The Indian sanitary pad revolutionary • Hacker News Board

Re: The Indian sanitary pad revolutionary

#251

Post by Ancorehraq » Wed, Mar 05, 2014, 5:26 PM UTC

bananas wrote: post #233

crassus wrote: post #228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People that marry as virgins have a much lower chance of divorce[1]. If you think that stable families are a good thing for your society to have, then you have to reject "sex positive" modern culture and value virginity. Coincidentally, the family structure of the west has rotted since the sexual revolution of the 1960s[2]. Maybe if all those damaged children of divorce had a say in the matter we'd return to traditio…

I think your point is quite possibly the greatest example of religious thinking I've seen for a while. Perhaps the family structure is just as rotten as it always was but now we don't lobotomise our depressed wives, pile them up with valium and beat our kids to shut up about it. It's no longer acceptable to put up with shit and abuse and unhappiness is the greatest thing that has happened to the western world.

Speaking of depressed wives and valium,

"Over the past two decades, the use of antidepressants has skyrocketed. One in 10 Americans now takes an antidepressant medication; among women in their 40s and 50s, the figure is one in four."

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/08/12/a-glut-of-antidepre...

Re: The Indian sanitary pad revolutionary

#252

Post by dredmorbius » Wed, Mar 05, 2014, 5:37 PM UTC

igul222 wrote: post #24

Udo wrote: post #9

This is an amazingly inspiring story, I love the entrepreneurial spirit and dedication of Mr Muruganantham. However, there is a bigger story hiding behind this personal triumph. It's clear that people living in impoverished areas are not in a position to buy sanitary products at market rates (being sold at a margin of 4000% or more). But for example many do have access to cheap raw materials. It makes a ton of sense…

The article mentions that commercial napkins sold for 4 rupees despite cotton being 1/4000th the cost, but also says farther down that the locally produced ones sell for an average of 2.5 rupees each. That's a 38% discount: significant, but it doesn't seem like a game-changing difference to me. I imagine that if this catches on, the larger manufacturers will likely just cut their margins to compete. On a more general…

Economies of scale are powerful.

Some economies of scale are attainable with small numbers of (or single) craftsmen. If you can batch operations, one person can rotate though steps of a process over the course of a day, or of days.

Another factor in the Industrial Revolution was the addition of both energy and capital. Where early energy sources were often inconveniently located: mill towns were, literally, located on waterways or elsewhere free energy was possible, often quite distant (and over very poor roads) from major populations, which is to say, either labor or markets.

The revolutions of steam and electricity meant that the scale of operations of factories could be both scaled up and down: smaller-scale equipment means that a local shop can produce goods, though typically this means on a highly specialized basis.

Other factors tend to increase cost of goods: advertising, marketing, and competitive fencing via exclusive marketing arrangements, patent enforcement, and the like.

Re: The Indian sanitary pad revolutionary

#253

Post by dTal » Wed, Mar 05, 2014, 5:52 PM UTC

crassus wrote: post #239

bananas wrote: post #233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think your point is quite possibly the greatest example of religious thinking I've seen for a while. Perhaps the family structure is just as rotten as it always was but now we don't lobotomise our depressed wives, pile them up with valium and beat our kids to shut up about it. It's no longer acceptable to put up with shit and abuse and unhappiness is the greatest thing that has happened to the western world.

Where did I bring religion into it? It's valuable to have community norms that prevent people from throwing away their family as soon as times get rough or life fails to be "fulfilling" or entertaining. At least, ours is the first society that's ever thought differently, so we'll get to see how this whole experiment plays out. Single parent families are a big part of the increasing economic stratification between ric…

http://www.salon.com/2013/05/06/my_virginity_mistake/

Would you have preferred she stayed with the man she impulsively married and had children in a loveless marriage?

Re: The Indian sanitary pad revolutionary

#254

Post by Myrmornis » Wed, Mar 05, 2014, 7:44 PM UTC

crassus wrote: post #228

Myrmornis wrote: post #225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a bit of a problem with the way you're talking about "virginity". Scientifically, it's not a concept at all. In fact "vagina has been penetrated at least once by an object, whether penis or not, and hymen possibly broken" is a more scientifically valid definition of female loss of virginity than yours. So basically, you're wrong, the problem isn't people thinking that using a tampon is loss of virginity; the p…

People that marry as virgins have a much lower chance of divorce[1]. If you think that stable families are a good thing for your society to have, then you have to reject "sex positive" modern culture and value virginity. Coincidentally, the family structure of the west has rotted since the sexual revolution of the 1960s[2]. Maybe if all those damaged children of divorce had a say in the matter we'd return to traditio…

People that marry as virgins have a much lower chance of divorce

There are several confounding variables affecting this correlation, notably the fact that people who marry as virgins are much more likely to be practicing Christians (the data set is of US women).

Re: The Indian sanitary pad revolutionary

#255

Post by piyush_soni » Wed, Mar 05, 2014, 7:57 PM UTC

piyush_soni wrote: post #198

nate_meurer wrote: post #93

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

Aah. Badly formed the first sentence. I meant "What do you need to lead a meaningful life"

Re: The Indian sanitary pad revolutionary

#256

Post by eevilspock » Wed, Mar 05, 2014, 8:22 PM UTC

Ancorehraq wrote: post #251

bananas wrote: post #233

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think your point is quite possibly the greatest example of religious thinking I've seen for a while. Perhaps the family structure is just as rotten as it always was but now we don't lobotomise our depressed wives, pile them up with valium and beat our kids to shut up about it. It's no longer acceptable to put up with shit and abuse and unhappiness is the greatest thing that has happened to the western world.

Speaking of depressed wives and valium, "Over the past two decades, the use of antidepressants has skyrocketed. One in 10 Americans now takes an antidepressant medication; among women in their 40s and 50s, the figure is one in four." http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/08/12/a-glut-of-antidepre...

To be clear, that does not imply that people are more depressed over the past two decades. On the positive side, it could mean that we're finally able to diagnose and treat something that has plagued us all along. On the negative side, it could be the direct result of the Big Pharma marketing and profit machine.

Re: The Indian sanitary pad revolutionary

#257

Post by dusklight » Thu, Mar 06, 2014, 12:44 AM UTC

crassus wrote: post #228

Myrmornis wrote: post #225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a bit of a problem with the way you're talking about "virginity". Scientifically, it's not a concept at all. In fact "vagina has been penetrated at least once by an object, whether penis or not, and hymen possibly broken" is a more scientifically valid definition of female loss of virginity than yours. So basically, you're wrong, the problem isn't people thinking that using a tampon is loss of virginity; the p…

People that marry as virgins have a much lower chance of divorce[1]. If you think that stable families are a good thing for your society to have, then you have to reject "sex positive" modern culture and value virginity. Coincidentally, the family structure of the west has rotted since the sexual revolution of the 1960s[2]. Maybe if all those damaged children of divorce had a say in the matter we'd return to traditio…

While I personally think the above post is morally repugnant, I was very disappointed to see that it had been downvoted significantly and I upvoted it to try to balance it out. The poster might be wrong but he did so with a civil tone and an actual attempt to include citations. I question his basic premises but this is exactly the sort of thing that free speech should protect. He may be wrong and you can ignore it but you shouldn't be allowed to shut him up.

Re: The Indian sanitary pad revolutionary

#258

Post by testos » Thu, Mar 06, 2014, 5:02 AM UTC

cubancigar11 wrote: post #243

lostlogin wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've got to dispute this - India has appalling rates of abuse, rape and mistreatment of women, and I don't believe any systems in place there are helpful. Have you got any citations that might change my opinion?

It is a myth that India has appalling rates of rape. Rape is appalling, but it is fun nowadays to portray India as particularly bad when in reality it is pretty average statistically.[1] For example, rapes per capita: USA (27.3), Sweden (63.5), India (1.8), Canada (1.7). The counter argument generally is that India has lax laws, but to me that is a non-argument. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rape_statistics#Rape_s…

Following your link : "This list indicates the number of, and per capita cases of recorded rape. It does not include cases of rape which go unreported, or which are not recorded"

Hey don't you see any reason for a victim of rape to not report her/his aggression? Once you find one or two, think about how they may influence the results in the US and in India. Does the comparison hold?

You can play blind if you want, don't try to convince others. Your statistics cannot be used for international comparisons.

Re: The Indian sanitary pad revolutionary

#259

Post by cubancigar11 » Thu, Mar 06, 2014, 12:50 PM UTC

testos wrote: post #258

cubancigar11 wrote: post #243

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is a myth that India has appalling rates of rape. Rape is appalling, but it is fun nowadays to portray India as particularly bad when in reality it is pretty average statistically.[1] For example, rapes per capita: USA (27.3), Sweden (63.5), India (1.8), Canada (1.7). The counter argument generally is that India has lax laws, but to me that is a non-argument. 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rape_statistics#Rape_s…

Following your link : "This list indicates the number of, and per capita cases of recorded rape. It does not include cases of rape which go unreported, or which are not recorded" Hey don't you see any reason for a victim of rape to not report her/his aggression? Once you find one or two, think about how they may influence the results in the US and in India. Does the comparison hold? You can play blind if you want, do…

"Following your link : "This list indicates the number of, and per capita cases of recorded rape. It does not include cases of rape which go unreported, or which are not recorded""

And unreported rapes will be higher in India - much higher - than Botswana (92.9), Panama (28.3), Jamaica (24.4), Belize (6.7) because?

"Your statistics cannot be used for international comparisons." Glad I was able to bask in your unabashed superiority, testos. Btw, they are not 'my' statistics, which show that Canada has several degrees higher rape incidents that go 'unreported, or which are not recorded' than USA. That data point was left in the comment just for your argument.

Re: The Indian sanitary pad revolutionary

#260

Post by Crake » Thu, Mar 06, 2014, 8:12 PM UTC

silencio wrote: post #218

miked wrote: post #206

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> ideas like this are incredibly common in not-so-rural places like in the US. I've never heard of this happening in the US at all, never mind being "incredibly common". Evidence?

I don't want to make assumptions about gender on HN, but if you grew up female it was kind of hard to avoid. You can just search for "tampon virgin" and come up with a ton of sites and people that try to reassure girls that using a tampon doesn't mean you lose your virginity. I also grew up in LA and not in the middle of some super conservative area, but my girlfriends used to freak the hell out when they needed to d…

> if you grew up female it was kind of hard to avoid

>I also grew up in LA and not in the middle of some super conservative area

>So much of it is so everyday if you spend enough time around frustrated women

I grew up in a fundamentalist conservative family in the midwest who believed the earth was 5,000 years old. Even we thought the "tampons kill your virginity" thing was ludicrous. I can believe it's a problem in the third world, but suggesting it's a common modern day belief in a first world country like America seems a bit hard to believe.

(A lot of religious people are still weird about the pill, though.)