Tamil YouTuber and vlogger JegaVaishu found herself in the middle of a controversy after she shared a vlog shot at a village near Rasipuram town in Tamil Nadu’s Namakkal district where women were segregated to a separate room during their menstrual period. The vlog, which is now deleted, was uploaded on Sunday, July 2, and quickly became viral. In the footage, Jega shows the room where women are expected to stay for the duration of their menstrual cycle and how they were served food there with no expectation of them to do household chores. She also mentioned how the single room is located outside the village limits. The video was met with widespread criticism for romanticising a regressive practice like putting women in a segregated space throughout their period.
As criticism mounted, Jega issued an apology on Monday, July 3, saying that she only meant to highlight the practice in the village and not support it. Segregating women who are on their period is based on the belief that menstruation makes one ‘unclean’ – menstruating women are not allowed to touch the food meant for others, or take part in community events and religious functions, as their presence is considered ‘polluting’. Despite many pointing out that this practice is regressive, it continues to be widespread across Tamil Nadu.
In the vlog, the YouTuber says, “We know how sad we are when we get our period. But in this village, people are extremely happy. In this village, you get a separate room [away from the village] when you get your period. The women here are happy and are in a celebratory mood because they don’t have to do any chores, and will get food on time.” While showing the outside of the room where women are put up during their period, another woman from the village tells Jega that there were seven women in the room at the point of time.
Jega’s vlog also showed a clip of an older woman bringing food for her daughter-in-law who was in the room. Jega said, “You can see a mother-in-law bringing food for her daughter-in-law. She is served idli and chicken curry in the morning and will get kesari in the evening. Will anyone be this lucky?” From the video, it is seen that the woman is served on a disposable plate and given water in a plastic bottle, both of which are served to her outside the room, on the ground. Jega also explains how non-menstruators are not allowed inside the room and also wished for such ‘traditions’ to make their way to cities as well.
After she was publicly criticised for her video, Jega put up an apology video explaining how she had little help from anyone during her period and had to go to work and finish household chores despite debilitating cramps. Jega further said that she had gone to the village because her daughter was in a nearby hostel and that Jega was currently staying with one of the families in the village. This is when she discovered the room allotted for menstruating women there.
Explaining how she was surprised at how openly the women in the village were speaking about menstruation, the YouTuber said, “I was very intrigued by how open they were about their menstrual cycles, which is why I went to see the room they stay in. People in this village pray every day and have religious rituals. Due to their god-fearing tendencies, they have allotted a separate room for women. The way women’s husbands and mothers-in-law cooked for them and let them take rest for three days during their period was new to me. As a woman, this made me happy.”
Addressing the criticism that was raised on how a menstruating woman was fed on the streets, Jega said that in a small village, the road was not far from one’s house. She further added that even she was fed in a similar manner when she was in the village. The YouTuber said, “My friends who saw the video said that this practice was wrong and I must not support it. I am not supporting it, I am just drawing attention to this practice. I was trying to show how happy women were even during their period.”
With regard to the online criticism, especially by men, Jega said, “I do understand that the video was wrong. I have deleted it now. However, I cannot blame the residents of the village because it is their religious practice. If I did something that hurt your feelings, please forgive me.”