Despite the fact that we bleed for a week straight every month for decades of our lives, we’re still expected to keep this completely normal and natural part of our lives on the down low. We’re expected to be clean and put together while our bodies are literally bleeding practically non stop for sometimes over 100 hours.
Periods have always been a part of a conversation we never even begin to have, and that needs to change. They’ve been around for literally forever, and they’re not going away anytime soon, so why can’t we just talk about them freely? Why do we have to use code words, or speak in a whisper when discussing menstruation?
This is a question that I’ve never been able to figure out, and I will probably spend the rest of my life trying to make sense of. Between my friends and I, periods are a subject with no barriers. We talk about them just like any other conversation we would have, because to us, it’s completely normal. I don’t hesitate to ask my friends for a tampon or a pad, because I’m not embarrassed to say that I’m on my period. I’m a young adult and a female, so the odds that I’ve menstruated before are fairly high. It’s also probably safe to say that most of the females that I interact with on a day to day basis have also had their periods. If this is something that almost half of our population does, why are we hiding it like it’s some big secret? Why do we have to have a little floral bag in tow when trying to change our hygiene products? Why is it that when you tell your teachers, especially male teachers, that you ‘need to take care of something in the bathroom’, they get that wide-eyed look and urgently tell you to “go, go, go!”?
Across pretty much every culture, there’s been an endless history of menstrual taboos. Throughout the Bible and Quran, there are notes of periods making one unclean or impure.
In several countries, feminine hygiene products are seen as “luxury items”, not necessities. In this case, having a period can be the barrier between having an education or not.
I don’t know what the right answer for change is, but I do know that I can do my part by being open about my period. I can walk down the hallways at school with a pad and not feel uncomfortable or embarrassed. I know that it’s something that I shouldn’t have to hide solely for the purpose of making others feel comfortable, and I know that it’s not something that I should feel shame for.
I love being a woman, and part of that, for me, comes with getting my period every month. There’s something empowering about being able to exercise, learn, and teach while bleeding. Even though periods can be absolutely horrible sometimes, we are strong and powerful, and a few cramps and bathroom breaks won’t stop us.
This is a conversation that we need to be having everywhere. It needs to be discussed in places where people are not given easy access to pads, tampons, and other necessities. This needs to be discussed where women are shamed for having their periods. This needs to be talked about wherever females feel shame for menstruating.
After all, menstruation is, in part, what gives us life. It’s a natural, normal thing that most females do at some point in their lives for years on end. Periods shouldn’t be something to be ashamed or embarrassed of. They shouldn’t be something to hide from, so hold that tampon, pad, liner, cup or whatever in your hand with pride, and be proud to bleed!
