PadMan Challenge Could Have Been Better: Dear Akshay Kumar, Here's What You Could Have Done Instead

Dear Akshay Kumar,

You have always made smarter choices when it comes to choosing movies. Your movie Pad Man is set for release on February 9 and like every other film, the promotions are in all gusto. The PadMan challenge is everywhere on social media with more and more stars joining in. But what bothers me is it limits itself to just another marketing campaign for a movie promotion than addressing the real issue at hand. Menstruation, something so regular but still remains shunned to be openly talked about.

Posing with a pad and writing there is nothing to be ashamed about is not what takes away the taboo. Bollywood celebrities holding pads and clicking pictures with their best make-up on! The educated ones, who are the actual viewers, liking and passing on the challenge to others in their circle are already aware of menstruation and the hygiene. It is the people in the rural areas where these taboos are dominant which need to be addressed. The entire campaign is currently in the upper middle class and middle-class spheres, whereas it needs to trickle down to the lower ones. They are the ones who are away from Twitter and Instagram and do not even remotely know of the trending hashtag ‘PadMan Challenge.’

The film is a story of the real-life Pad Man and entrepreneur Arunachalam Muruganantham from Coimbatore. And you’d know best, he started manufacturing low-cost sanitary pads to make them affordable for the poor women and those in rural areas. But the Padman Challenge dismisses that very target in creating awareness.

Here is what could have been done instead:

• Installation of sanitary pads vending machines: The real Pad Man Arunachalam Muruganantham aimed at poor class and a good way to adopt that could’ve been facilitating low-cost sanitary pad vending machines. Bhopal station recently installed one on the station and it has been getting a positive response from the rural women around. If you could’ve just helped in the installation of such vending machines at say 5 places, they could’ve reached the right target.
• Visiting rural areas and conducting sessions: Menstruation taboo is more rigid in the rural areas. You could’ve very well conducted some sessions along with experts, especially for the men and boys there and educating them. There could be separate sessions for women to make them feel comfortable about the whole menstruation process. It is natural as your challenge caption says too. Doing a headstand and promoting your fitness does not really fit into your Padman promotions.
• Teaching women to make such pads and promote their use: A real difference would be seen if your role was transformed into practicality. How about training select women with the help of NGOs and teaching them the process of making these pads? It could also serve as a good employment opportunity and them working in the same field, would automatically get talking. They would embrace the idea of menstruation more comfortably. It would then become a topic talked about even in their respective families.
• Talk about disposal as well: My problem is not with posing with the pads as a medium to create awareness, but I think it is incomplete. While you advocate the use of sanitary pads, a thought also needs to be given to the disposal, since you also promote ‘hygiene.’ We might be aware of the improper disposal of pads, but many aren’t. So while the challenge promotes usage, it also needs to think about the larger effect of proper disposal.

Through the PadMan challenge, you might be trying to break some taboos, but would you continue working on the same after the movie’s release? Then, all the headlines will be about how much money the movie rakes in. Changing an attitude, especially in a country like ours, needs more long-lasting and continuous efforts. It is a thing to ponder upon, that even when advertisements about sanitary napkins show white clothes and a blue liquid to refer to ‘that time of the month,’ how will certain celebrities posing with a sanitary napkin help in breaking taboos? Let alone reaching the grass root levels! How many of you and your film fraternity are willing to talk against the GST on sanitary napkins? If you really care about the ‘real’ issues then there are just far better ways to address it than creating a hashtag, Akshay!

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 08, 2018 06:19 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).