''Sanitary Panels'' is an

Indian webcomic Webcomics have grown in popularity in India since the early 2000s. Early webcomics created by Indian people were written and illustrated by people abroad and focused primarily on the differences in culture the creators experienced. Later webcomics ...

by artist Rachita Taneja. Taking a distinct

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

angle, ''Sanitary Panels'' comments upon

social justice Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has often referred to the process of ensuring that individuals fu ...

topics ranging from

discrimination Discrimination is the act of making unjustified distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong. People may be discriminated on the basis of race, gender, age, relig ...

to victim blaming. Taneja started her webcomic on

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

in June 2014 and has since accumulated over 150,000 followers across social media platforms.

Content

Rachita Taneja's ''Sanitary Panels'' uses a stick figure artstyle to comment on politics, society, and culture. Taneja noted that she "doesn't consider herself an artist": though her webcomic tells short stories about

and

hypocrisy Hypocrisy is the practice of engaging in the same behavior or activity for which one criticizes another or the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one's own behavior does not conform. In moral psychology, it is the ...

, its primary purpose is to cover issues ranging from victim blaming, harassment and

homophobia Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitude (psychology), attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, h ...

menstruation Menstruation (also known as a period, among other colloquial terms) is the regular discharge of blood and mucosal tissue from the inner lining of the uterus through the vagina. The menstrual cycle is characterized by the rise and fall of hor ...

and

democracy Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation (" direct democracy"), or to choose gov ...

. ''Sanitary Panels'' is an explicit webcomic about

feminism Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

, similar to '' The Royal Existentials'', ''Inedible India comics'', ''Why Loiter?'', ''Blank Noise'', and various other Indian webcomics. The webcomic covers other topics as well, such as net neutrality.

Development

Rachita Taneja uploaded the first strip of ''Sanitary Panels'' on

in 2014, in response to people being arrested for denouncing prime minister

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament from ...

on the social media platform. At the time, ''Sanitary Panels'' were simple doodles Taneja drew on her tablet and shared with her friends, but she quickly found that her work was collecting a lot of positive attention, which prompted her to start an official Facebook page for her webcomic on June 15 that year. Taneja wanted to name her webcomic something

taboo A taboo or tabu is a social group's ban, prohibition, or avoidance of something (usually an utterance or behavior) based on the group's sense that it is excessively repulsive, sacred, or allowed only for certain persons.''Encyclopædia Britannica ...

, and chose a pun on

sanitary pads A menstrual pad, or simply a pad, (also known as a sanitary pad, sanitary towel, sanitary napkin or feminine napkin) is an absorbent item worn by women in their underwear when menstruating, bleeding after giving birth, recovering from gynecolo ...

. Taneja cofounded the

Internet Freedom Foundation Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) is an Indian non-governmental organisation that conducts advocacy on digital rights and liberties, based in New Delhi. IFF files petitions and undertakes advocacy campaigns to defend online freedom, privacy, ne ...

in 2016, campaigning for net neutrality, free speech, and privacy. She is also a proponent of the Me Too movement. In 2017, Sanitary Panels was covered by the

Obama Foundation The Barack Obama Foundation is a Chicago-based nonprofit organization founded in 2014. It oversees the creation of the Barack Obama Presidential Center, runs the My Brother's Keeper Alliance (a program Barack Obama began while he was president), ...

in a YouTube video, in which Taneja talks about the responsibility she feels to make her content as accurate and fair as possible as it reaches millions of people. Taneja wishes to contribute to social justice through her comic strips. Taneja finds that humour is highly effective when communicating complex ideas to large groups of people, claiming that "the best thing about the nlinemedium is its inclusiveness."

Impact

''Sanitary Panels'' has over 75,000 followers on Facebook, over 95,000 followers on Instagram, and 20,000 followers on Twitter. Taneja was one of the leading people behind the net neutrality movement in 2015, and her art was used en masse during the

Citizenship Amendment Act protests The Citizenship Amendment Act (Bill) protests, also known as the CAA Protest, CAB Protest or CAA and NRC protests, occurred after the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) was enacted by the Government of India on 12 December 2019. The move sparked ...

References

{{reflist 2000s webcomics 2014 webcomic debuts Indian webcomics Feminist webcomics