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The Indian sanitary pad revolutionary

bbc.co.uk

191–200 of 273 posts

Re: The Indian sanitary pad revolutionary

#191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Perhaps, but the difference between butterflies and mosquitoes isn't really in damage to the food (virtually zero in both cases)... it's in the fact that butterflies perform a service (pollination) for the flowers. Mosquitoes quite literally live and die by the lightness of their touch; compare the survival rates of human-feeding mosquitoes (not 100%, but not far off) and human-feeding horseflies (0%).

When I show moon, look at the moon, not at my finger (another quote).

“Don't think, Feel, it is like a finger pointing out to the moon, don't concentrate on the finger or you will miss all that heavenly glory.”

From 'Enter the Dragon': a quote from the great Master Lee himself!

Re: The Indian sanitary pad revolutionary

#192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you, quite right. The ongoing fight by (a slowly shrinking segment of) American society to continue blatant persecution of gay people is one of our most shameful failings. And I agree, the Church (big C) is largely responsible.

> blatant persecution of gay people // There is an active agenda attempting to legally force people to alter their actions to match others beliefs, "persecution" you might call it. Except it's not against those who have sex outside marriage it's against Christians - people who claim to uphold liberty of conscience simply will not allow Christians to express their views on marriage. Marriage, in Christian terms and hi…

Persecution occurs when someone is not allowed to visit their dying spouse in a hospital because they are of the "wrong" gender.

Persecution occurs when the spouse dies, and her partner is deprived of any part of her estate.

Persecution occurs when we bestow a host of tax benefits upon married couples, but only if they are of the "correct" genders.

Persecution occurs when gay couples are denied corporate health insurance benefits automatically conferred to straight couples.

And persecution occurs when bigots justify these things by saying that gay couples don't "produce children".

Thank you for illustrating my point so vividly.

Re: The Indian sanitary pad revolutionary

#193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are still many taboos around menstruation in India. Women can't visit temples or public places, they're not allowed to cook or touch the water supply - essentially they are considered untouchable. Every religion has elaborate rules to oppress woman. FYI, the Hebrew Bible has all the same stuff. (So I read in The Year of Living Biblically .) It's a question of "how literally does society obey those rules?" Will…

The rules in the bible are hebrew purity laws, which do not apply to gentiles (as decided in Acts). The verses most often used against homosexuality are not hebrew purity law - they're from St. Paul's letters.

By that measure, having women priests/ministers (or just letting a woman conduct a reading, as even the Catholic Church does) is also a no-no:

"Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak" -- 1 Corinthians 14:34.

And clerical celibacy is also out:

"A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife" -- 1 Timothy 3:2.

Re: The Indian sanitary pad revolutionary

#194

I'm a female founder in the US with a startup that has to do with menstruation, and I cannot even begin to tell you how uncomfortable people (male and female) get when I talk with them about it. For a man in India (where this topic is exponentially more taboo) to undertake a business like this and persist despite the backlash is so incredibly inspiring. The benefit of his business goes so far beyond simply reducing n…

Also female with quite a few year experience (please don't let me be 13 again). Many of my circle have moved away from replaceable products in exchange for reusable products, for environmental reasons. But you need very good access to clean and hot water. So there will be another revolution to come, once Tampax loses it's hold.

Re: The Indian sanitary pad revolutionary

#195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you, quite right. The ongoing fight by (a slowly shrinking segment of) American society to continue blatant persecution of gay people is one of our most shameful failings. And I agree, the Church (big C) is largely responsible.

> blatant persecution of gay people // There is an active agenda attempting to legally force people to alter their actions to match others beliefs, "persecution" you might call it. Except it's not against those who have sex outside marriage it's against Christians - people who claim to uphold liberty of conscience simply will not allow Christians to express their views on marriage. Marriage, in Christian terms and hi…

"I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. They are so unlike your Christ" -- Gandhi

Re: The Indian sanitary pad revolutionary

#196
post #189
post #178

This is something that makes me both proud and sad about my home country India. We are still struggling with some of the basic problems that the developed world probably solved 100 years back. It makes me even more sad that just 60 years back India was hardly behind any other developed country. Arunchalam's example is also a classic case of how Indian government has destroyed India's entrepreneurial zeal. When Arun i…

Though the government is pretty corrupt, you seem to be paranoid in your criticism of it. > "Use iodized salt in food else your children will be born retarded". "In India, the entire population is prone to IDD due to deficiency of iodine in the soil of the subcontinent and consequently the food derived from it. To combat the risk of IDD, salt is fortified with iodine. However, an estimated 350 million people do not c…

And specifically, sea salt tends to be low in Iodine.

"Iodine, an element essential for human health, is present only in small amounts in sea salt,[1]" (cribbed from Wikipedia)

[1]: http://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/es0719071

Re: The Indian sanitary pad revolutionary

#197
post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not aware of an obsession with menstruation in any major variant of Christianity.

Woman being unclean during menstrual cycle is part of Abrahamic religions. But I guess this comes from the bigger problem of "sex" being wrong unless it constitutes "breeding".

The only Abrahamic religion that views sex as only for breeding would be Catholicism (and maybe a few other smaller sects). Judaism, Protestants and Muslims all believe sex is a normal healthy thing.

Re: The Indian sanitary pad revolutionary

#198

I want to hug this guy. Like, really. Buy me a airplane ticket. Arunachalam Muruganantham is a hero. I use that word in its full magnitude. Since I am now an expert on the matter, having read the entire article, I'll speculate on what motivates this man: - Grit. Crazy amounts of grit. The article is full of good quotes, but my favorite is what he said after being abandoned by his mother: "It was a problem for me," he…

I had seen this YouTube video of his (TEDx), where he starts with a question "what do you need a meaningful life?" ... and was almost brought to tears when finally he repeats the question and answers it: "So what do you need to lead a meaningful life?" - 'All you need is a Problem.'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1iWhljEbTE

Re: The Indian sanitary pad revolutionary

#199

I want to hug this guy. Like, really. Buy me a airplane ticket. Arunachalam Muruganantham is a hero. I use that word in its full magnitude. Since I am now an expert on the matter, having read the entire article, I'll speculate on what motivates this man: - Grit. Crazy amounts of grit. The article is full of good quotes, but my favorite is what he said after being abandoned by his mother: "It was a problem for me," he…

> There are still many taboos around menstruation in India. Women can't visit temples or public places, they're not allowed to cook or touch the water supply - essentially they are considered untouchable.

Note that in earlier times getting water in certain region might mean traveling for miles and then bringing water home, which could be pretty heavy. Same is true for cooking, an Indian joint family could be very big (20/25 members). And cooking for the whole family in open fire is not an easy feat either. So most of household work in a big joint family could be extremely strenuous. Some of these traditions let the woman avoid strenuous work during the mensuration.

Though I am speculating here, some of the tradition indeed could be meant for the well being of the woman. It may not be very relevant in the modern world though.

Re: The Indian sanitary pad revolutionary

#200
post #197
post #148

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Woman being unclean during menstrual cycle is part of Abrahamic religions. But I guess this comes from the bigger problem of "sex" being wrong unless it constitutes "breeding".

The only Abrahamic religion that views sex as only for breeding would be Catholicism (and maybe a few other smaller sects). Judaism, Protestants and Muslims all believe sex is a normal healthy thing.

Catholicism absolutely does not view sex as only for breeding.
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