Period. End of Sentence: Cynthia Meas

   Make sure you hide it in your jacket when you go to the bathroom,” said my mom, while she handed me a pad. “What? Why?” I said, confused by why it was such a bad thing. We were in the Philadelphia Airport, crowded, filled with people who would judge a 12 year old for changing her pad.

    “Period. End of Sentence,” the Oscar Award winning documentary, directed by Rayka Zehtabchi and produced by Melissa Berton. This moving motion displays the real problems that come with menstruation in third world countries.

   You go through the process of making sanitary pads in rural areas outside of Delhi and personally see the growth of the women that have to miss school or work simply because they’re going through a natural and necessary process of being a woman.

    Since men and women have different interpretations of menstruation, it results in the high marketing for pads, stigma and overall perception of women. This could make trouble for obtaining sanitary products which can lead to dropping out of school and unemployment, making it almost inevitable to depend on a husband or family.

    It was painful and saddening to see that these women were taught by society to be ashamed of something that they can’t control. Some of the men were not even aware of pads, referring them “diapers” while the women could not even say the word.

    Now the Pad Machine, costing around 12,000, started the embodiment of women empowerment. Not only does it provide the opportunity to make sanitary pads but to be involved with marketing, engineering, production, and business; the field that many don’t expect women be  in.