What’s Wrong With A Little Blood?
The day a child first has her period can be egregious. A common tale is of a thirteen-year-old embracing her mother with a face drenched in snot and tears, “I am dying mom!”
I mean, what would you think if you randomly found blood spewing out of you?
I remember when I had horrendous cramps one morning I assumed I was getting sick. I had never experienced pain that felt like someone was pinching my insides with tweezers. Yes, that was a weird description, but that is truly what I thought was taking place. I mean it was almost a relief discovering blood in my own underwear. At first, I thought I had had a bowel movement in my pants (you have permission to make fun of me). I am thankful I knew I was not on the brink of death, though. At the time, I was ashamed of myself; I did not want to tell my mother. Why? I can not pinpoint what was abhorrent about “becoming a woman”.
I ended up texting my mother, “I think I had my “.” I was too embarrassed to even type out the term. Shhhh, everyone! Don’t even utter the p word. Or else someone might know that you are going through a perfectly normal stage in your life!
One note I want to make: not ALL women menstruate and not ALL menstruators are women. More than half of the world’s population has a period.
Regardless of the person, regardless of their past, present, an future, regardless if you love them or hate them, menstrual hygiene is a human right NOT simply a luxury.
The amount of money I’ve spent on pads, tampons, ruined underwear, etc. could take me on a trip around the world…twice. The average menstruator will use around 11,000 tampons in her lifetime. $12.00 for a box plus tax — it adds up quickly when 5–10 days per month are compromised due to bleeding. For some people, $12.00 could be the difference between having dinner on the table or not that evening; it is the difference between sleeping soundly or squirming in bed all night due to the perpetual growling of one’s stomach.
This is period poverty.
A mother would sacrifice her own well-being and health if it meant keeping her children from starving, but should that be something those of low socioeconomic status have to surrender? I am grateful that I have never had to make the decision between two essentials such as food and my health. What may shock you is that this does not solely plague third-world countries, but is an active problem in the United States. According to Always, a popular feminine product company, 1 out of 5 girls are kept from school when they are on their period. Lack of education on menstruation and what it entails has lead to an ignorant population, thus there has not been enough pressure on politicians to fund this cause. Many teachers attempt to combat this dilemma by spending their personal money on hygiene supplies for their classroom, but they can only do so much, especially considering their current average wage. Numerous organizations have been advocating laws to at least decrease the price of female hygiene, if not make the products completely free. Menstruation has become a $2 billion industry in the United States and to treat health like a business is not equitable (PERIOD.org). A disregard to sanitary feminine products results in infections, cancers, and preventable deaths.
I would like to end the article today with a reminder that having a period is normal. It should not hold ANYONE back from an education. It should not be stress derived from discrimination. Finally, menstruation should not be an affliction to the mental, emotional, and physical health of humans.
How to change and eventually prevent this issue is realistic. There are environmentally-friendly answers, as well as a variety of actions all of us can take every day. I will be talking about them in my upcoming article and hope you will join. Until then, participate in the conversation and make those uncomfortable by showing that menstruation is not taboo.
