Press
A pioneering anthology
1 May 2026
Journal of Visual and Performing Arts
Farah Ahamed’s (2022) Period Matters: Menstruation in South Asia is a pioneering anthology which discusses varied understandings of menstruation of people belonging to diverse parts of South Asia. To discuss varied experiences on menstruation, different literary genres such as essays, interviews, art forms, and stories are used in this work which makes the narration a novel one. The writer also analyses the role of caste in constructing menstrual stigma in South Asia. Menstrual experiences of trans persons are described in a nuanced way which is shocking to those who come across the work. She also discusses the recent innovations in technology to make the flow a smooth one and to ensure period safety and period hygiene.
Conversation with Shikha Sawhney Lamba
1 Apr 2026
usawa.in
Farah, let’s start at the beginning. Why does the cause of period poverty resonate so deeply with you? Can you take us back to the moment Panties with Purpose was born? What sparked the idea and set it in motion?
In 2000 when I was working for the Aga Khan Foundation in Uganda, I learnt about how underprivileged girls were missing five days of school every month because of their period. They were forced to stay home because they did not have access to menstrual products, and their schools had poor or no sanitation or toilet facilities. It made me realise that while I had the luxury of a choice of menstrual products and carried on with life as normal during my period, poor girls were using leaves, cow dung, feathers, mud, and dirty rags and hiding at home. It took eleven years for the idea to ferment before my sisters and I took action…
usawa.in/matchbox/shikha-sawhney-lamba-in-conversation-with-farah-ahamed
Modern-day menstruation — a study of myths and manipulations
1 Feb 2026
Erothanatos, Vol 10, Issue 1
As mentioned by Farah in the introduction of the book Period Matters, “Menstruation, despite being a natural, healthy occurrence, is a topic often buried in fear and shame, and its discussion is even taboo in many societies.” But it has been mentioned in different ancient texts despite the fact that people hesitate to speak about it in public.
The account of the ancient texts, the different rituals and mythological texts along with the various dimensions of looking at menstruation have been taken into consideration while writing this paper. The idea of looking at menstruation changes with the individual. Educators like Aarushi Ma’am have explained the biological way of looking at menstruation in modern scientific terms in the YouTube video named “What are Periods?” whereas menstrual educators like Sinu Joseph have mentioned the ancient science of looking at menstruation in the YouTube video named “Unwrapping the gifts of menstruation.” An analysis of the existing literature review reveals a significant gap, as there is limited discussion on the changing perspectives toward menstruation in modern times.
Of Pain and Perseverance
24 Feb 2026
The Desi Writing Guide
Farah Ahamed’s ‘Period Matters’ is a very, very important book
Honestly, if for no reason other than the fact that it talks about periods, this book gets an extra star from me.
Given the stigma around the entire thing, around a natural body process that girls and even boys should be better informed about, it’s amazing to me that an entire book talking about periods even exists. I remember how hush hush the entire thing was when I was growing up, the matter kept very much under wraps. Literally, in some cases, such as when when we would go to buy pads, and right next to the rack of sanitary napkins each shop would stack brown paper bags, which you were supposed to stuff the pads inside and surreptitiously pass to the shopkeeper so he could scan it with his own equally surreptitious awkwardness shining through, and the whole process would just be an exercise in misery.
thedesiwritingguide.blogspot.com/2024/06/of-pain-and-perseverance-farah-ahameds.html
Blossoming Bodies
23 Nov 2025
Scroll.in
While growing up in Kenya, I was cautioned by my mother not to touch the curry plant when on my period. She left me with the impression that something in my body would contaminate the plant, prompting a feeling of deep self-revulsion.
One afternoon, when I was on my period and alone, I went into the garden and touched the curry plant. Nothing happened – not even when I pressed the leaf between my palms and stroked the branches. I monitored the plant, and after a week, I told my mother that she had been mistaken: there was nothing noxious in my body.
She replied, I was lucky the plant hadn’t died, and to never do it again because it would the next time. Later, I learnt that this was a common Kenyan-Asian belief.
scroll.in/article/1088369/blossoming-bodies-subverting-the-floral-metaphors-for-menstruation
Coded: Power, Impurity and Language in the Menstruation Conversation
28 Aug 2025
Writing Women
The language used to talk about menstruation is rarely neutral. Across cultures, fiction, law, and marketing, it is often coded, euphemised, and entangled in myths of impurity, shame, and secrecy. This language doesn’t just describe menstruation—it shapes how menstruators think about themselves. It becomes a way to regulate what can be said about women’s bodies, and, ultimately, a tool of control over women themselves.
I first became aware of this coded speech growing up in Nairobi in a Kenyan-Asian family. We spoke a fluid mix of Kiswahili, English, and Gujarati—shifting between languages without needing to translate. Words like mboga (vegetables), muiko (wooden spoon), bakuli (bowl), and ndizi (banana) passed easily from one tongue to another. But one day, when I was about ten, I overheard my aunt say to my mother, “Mgeni aiva che” or “The visitors are here.” I looked around. There were no visitors. Years later, I understood. It was a euphemism for menstruation. A quiet signal passed between women in a world where even naming the experience was unacceptable.
writingwomen.co/coded-power-impurity-and-language-in-the-menstruation-conversation
Period Tracking Apps (PTAs): Reconstructing Bodies And Eroding Rights
17 Feb 2025
feminisminindia.com
Menstruation is an intersectional experience and is influenced by various identity factors, including age, occupation, class, culture, politics, and religion, as well as the menstruator’s own self-perceptions. In some cultures, menstruating women are recognised as needing rest; in others, they are ostracised. Across geographies, menstruation is associated with dirt and shame, putting pressure on menstruators to hide evidence of menstruation from public view, if not also in private, making it the ‘ultimate taboo’.
For many menstruators, the monthly menstruation experience is a dreaded time and shrouded in myths of impurity. Period tracking applications (PTAs) are regarded as helping menstruators to manage their period digitally and improve their self-understanding. However, PTA usage can have sinister consequences. While purporting to be liberating, informative, and private, they extend normative ideas of menstruation and personhood and promote an agenda of menstrual management tied to economic ambitions, all the while eroding menstruators’ privacy and security…
Bashali: A Place of Freedom
13 Jan 2025
www.period.media
The experience of menstruation, often laden with social stigma, takes on a different meaning when women have the freedom to choose how they spend this time. In the Kalasha culture of northern Pakistan, menstruating women are given the agency to retreat from their daily responsibilities and embrace a space dedicated to rest, reflection, and community. This autonomy during menstruation upholds the dignity of the experience, empowering women to honor their bodies and their needs without shame or restriction.
In the northwest region of Pakistan, the Kalasha people have thrived since the 11th century, living in the valleys of Bumburet, Birir, and Rumbur within Chitral District. This small community of around 3,000 people follows a unique cultural tradition where women are azat (free) and have chit (choice). They speak Kalasha, or Kalasha-mun, and live by customs that empower women to assert autonomy in their personal and community lives…
Feminism is Humanism: Why Period Art Matters
2 Dec 2024
www.thedreamingmachine.com
Art depicting menstruation has been around for centuries in South Asian culture, as can be seen from the 6th Century sculpture of the fertility goddess Lajja Gauri. In the west, Judith Chicago’s 1970’s work depicting the menstruation experience, ‘Red Flag’ and ‘Menstruation Bathroom,’ are widely accepted as the first of its kind in western contemporary art. The image of removing a tampon was part of Chicago’s determination to openly express her experiences as a woman. She said ‘the medium is the message,’ as she tried to abolish what she called ‘menstrual denial.’ In those days she was considered a radical artist. She explained: ‘I am trying to make art that relates to the deepest and most mythic concerns of human kind and I believe that…feminism is humanism.’
The term ‘menstrala’ or menstrual art was a term coined by Vanessa Tiegs in 2000. It was the name she gave to her 88 period paintings which she created over three years. Over the past twenty years depictions of menstruation in films, novels, comic books, art installations, graffiti and even wall murals have become more common. Most recently, the erotic finance thriller Fair Play (2023) starts with a period sex scene, where the main character Emily hooks up with her fiancé Luke at a wedding. Period blood is shown spilt all over her dress and Luke’s mouth but is treated like normal bodily fluid. The director, Chloe Domont said her aim was to show there is no disgust, no shock, just an acceptance of periods as an ordinary occurrence, as sometimes happens in real life…
Crimson Realities: Navigating the Body Politics in Period Matters: Menstruation in South Asia
1 Apr 2024
Period Matters: Menstruation in South Asia has been rightly composed and published by Farah Ahamed at such a time when the discourses surrounding menstruation are out in the open. She has done a remarkable job in bringing together a whole range of experiences within one single book. It’s not just women who express their concerns, even the queer community find their voice in the war cry ‘Not all women menstruate, and not all who menstruate are women.’ Similarly, she has included every menstrual experience, both oppressive and radical, traditional and progressive and even discusses the necessity of menstrual dignity, or the dignity of the ‘self.’ She interviews not only the established business class, but also the labour class, including the sanitation workers, and the homeless. Each of these experiences are relevant in understanding the politics of menstruation.
South Asia’s Menstrual Revolution: Farah Ahamed’s ‘Period Matters’ Takes Center Stage.
23 Sep 2023
Medium
In wrapping up this blog post, I want to emphasize that ‘Period Matters’ is a remarkable work of literature. It serves as a comprehensive exploration of menstruation, promoting awareness, health, and hygiene. This novel serves as an inspiration for individuals to drive change, raise their voices, and break down the stigmas surrounding menstruation. Ultimately, it underscores the importance of acknowledging that periods matter, period awareness is crucial, and period rights are significant.
Review in Women’s Reproductive Health
22 May 2023
Women's Reproductive Health
Review of Period Matters by Camilla Mørk Røstvik, Associate Professor in History, University of Agder, Kristiansand, Norway.
Published in Women’s Reproductive Health.
Available at Taylor & Francis Online (paywall).