‘St Aloysius College, Mangaluru is FIRST to Introduce Period SIMULATORS on Campus’-Joan Rita O’Brien, HoD of Sociology
Mangaluru: Recently, Bosch’s facility in Adugodi, Bengaluru, held an event where more than 100 men, including about eight women, used the simulator, during which Ms Joan Rita O’Brien, Head of the Sociology Department, St Aloysius College, Mangaluru and her team held a daylong event at ‘Bosch-the multinational engineering and technology firm in Bengaluru.
Speaking to Team Mangalorean Ms Joan O’Brien said, “The outcome from this event was positive; men expressed that it has paved the way for them to understand women better. There are other organizations too that have come forward to use simulators in their campuses”. Sharing the experiences and comments from those who used the period simulator, she further said that a large number of the men who came forward to try the simulator are aged above 40. Among them, the majority of them asked the simulator to stop when the frequency was set to the lowest. They could bear it only for a few seconds. There were also a few female employees who tried simulators and could bear it for longer compared to men. After the trial, there were emotional and practical comments from them.
“One of them stated, “Now I know how my mother endures pain during periods. Another said that it has helped to make a good husband, and a similar statement was shared, and a period simulator cannot replicate the exact period cramp that women feel during menstruation but a sample of it. St Aloysius College is the first to introduce a period simulator on campus. A lot of students at this college have already tried it. There are two simulators, and they are provided free of charge” added O’Brien.
She also said that a lot of companies and other educational institutions have requested to hold an event on their campus. “We want to have more and more people try this simulator so that it leads to better social connections,” stressed O’Brien.
It is learnt that a lot of men are coming forward to understand how their opposite gender experiences physical pain during menstruation by experiencing the same through a period pain simulator. St Aloysius College, Mangaluru which had unveiled period pain simulators as a part of its gender sensitization programme a month ago, has been a hit among men ever since then. It was introduced so that men would become more sensitive to understanding period cramps.
