People
Period Photo On Instagram
By Sikh-Canadian Poet
Rupi Kaur
Sparks Change
REBECCA ZAMON
Sikh-Canadian spoken word poet Rupi Kaur uploaded a picture of herself on Instagram this week, and unleashed a revolution.
The image, seen on the right, showed the back of a woman's body, including a spot of blood between her legs, as well as blood on her bedsheets.
As most women will recognize, this is what happens when your period leaks. It was part of a photo series Rupi placed on her Tumblr account depicting her and her sister's menstrual cycles.
As she wrote on Tumblr:
"i bleed each month to help make humankind a possibility. my womb is home to the divine. a source of life for our species. whether i choose to create or not. but very few times it is seen that way .. in older civilizations this blood was considered holy. in some it still is. but a majority of people. societies. and communities shun this natural process. some are more comfortable with the pornification of women. the sexualization of women. the violence and degradation of women than this. they cannot be bothered to express their disgust about all that. but will be angered and bothered by this. we menstruate and they see it as dirty. attention seeking. sick. a burden. as if this process is less natural than breathing. as if it is not a bridge between this universe and the last. as if this process is not love. labour. life. selfless and strikingly beautiful."
Instagram, however, determined the image violated their community guidelines, and took it down -- twice.
Which led Rupi to fight back, garnering massive amounts of support along the way. Here is her extensive and important commentary in reply to Instagram's response:
thank you @instagram for providing me with the exact response my work was created to critique. you deleted a photo of a woman who is fully covered and menstruating stating that it goes against community guidelines when your guidelines outline that it is nothing but acceptable. the girl is fully clothed. the photo is mine. it is not attacking a certain group. nor is it spam. and because it does not break those guidelines i will repost it again. i will not apologize for not feeding the ego and pride of misogynist society that will have my body in an underwear but not be okay with a small leak. when your pages are filled with countless photos/accounts where women (so many who are underage) are objectified. pornified. and treated less than human. thank you.
this image is a part of my photoseries project for my visual rhetoric course. you can view the full series at rupikaur.com
After approximately a day, Instagram reversed its decision and allowed the photo back on the site. As they wrote in a statement issued to The Huffington Post Canada, "When our team processes reports from other members of the Instagram community, we occasionally make a mistake. In this case, we wrongly removed content and worked to rectify the error as soon as we were notified. We are sorry for this mistake."
While Rupi’s work is jolting and certainly designed to make people feel uncomfortable, it also draws attention to massive issues that exist outside of Instagram. Despite being experienced by almost half of the world's population once a month, menstruation has been a taboo topic for centuries.
As HuffPost U.K. editor Brogan Driscoll writes in a blog on the topic, "We hide tampons in up our sleeves en route to the loo, we whisper when asking friends for a spare sanitary pad, and we exclude guys from any conversations about women's things."
And of course, there are the bigger issues.
Historically, women were sent away from society when they had their periods, and in many cultures, it's still considered a dirty and shameful event.
A squeamishness with talking about menstruating likely informs such problems as lack of access to feminine hygiene supplies in developing countries, which can lead to infections from using alternative methods, as well as missing school or work. Similarly, at food banks in North America, sanitary pads and tampons are some of the most requested items.
While Rupi’s photo may be considered graphic by some, her use of it to make a larger point about society got plenty of attention, and possibly even changed how one of the most influential platforms in the world approaches their treatment of women, periods and all.
[Courtesy: The Huffington Post. Edited for sikhchic.com]
March 28, 2015
Conversation about this article
1: Upkar Singh (Prince Edward Island, Canada), March 28, 2015, 7:11 AM.
Bless you, beta. May Waheguru give you every strength and power -- to you and your generation of young Sikh women -- so that you can reclaim the equality of women that Guru Nanak proclaimed so eloquently to the world.
2: Jaswinder Singh (London, United Kingdom), March 28, 2015, 7:37 AM.
I admire your daring and chutzpah, Rupi ji. May you inspire Sikh women -- and men too -- everywhere to stand up and get involved and live up to the full promise of Sikhi: decency and fairness, equality and excellence, courage and compassion, civic engagement and positive change ... and the incessant and relentless pushing of the envelope!
3: Jeet Kaur (Hamilton, Ontario, Canada), March 28, 2015, 7:42 AM.
Your actions are as fierce and charged with meaning as your poetry! Love it! Go for it! We're with you all the way ...
4: Japjit Kaur (Amritsar, Punjab), March 28, 2015, 9:15 AM.
I especially like the way sikhchic.com too pushes the envelope for us, encouraging us to confront issues that have hitherto been neglected or put on the back burner. Thank you ... I know so many others who feel the same way. Wish others in the worldwide community and the Sikh/Punjabi media would take the cue.
5: Gurmeet Kaur (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), March 28, 2015, 1:55 PM.
Daring and gutsy, indeed. Thanks for doing this. I want to say these very things but don't have the courage. You've made it a wee bit easier for us to talk about it.
6: Baljeet Kaur (New York, USA), March 28, 2015, 1:59 PM.
Only the young and the fearless can tackle such a topic. The older ones -- and I fall into that category -- no matter how strong and forthcoming, can't; our inhibitions won't allow us. Bravo! I'm also pleasantly surprised by the comments here. You've obviously touched a chord.
7: Neeraj Kaur (Los Angeles, California, USA), March 28, 2015, 6:45 PM.
We women must learn to celebrate our bodies. For too long, human society has made us feel ashamed of something which Guru Nanak has said is in fact glorious because it is the very source of life. That is Rupi's message!
8: Sangat Singh (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), March 28, 2015, 6:57 PM.
Rupi Betay, your post together with the picture is indeed an unparalleled bold step, together with sikhchic.com's to publish it. There is on reference by Guru Nanak in his shabad: "Ji-o jaroo sirnaavanee aavai vararo vaar /so ki-o mandaa aa khee-ai jit jameh raajan" [GGS:473.9] - "Why call her bad? From her, kings are born / From woman, woman is born. Without woman there would be no human at all!" Bless you, Rupi, you have added your own poetic and uplifting rendition that cannot be improved upon.
9: Jagtar Singh (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada), March 28, 2015, 7:52 PM.
Rupi, Guru Nanak would be so-o proud of you. So are we all!
10: Harjinder Singh (New Delhi, India), March 29, 2015, 8:52 AM.
Instagram's response is a typical one -- both in it's initial censorship (twice) and in its subsequent shameless and dishonest backtracking -- which is a true reflection of society around the world today. That Rupi has hit the mark is not only proved by Instagram itself but also the morons who troll through the comments sections (on The Huffington Post, The Washington Post, and other international media where the story has been covered) posting their inanities. You nailed it right on the head, Rupi!
11: Jasbeer Singh (New Delhi, India), March 29, 2015, 10:08 AM.
Wow! What courage to effect change! Rupi has proved that our Sikh women have the stuff and lack nothing that is required to be a leader. Keep it up, lady.
12: Baldev Singh (Bradford, United Kingdom), March 29, 2015, 11:45 AM.
Every culture and society has a big ideological problem with the female and her 'purity'. Except Sikhism. And in all the 'religions' the pagan superstition still rules that she is 'dirty' and 'bad luck'. Sadly, today, even our own gurdwara caretakers have come under the influence of alien Hindu beliefs and superstitions in this regard. They must be weeded out.
13: Parmjit Singh (Canada), March 30, 2015, 2:06 AM.
Where there is injustice, comfort is crude. The most beautiful artist is a rebel. Thank you, Rupi Kaur and sikhchic.com!
14: R Singh (Surrey, British Columbia, Canada), March 31, 2015, 1:01 AM.
During the time of Guru Nanak, in the prevailing Hindu society, women who had given birth were not allowed into the kitchen; they were considered unclean -- (a practice still prevalent within Hindu-influenced society today). Guru Nanak liberated women from that scenario five centuries ago. I thank Waheguru every day for sending Guru Nanak to humanity. However, have we lived up to his revolution?
15: Baldev Singh (Bradford, United Kingdom), March 31, 2015, 8:08 AM.
Commentator #14 R Singh ji: Re. 'Have we lived up to Guru Nanak's revolution?' Not if we follow any Hindu and Muslim rituals and superstitions!