In recent years, with the continuous explosion of negative news such as rape, the burning of brides because of too little dowry, and the forced burial of widows, most Chinese people know that Indian women have a low status. Subsequently, Indian men have also been portrayed as a group of monsters and monsters. .
In fact, there are still good men in India!
The film is adapted from a true story, telling the legendary story of a peerless man in India.
His name was Lakshmi, and he was a poor boy with little education. On the day he got married, he was so happy that he surrounded the bride and couldn't help but knelt down and kissed her feet.
Obviously, he is an out-and-out wife-loving demon.
Not only that, but he also has a strong hands-on ability. He made an automatic onion cutting machine with a little modification of children's toys to help his wife reduce the burden of housework.
One day, Lakshmi was very disturbed to find out that his wife Gaitli was using a rag as a menstrual pad!
Because this cloth is so dirty that he hates using it to wipe the bike.
Later, Lakshmi learned from the doctor that the use of unhygienic products during menstruation will seriously affect the health of women.
So, Lakshmi decided to let Gaitli use regular pads, but the price of a small pack of 55 rupees not only surprised Lakshmi, but also discouraged Gaitli, she even asked Lakshmi if she was It's not that you won the lottery to buy such a luxurious thing!
Only then did Lakshmi know that it turns out that most Indian women cannot afford pads.
Frustrated, Lakshmi accidentally ripped open a pad and found that, although it was expensive, it was just a bit of cotton and a piece of cloth. Being good at hands-on and loving his wife, he decided to make cheap pads by himself.
However, how can qualified pads be so easy to make? Lakshmi had failed time after time, but it was not these technical problems that prevented him from continuing his experiments, but the enormous pressure from the environment.
Because according to the teachings of Hinduism, women's menstruation is unclean.
During menstruation, women are not allowed to touch their husbands, not to participate in ceremonies, not to step into temples, and to sleep outside the house at night.
Sonu is Lakshmi's sister. In traditional culture, men in noble positions are more afraid of menstruation, and even unopened pads feel dirty.
When Lakshmi bought the pads, the boss secretly stuffed them under the counter, because it was very cheap for men to touch these "dirty things".
It is conceivable that when a big man like Lakshmi intends to make pads, what kind of criticism will be met! No one understands his painstaking efforts to improve the quality of women's lives, let alone try out his homemade pads and provide helpful feedback.
In a hurry, Lakshmi had to use pig blood to imitate her aunt and try the pads herself. As a result, Lakshmi oozes blood from his crotch in public due to the poor quality of the homemade pads.
At this point, Lakshmi finally committed the public anger, the village held a meeting to criticize him, and Lakshmi's wife returned to her parents' house in tears.
The betrayed Lakshmi chose to leave the village in order to prevent his family from being humiliated. He realized that what he was really facing was not an economic problem or a technical problem, but the stigma of traditional culture on women's menstruation.
Lakshmi, who was far away from home, worked as a servant while exploring the materials and techniques for making pads, and finally built a manual pad making machine at a low price of 90,000 rupees. Each pad only costs 2 rupees. (10 rupees is about 1 yuan)
The process during the period was arduous and legendary, but it was touching that Lakshmi refused to apply for a patent for this machine and drove up the price. He said his original intention was to make cheap pads that women could use.
He also taught women to use a pad making machine, hired them to work in his own factories to achieve economic independence, and even encouraged women to open their own factories to make such cheap pads, which would not only popularize the use of pads, but also help women. bring a lot of employment.
The persistent Lakshmi eventually became famous, but instead of nostalgic for the flowery world outside, he welcomed Gaitli back.
Lakshmi, who started out in the name of love, finally returned to the origin of love. From a wife-loving demon to a woman's friend, he has no superpower, but he has helped thousands of women. People are affectionately called him. He is the Padman.
The prototype of Lakshmi is Arunachalam Muruganantham, an Indian entrepreneur. "Padman" is adapted from his life. He said that his dream is to make all Indian women use sanitary pads in their lifetime!
On the eve of the release of "The Padman", he also posted a photo of himself with the pads online, and wrote: "Yes, I'm holding the pads, there is no shame. Menstruation is a natural physiological response. Please copy Paste this quote, challenge your friends, grab the pad and take a photo!"
The real Lakshmi still struggles with traditions that stigmatize women's periods.
The event sparked a frenzy all over India, and even Aamir Khan took part!
It can be seen that there are still good men in India, and they are even speaking and running for the rights of women!
At the same time, what is more worthy of our pondering is that in the face of a tradition that hurts itself, women are actually its most staunch defenders!
The woman in the film is full of shame about her menstrual period, and she is silent about it, and she does not dare to dry the pads. Gately has been hiding the pads to dry in the shade. (This undoubtedly aggravated the safety hazards of menstruation.) Lakshmi kindly sent pads to her sister, but she was scolded by her for being shameless.
Obviously, this kind of unfair treatment has been taken for granted by women, and they do not feel wronged.
Lakshmi wanted to make pads for Gaitli, not only did she not appreciate it, she even cried and begged Lakshmi to stop worrying about women, because it made her humiliated! Even if she learns that she will get sick because of this, she has to keep this duty, because she feels, "It is better for a woman to be sick and die than to be embarrassed to live!"
It was also a woman who proposed to hang Lakshmi at the Criticism Conference!
In order to maintain this tradition of self-oppression, women have entered the realm of dying at will, even at the expense of those who claim their rights and interests!
It's so selfish!
The most ironic thing is that Gaitley is reluctant to spend Rs 55 on pads to improve her life, but is willing to spend
51 rupees to buy a tribute to ask God to save her from hell.
This belief in the afterlife, rather than changing the status quo, may explain why women are so insensitive to their rights.
Coincidentally, in another Indian movie "Toilet Hero", the male protagonist hopes to build a toilet to change the dangerous situation of women's outdoor toilet use, but also encountered strong resistance from women, for which he said angrily, "Women in this country. No respect for yourself!"
It can be seen that it is not men who stand on the opposite side of feminism, but the thoughts that discriminate against women. This kind of thinking is not only shared by many men, but also by many women! And as a victim, women with such thoughts should be criticized even more. If they don’t respect themselves, can they expect others to respect you?
Feminism starts with women themselves!
In fact, modern pads only entered China in 1982, about 8 or 9 yuan a pack, and 20 yuan could support a person at that time, so Chinese women could not afford them. When I first started menstruating in the 1990s, I still felt that the pads were too expensive and I was reluctant to buy them. I could only use homemade menstrual belts and rough toilet paper. Most of the women in my previous generation used cloth or plant ash.
By 1999, the penetration rate of pads in China was barely half.
The story of Padman begins in 1998, when India's pad usage rate was
12%, which is indeed behind China, but not as big as we thought.
As for the shame about menstruation, I also had it when I was a child, but it has disappeared now. Today’s Chinese women are aunts when they open their mouths and shut their mouths. This is something to be proud of, but many men are still very taboo.
The status of Chinese women is indeed much higher than that of India, but there are few such intimate women's movies. Many men know nothing about the pain of women's menstrual period, only that they will be emotionally irritable.
In "The Padman", Gaitley is tired and doesn't want to move when she is menstruating. In fact, during menstruation, she will experience abdominal pain, soft legs, severe vomiting and fever, and her menstrual cycle will not be so regular. There are only five days, and menstruation is irregular. Adjusting the time can even drag on for half a month...
Women really need love during their period.
This kind of caring requires female self-awareness as well as consideration from males.
Text/Crimson
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