"PERIOD. End of Sentence." Review
DISCLAIMER: Not every person with a period identifies as a woman. However, this documentary focuses specifically on girls’ experience with them.
It began with a group of girls at a North Hollywood high school who were outraged to learn that for girls in some parts of the world there is an abundance of stigma around periods and a lack of resources - which for most girls, often leads to interference within their educations, being cast out, and infections (Los Angeles Magazine). These girls started a movement to raise the necessary money to fund a pad machine being installed in a small, rural village outside of Delhi, and a documentary to be created to show the rest of the world what was going on. Their movements led to a documentary about periods receiving an Oscar, but it won’t end with that.
PERIOD. End of Sentence. opened my eyes to the way that Indian people in poverty view this part of growing up. Throughout the documentary, almost all the girls filmed struggled with saying the word period; a group of men even said, “I’ve heard that it’s an illness. It mostly affects ladies.”
Periods are a topic that many girls in India are embarrassed to talk about, but throughout this video, they learn about clean and healthy ways of taking care of their periods. Even an older woman did not know where the blood came from: “This is something only God knows,” she said, “it’s bad blood which comes out.”
The women have been taught by society from a young age to be ashamed of this bodily function. They are not allowed in the temple if they have their period. Periods can be so unmanageable that one girl had to drop out of school.
In the documentary, a man named Arunachalam Muruganatham teaches young women how to use a machine that makes pads. He gives them the ability to have their own jobs and become more than just a wife and mother. In addition to empowering them to make their own income to make pads, and educating other women gives them a sense of self-worth and motivation to help others. Their pad brand is called “Fly” to encourage other women to spread their wings and pursue their dreams. He says, “The strongest creature created by God in the world, not the lion, not the elephant, not the tiger, but the girl.”
It’s so amazing that a documentary on such a taboo topic has made a splash in the movie industry. PERIOD. End of Sentence. takes strides in the right direction to inspire other girls that their life can leave a lasting impact, as well as a family, or whatever they choose to pursue. Women have the strength, wit, and bravery to make a lasting impact on this world but we need to equalize their opportunities.
by EMILY WEINBERG