A woman who ran the London marathon without a tampon to raise awareness for women who don't have access to sanitary products has hit back at the criticism she received. 

New York-born Kiran Gandhi, 26, a musician and Harvard graduate, let her period flow freely as she ran the 26.2 mile route in the UK capital in April this year. 

In response to the outcry over her decision, she told People that it 'proves we are still deeply uncomfortable with a very normal and natural process'. 

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Kiran Gandi, 26, pictured, left, in the centre, and, right, on the right, let her period flow freely as she ran around the London Marathon in April earlier this year without a tampon in to raise awareness for women who don't have access to sanitary products.  The musician has received mixed reaction on social media

In an email to the US magazine, Kiran, who toured with M.I.A. as her drummer this year, wrote: 'You see, culture is happy to speak about and objectify the parts of the body that can be sexually consumed by others, but the moment we talk about something that is not for the enjoyment of others, like a period, everyone becomes deeply uncomfortable.' 

She added: 'Women’s bodies don’t exist for public consumption.” 

In her original piece on her personal website, Kiran - who ran the marathon in four hours, 49 minutes and 11 seconds - explained that taking on the gruelling challenge gave her the confidence to buck social mores. 

Under a post titled Feminism, she wrote: 'I got my flow the night before and it was a total disaster but I didn’t want to clean it up.  It would have been way too uncomfortable to worry about a tampon for 26.2 miles. 

'I thought, if there’s one person society won’t f**** with, it’s a marathon runner.  If there’s one way to transcend oppression, it’s to run a marathon in whatever way you want.' 

Kiran, who ran with her two best friends to raise £3,800 ($6,000) for Breast Cancer Care, explained: 'On the marathon course, sexism can be beaten.  Where the stigma of a woman’s period is irrelevant, and we can re-write the rules as we choose.  Where a woman's comfort supersedes that of the observer'

Kiran, who ran with her two best friends to raise £3,800 ($6,000) for Breast Cancer Care, continued: 'On the marathon course, sexism can be beaten.  Where the stigma of a woman’s period is irrelevant, and we can re-write the rules as we choose.  Where a woman’s comfort supersedes that of the observer. 

'I ran with blood dripping down my legs for sisters who don’t have access to tampons and sisters who, despite cramping and pain, hide it away and pretend like it doesn’t exist. 

'I ran to say, it does exist, and we overcome it every day.  The marathon was radical and absurd and bloody in ways I couldn’t have imagined until the day of the race.' 

The runner's story went viral and while many people understood her actions, others called it a stunt and questioned why she didn't raise awareness another way. 

Writing on her website, she explained that she ran 'with blood dripping down my legs for sisters who don't have access to tampons and sisters who, despite cramping and pain, hide it away and pretend like it doesn't exist'

One user, Demiurgic, wrote: 'You are one AWESOME woman!  Thanks for boosting my confidence and clearing my equivocal mind.' 

Nilima Achwal echoed her sentiments, writing: 'Whoa - kudos your courage and resilience.' 

However, Bellyrina wrote: 'I don't know about you, but I don't find this feminist.  Just unsanitary,' whilst Mark Byron added: 'I think people are already aware of periods and I think she is a vulgar capital V.'

Kiran, who believes the rules would be different if men had periods, added: 'It's intelligently oppressive to not have language to talk about it and call it out and engage with it.  I really can't think of anything that's the equivalent for men, and for this reason, I believe it's a sexist situation.' 

One user, Demiurgic, wrote: 'You are one AWESOME woman!  Thanks for boosting my confidence and clearing my equivocal mind'

Nilima Achwal echoed her sentiments, writing: 'Whoa - kudos your courage and resilience'

Bellyrina wrote: 'I don't know about you, but I don't find this feminist.  Just unsanitary'

Kiran added that she is an artist, and that she was simply using what she had learned through studying art and the impact of shock culture at the marathon. 

'On the day of the marathon, my friends and I had a job to do, which was to run [a marathon], and we did exactly that and rocked it out,' she said. 

According to People, Kiran plans to keep on raising awareness of the fact that many women and girls lack the confidence to identify or talk about their own bodies and feel they need to hide their periods in order to 'remove the stigma'

Mark Byron added: 'Woman's runs marathon on her period to raise awareness.  I think people are already aware of periods and I think she is a vulgar capital V [sic]'

Lady AGad wrote on Twitter: 'It's not about period shaming, it's a laundry issue, Einstein!',  whilst Madson added: 'That's not feminism, that's just being unhygienic'

She celebrated finishing the race with her family who had come along to support her. 

Speaking to Cosmopolitan about her experience, Kiran discussed how she felt meeting her brother and father on the finishing line, explaining that she didn't want them to feel awkward.  But, she says, they 'didn't give an eff'.