It's tough enough when those needs are met.

Come on, India, Wake the fuck up!

Your women are in trouble. From dealing with this issue to the issue of rape, things are horrible for Indian women.

during menstruation because they do not have a way to deal with it.

Adolescent girls are likely to miss school and fall behind in their education due to a lack of segregated, private and appropriate sanitation facilities. And women are more likely to stay home, waiting until nightfall to visit latrines, leading to an increased risk of violence.

http://allafrica.com/stories/201306261378.html?aa_source=slideout

Kind of helps me put some of my problems in perspective. I hope the conditions for women can be improved in India and in so many other parts of the world.

And we are not that far from things like that, Very orthodox jewish women are also considered impure during that time of the month

have access to sanitary napkins, tampax, separate bathrooms for girls - we're talking about women who have no access to those very basic needs, not what the imaginary sky daddy has to say about it.

Realize that sky daddy aso does not allow them access to the tv, computers or the modern world.

We are talking of a very small group. Personally I consider it child abuse. And the boys are also kept away from TV, computers or the knowledge that we went to the moon.

She is a former Hasidic Jew. She talks about this issue in her book. And wait until you get to the part about the mikvah. The book is a great read.

Thanks

Wait till you get to the part about the mikvah. For a ritual that is supposed to be about purification, it's both hilarious and kind of gross at the same time. It's also amazing how isolated you can be in the middle of Brooklyn. Hasidism just sounds like a huge pain in the butt to me.

For example:

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2008-09-11/news/0809101277_1_purses-ban-last-year-ken-trump

A newly enforced rule this school year prohibits purses in the classrooms, adding to an existing ban of book bags and backpacks. But the latest provision is exasperating some students and their parents, who say the policy compromises the privacy of girls.

At a school board meeting this week before a standing-room-only crowd, mom Janet Brennan demonstrated how uncomfortable it is to cram feminine hygiene products into pockets already stuffed with a pen, pencil, calculator and other items.

"I was trying to make a point," said Brennan, whose 15-year-old daughter, Kristin Lynch, is a sophomore at the school. "They have to carry these products in their pocket. Girls that age are easily embarrassed; they don't want people to know they have their period."

Experts say banning backpacks in the classroom is becoming more popular as schools tighten security measures in a post-Columbine world. However, banning purses in classrooms, they said, is extremely uncommon, although controversies surrounding similar prohibitions have popped up around the country.

Last year in New York, a male school security guard asked a 14-year-old girl if the reason she was carrying a purse in school was because she was on her period. The interrogation sparked a student protest.

SNIP

after four years in that school

http://www.hanover.k12.in.us/cms/lib05/IN01001361/Centricity/Domain/39/HCHS%20Handbook%202012-2013.pdf

They don't have such a ban here, but our administration also does many odd things (to the point that it my be my 10th grader's last year at the High School).

Our children all started out in public, lasted there as long as I could stand, and then wound up in private. I'm still a big supporter of public schools, working on the levy campaigns, etc. But I'm not going to sacrifice my children to my ideals. They're only young once.

...are called Libertarian trolls. There is your answer. People who oppose intrusions of privacy which are deemed necessary for "security purposes" by the people in charge catch a lot of shit in America.

... the school should provide sanitary products free of charge in the restrooms if they won't let girls/women carry purses and/or bookbags. Schools are becoming prisons. Replete with bully gangs and bully school officials.

when she finally left the public school for a private high school. Sadly, she had gotten used to an atmosphere of suspicion and disrespect, and all of a sudden all the teachers were expecting the best from students, instead of the worst. And, of course, they got it.

Privatization is not the answer.

But it's a choice some progressive parents make for our own children, for various reasons, while we try to help public schools get better.

to treat their girls that way??? (Not to take anything away from the problems of Indian women, but , Jesus.)

A few lucky ones have a couch with a tarp stretched over it, but mostly it's just a blanket on the concrete with an 8' X 8' tarp raised over it for your whole family. But babies are made (and born) in these conditions. I know the western ideas of privacy don't apply, but the basic geometry can't change very much and I'm not entirely sure how it's spatially possible.

In the Mumbai slums, at least, the women tend to do their hygienic stuff by the railroad tracks, which results in a much higher number of women than men getting hit by trains every day

I don't think you appreciate the level of crowding I'm talking about. 1 million people per square mile crowding.

I have tons of new agey liberal friends who use them because they do not generate landfill waste like pads and tampons do. And they sing their praises and try to get other women to use them.

However, ideally it should be a choice and not someone's only option. I personally would have hated using a "moon cup".

was learning to view a normal bodily process with disgust and shame. She hates the moon cup because it's associated with something else she hates.

The irony about all this is of the two dozen Indian friends we have (4 families) they all are very well educated (educated here) most have very high paying jobs but ALL are RW conservatives and extremely anti-immigration especially when it comes to Mexicans. Salvadorians, and Africans. And yes, they quickly learned that to be against and wary of blacks in America was something that helped them in their careers here. Maybe I only know a microcosm of Indians but this is what I know about all of those in my circle of family and friends.

Not saying I don't believe you but because my experience was the exact opposite. The majority of Indians I meet/met were fairly liberal Democrats and highly educated with high paying jobs too, lived in the nicest neighborhoods, etc. I met quite a few because at one time I was really close to one Indian coworker (even went travelled to India with her) and met quite a few in the community where I lived at the time.

not sure if the ones you mention are immigrants. those who grew up in india and came here in which case they would be hypocrites to be anti immigration.

the worst thing about it is that it's not even due to lack of money/resources. many who have satellite tv, smart phones, vehicles etc but they don't put any effort into basic infrastructure and services to keep things clean. like toilets that work, places to throw away trash etc.

many people think women who are on their periods should not go into a temple or near "holy" things.

many people are willing to give their money to fruads to promise spiritual cleansing. but nothing towards basic things to keep them clean.

or a bush or something,. There seems to be no requirement to even have bathrooms for public buildings. And certainly no cleaning or maintenance taking place, even (or especially) in places like train stations or other public places.