl that day. Then I grew older & I met boys.. boys that liked me.. boys that knew nothing about periods, but got disgusted every time a pad fell out of my bag. I couldn't fathom that women raised such men.
My girlfriends always whispered about it.. were they ashamed? My colleagues thought I was being a bitch bcos I was "PMSing" - my boss thought that was just my lame excuse to take a day off. I guess his penis never bled, he didn't know what it felt like to have his hormones go on a rollercoaster ride every month, yet all they could grasp from it was that periods were "yuck" & girls act "crazy" on them.
I'm not mad at you cos I'm on my period, I'm mad at you for the ignorant moron you are. You think I'm overreacting when I speak about inequality, then you cringe at the idea of vaginal blood. You think it's impure. From you who gave birth to me, to you that wants to marry me, listen carefully - there is nothing about me that is "impure" every month. I'm not the creation of the devil.
I'll have as many conversations about my menstrual cycle as I please, I will cook as many meals as I like & enter as many places of worship as I want to. For those 5 days, maybe you should keep your impure selves out of my kitchen, my temple, my work place & come back when you're ready to accept my body. I will never, ever accept my tampons wrapped in a newspaper again - there's a lot more dirt printed in that than a woman's body could ever produce.
And if you try to hush-hush me, I'll only scream louder.
Sincerely,
Every. Damn. Girl.