Parineeti Chopra in representing the taboo-free Indian woman
Whisper Empowers Millions of
Indian
Women
To Break free from Period Taboos
to be
Unstoppable
Parineeti
Chopra, with eminent woman achievers,
don’t hide their sanitary napkin
purchase to signify that it’s ok to talk about periods
|
Whisper Touch the
Pickle Movement has impacted the lives of millions of women to break free
from period taboos and be achievers in life
India’s 1st
Female Surfer, 1st Twins to Scale Mt. Everest & India’s most
Experienced Female Pilot join
Parineeti Chopra to celebrate the end
of period taboos.
|
Leading Sanitary
brand Whisper celebrated its ‘Touch thePickle Movement’, now a nationwide
movement to enable women to break free from period taboos and achieve their
dreams. Held in Mumbai, the event featured Bollywood Actress Parineeti Chopra along with eminent women achievers from diverse
fields to tear open a giant newspaper covering a sanitary napkin packet,
symbolizing the breaking of one of the biggest taboos – to hide sanitary napkin
packets in a black bag or newspaper.
Filled
with insightful research findings, interactions with women achievers and more,
the movement conveyed significant, life-changing messages about period taboos. Joining
Bollywood diva Parineeti Chopra in
representing the taboo-free Indian woman were Ishita Malviya, India’s First professional female Surfer; Tashi and Nungshi Malik, first twin
sisters who hold a record for climbing Mt Everest; and Indira Gandhi National Award winning Commercial Pilot Captain Priti Singh. Stepping forward
as role models in being unstoppable and realising dreams, these influencers stressed
upon the need to leave aside ridiculous period taboos imposed by our society.
Earlier
in the movement, Whisper, along with independent researcher IPSOS, had shared findings
of an extensive research on period habits among urban and semi-urban Indian
women. These results were shared through insightful articles and interactions featuring
women achievers such as Kalki Koechlin,
Shraddha Kapoor, Neha Dhupia, Mandira Bedi, Tanvi Azmi, Dr. Suneela Garg and
Aditi Gupta, founder menstrupedia.com who also came together to discuss
irrelevant social practices around menstruation like women not being allowed to
touch the pickle, or to exercise, wear white clothes, wash hair, venture out or
even mention the word ‘period’ out loud.
Based
on survey findings that ‘86% of women agree that they should learn to talk
openly about menstruation’ and ‘83% of women don’t think period taboos should
come in the way of one’s career’, Whisper realized the need to empower women enabling
them to be achievers. Through the movement, Whisper has started the journey to
positively impact the lives of millions of women, to break taboos and inspire confidence.
Instilling
confidence in millions of women across India, Whisper has empowered them to
break away from irrelevant social practices around menstruation and has successfully
driven the movement of encouraging women to touch the pickle, to exercise, to
wear white clothes, to wash hair, to venture out and to proudly mention the
word ‘period’ out loud! This can be seen from the tremendous response the
movement has got from women sharing their personal stories of breaking period taboos,
pledging to defy period taboos online and sharing the message to create more
awareness.
Known for her chirpy persona and confidence,
actor Parineeti Chopra stressed upon
the need for women in India to realize their dreams and be unstoppable in life,
saying “Some of these period taboos came as a shock to me especially one of
women not touching the pickle during their menses. If women like you and me
actually followed these taboos, do you think we would have followed our dreams
today! I remember how the shopkeeper first wrapped My Whisper packet in a
newspaper and then placed it in a black plastic bag out of embarrassment! I
don’t remember seeing anybody holding a sanitary napkin packet out in the
public. I could never fathom why! I think it is high time women broke away from
these period taboos and kudos to Whisper for bringing us together and tearing
open the newspaper as a symbol of us breaking away from these senseless period
taboos and enabling us to be unstoppable. We need to remember when you have a
sanitary napkin like Whisper Ultra that gives you All day long protection , you
can just follow your dreams and be Unstoppable’’
Surfer Ishita
Malviya reflected on her own success, saying, “I wouldn't have been able to
be who I am today if I had paid heed to these period taboos. It’s critical we question
and ultimately break some of our own mindsets. I surf even when I have my
period, High Seas don’t hold me back neither should periods ‘’
Twin mountaineers, Nungshi and Tashi also supported the cause by adding, “To us,
climbing mountains is an affirmation of our long held belief of dreaming big
and achieving it. Our love for what we do was born out of the juxtaposition of
our love for mountaineering and our desire to fight for the cause of the Indian
girl child; hence we deeply support this cause of breaking taboos and are proud
to be associated with it! We didn’t ever think of taking a break for those 4
days during our expedition just because we had our periods. With Whisper’s
protection we are Unstoppable ‘’
Captain Priti Singh spoke of her commitment adding, “I
strongly believe that I would have not been able to achieve my dream of flying
had I been restricted by these irrelevant societal taboos. I am glad that women
today are breaking stereotypes and jumping leaps and bounds in their careers. I
believe breaking away from this backward mindset will only add confidence in realizing
their dreams.”
Whisper’s movement intends to
take the message further, by committing to educate
15 million girls on menstrual issues by the end of 2017.
About Touch the Pickle Movement
Indian women
in the 21st century still adhere to primitive practices of women’s health and
hygiene. Menstrual unawareness leads to unhygienic practices, social taboos and
low self esteem among girls. When girls are on their periods, they are often imposed
with a list of restrictions: Don't exercise, Hide your purchase of sanitary
napkins, Don't wear white clothes, Don’t say the word ‘period’ out loud, Don't
wash your hair, Don’t venture out and so on.
Contrary to
these age-old beliefs, growing whispers on the street say that these
restrictions are no longer needed. It’s about time women broke free from these
taboos. You know that you're perfectly capable of doing everything you could
have done on a normal day, then why let age old myths hold you back?
The genesis of these taboos
happened years ago, due to a lack of proper sanitary solutions, and has been
passed on from over generations of women; they have no significance in today’s
world with superior technology in sanitary pads such as Whisper.
Through this
movement, Whisper is enabling women
to break free from these taboos to be unstoppable by achieving their goals
and chasing their dreams.
Visit http://www.pg-India.com for the
latest updates and in-depth information about P&G India and its brands.
Join the Whisper #TouchThePickle movement to announce the end of period taboos on https://www.facebook.com/YouGoGirlIndia;
*Based on a study carried
out by Ipsos Research Pvt Ltd among 1105 women and 202 men in June 2014 across
10 cities
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