"Running 26.2 miles with a wad of cotton material wedged between my legs just seemed so absurd," Gandhi wrote on Medium. This, after her decision to run the marathon, while having her period, with blood freely running down her legs.
She's not trying to be gross or offensive. Quite the opposite. She is trying to remove the stigma and raise the awareness. "No longer should women and girls miss school or work because of their periods," Gandhi says.
"From my first period, at the age of 13 years, I felt gross and unmentionable. Everything about it - stained underwear and bed linen, dirty, health-care - product waste, I feel duty-bound to "hide" in the trash. It's all considered gross, embarrassing, and something to hide. I want to send a message to all women that "it's Ok!" I always continue to pay attention to this basic message. I want my children to take the message and shed the shame.
I have completely as a fourth generation feminist felt the importance to de-stigmatize menstruation. We ran for the women who are too ashamed to discuss or show their periods in public and for anyone who has ever missed any event due to their period."
Not only did Gandhi finish the race, she earned equal heaps of respect and disgust for basically giving the finger to the social norms that plague women every days. But she says, "I didn't give an eff."
Gandhi made the decision, the night before the race, to run it without wearing any protection for her period. She wanted to make a statement: It's natural, it happens, it's not something to hide. Met with mixed emotions, it remains to be seen if her decision will have long-term impact.