The film “Period. End of Sentence.” illustrates women’s health, promotion, and advocacy by showing how women gather together to overcome female-centric issues and turn something stigmatized into something positive for themselves and their community. At the beginning of the film, it was apparent that women’s health was not a large priority within this community. Women were expected to not discuss their periods and men rarely even know what they were. This is a massive barrier to women’s health, as knowledge and health literacy are essential in detecting health issues including issues related to menstruation and reproduction. Without open conversation about menstruation there is a lack of knowledge on how to deal with periods and how to ensure the safety of young girls. In the film they mentioned that women were not always using clean bundles of cotton material and were sitting in wet material for long periods of time. Both of these practices are unsafe, yet there was no dialogue between females to be able to convey this information. The lack of resources and knowledge surrounding menstruation was a further threat to women’s health as periods often prevented women from attending school. This threatens a woman’s social health and her future. It was also noted that women had to seclude themselves to change their bundles of cotton and that men would sometimes crowd them, placing them in uncomfortable situations that may end in harm.
Luckily, this community received a machine that allowed them to make sanitary pads to use for menstruation. This opened up room for dialogue surrounding periods and how to correctly handle them, which ultimately would improve the communities health literacy. Because women worked making pads for women, it was a women’s health advocacy project through and through. Once they had made enough product to package and sell, they named their product ‘Fly’ saying, “We had our reasons behind the name ‘Fly.’ We have installed this machine for women. So, now we want women to rise and fly.” (Zehtabchi, 2019) I think this was a turning point in the film as it expressed the new attitude that the women were gaining towards their own health. If this were a traditional health advocacy project, this would be an excellent mission statement.
This film illustrates promotion and advocacy because after these women finalized their product, they go into their community to spread awareness. Beyond attempting to market their product, they show pride in their product. The women compare their pads alongside other pads to show that they not only addressed the lack of feminine hygiene products within their community, but also improved the products they did not have access to in the first place. After they educate women in their communities on their products they attempt to make them available in stores and through selling them door-to-door. One of the most beautiful moments in this film is when the stigma of menstruation in a group of females gets broken down. One of the older females asks who wants to buy the products that they have been making and selling and the room stays quiet for a bit. Yet, as soon as one woman expresses interest and feels initial shame, all of the other women in the room join in as well in purchasing the pads. This scene shows that their advocacy was not only effective in providing a necessary product to their community, but it was also effective in starting to break down the stigma surrounding menstruation.
This story shows that periods don’t stop women from achieving their goals. Rather, in this case, periods empowered these women to achieve them. Working in pad production provided a fundamental service to the community and also provided an opportunity for women to work, make their own money, and gain respect. This then led to discussions on feminism within the community which was made possible by women banding together on female issues. It allowed the women to see their own power, potential, and ultimately fulfill further goals down the road using their earnings and self-confidence they gained from making pads.
Works Cited:
Zehtabchi, R. (Director), & Berton, M. (Producer). (2019, February 19). Period. End of Sentence.[Video file]. Retrieved September 21, 2021, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lrm2pD0qofM
