On Menstruation (02 July 21)

 

So what was the purpose of having a whole segment on menstruation? First to help us to empathise further with the protagonist going through what many of us do, and make her more relatable. It also gives us insight into Nabi, and, to a lesser extent Jaeeon. 

This show is not adverse to showing situations that may make the viewer uncomfortable. And it does a particularly good job at helping people empathise with NB. Menstruation is not, as I observe, glamorized or demonized, it is portrayed as many would experience. 

The random zits, the cramps, the weird dreams, even sending out an sos for a pad. Everyone goes through their periods with various symptoms - and I found the only unrealistic part of NB’s experience to be that she didn’t go get a pad during her break, just in case.

We get the heavy sense of discomfort through the camera work, and can feel the nervousness through the shaky camera, unsettled, just as she is to have her period come just as she’s presenting. 

As she narrates, there is nothing shameful about having your period, but it can definitely feel like a disaster. I appreciated it and felt like it helped paint college life in all its ups and downs, together with the banter and the gatherings. 

Is NB objectified in all this? I don’t think so. Objectification tends to happen on 2 levels, within the narrative, and with the framing of the character. The character is trapped, with no control.

Within the narrative, one example of NB being literally objectified is when her ex made the sculpture. Noting in the menstruation episode suggested that she completely lost control to someone else. 

Within the framing of her through the lens, also, she is not made to be seen as a sexual object. I’ll give you a pic of what objectifying camera work looks like compared to NB having her period. In Nabi's case her discomfort, not her body, is emphasised. 

What does happen is that we are given insight into NB's headspace, especially when she has her wet dream. NB has been sexually active, but we know her ex was particularly controlling, so his pleasure would’ve been prioritised at her extent. 

What’s so nice about her wet dream is that she clearly is the one receiving pleasure. And sure it’s not REAL, but I love the way it was shot to emphasize that. 

She asks herself why her sex dream involves JE? Well, because she sees JE sexually, and thinks about him a lot. In the bar scene when she notes that the sexual tension rises when JE enters the room, you have to question, is that a fact or her subjective perception?

Is she a sexual object because of this? Again, don’t think so. She’s the one seeing and perceiving, not the other way around. Ep 2 paints a picture of a NB who is still emotionally naïve in many ways, especially when Bitna gives her advice with regards to JE. 

Those are things that NB probably knows, but doesn’t want to accept. But again, we don’t get a sense that the show is judging her for her attraction to JE, sexually or not. In fact, it shows us why it is that JE is that attractive to her and many others. 

It shows her internal thought processes, and shows her as a person with agency. JE pushes hard, but she chooses to engage. JE kisses someone else in front of her, but she still decides to kiss him. 

On a related note, I again wish to emphasise that her experience with JE is different from that with her ex. JE gets in her space, can be pushy, and, as BN states, calculative with his moves. 

But he does make his intentions clear (he doesn’t want to date), backs off when she rebuffs, and in the last sequence, tells her he won’t kiss her if she doesn’t want to.  The menstruation situation, again shows the good and bad of JE. 

People like JE tend to have high EQ, and JE again has enough of it to know that something's wrong, and picks up on the physical cues of NB having a period stain without confronting her about it. 

You also get a sense that he probably knows about periods because of all his dalliances with girls. And for better (he’s kind) or for worse (he wants to get into NB’s bed), he doesn’t want NB to think badly of him. 

His liberal comment is an indication of him being unafraid of any talk that could be sexual in nature, even for an analogy - is that not the ‘forbidden’ edge that draws girls to him? 

NB thinks, surely a frivolous man would not act this way? But the thing is that he might. And so all this ties back to her story. Remember at the beginning of the ep BN literally says, he shows an ounce of sincerity, and girls fall. 

And the girls know he won’t commit, but they believe what they want to believe. That, my friends, is what NB experiences with JE in this menstruation episode. JE’s motivations are still obscure, and NB’s story is just starting, and so is her growth.

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