Periods. Menstruation. Blood flow. Cramps. The use of any of these words very often causes a response along the lines of ‘ewwww gross’ from men. It’s amazing to me how so often men profess their enjoyment for gore and violence, whether this be in films, tv, or sport, and won’t flinch at the sight of blood, but the second the blood in question is coming out of a woman’s vagina (in an entirely natural and very necessary process), it becomes a disgusting concept which shouldn’t be talked about.
In addition to the deeply rooted disgust, there is also a disdain for periods in our society. This can be highlighted through countless examples by every woman I know. At school, if a girl showed any display of annoyance or anger, the immediate response from at least three boys would be ‘hahaha are you just stressy because you’re on your period?’. This belief that women are entirely controlled by the hormone changes which occur during the menstrual cycle has persisted throughout history, for example in the common description of women as too emotional, or ‘hysterical’. (P.s to the boys at school, it wasn’t our menstrual cycles that were annoying, it was you). However, despite us not being controlled by our hormones, periods are most definitely irritating. They are painful (to the extent that some women experience vomiting during menstruation), inconvenient, messy and stressful. I still remember when I was in year 8, and had only just started having periods. I was 13, and I was not yet comfortable using tampons. My period was heavy and my cramps were giving me severe stomach and back pain. My mum wrote a note to excuse me from doing P.E as I was so uncomfortable, but my male teacher decided this wasn’t a good enough ‘excuse’, and I had to participate in the lesson. The whole time, not only was I in serious amounts of pain, I was terrified that my sanitary pad would shift, and that everyone would see blood on my shorts or running down my leg. Looking back this makes me so angry, that someone who has never experienced menstruation, and never will, felt that they were in a position to decide the validity of my experience (If I could go back in time I would defo be hitting the teacher in question with Rachel’s famous ‘no uterus no opinion’ line in Friends).
Periods in general are seen as an inconvenience by society, something that we just need to shut up and deal with. However, I am 100% sure that if it was men that painfully shed the lining of one of their internal organs every month, periods would be considered a sacred ritual, and they would all get a week off work (paid, of course) every time they were menstruating. It amazes me that periods, and the pain/messy reality that accompanies them, aren’t more respected, as they are a fundamental part of our biology, and essential to human life continuing. All of these attitudes fundamentally come down to the fact that we are still living in a patriarchal society, that refuses to acknowledge or validate women’s real experiences. Due to the pattern of men policing, commenting on, and even passing laws on women’s bodies, men feel entitled to an opinion on something they have absolutely no idea about. I would love for some men to experience a really painful and heavy period just one time, and then tell me that we need to keep quiet about it.
Further to this attitude towards periods in society, there is the phenomenon of ‘period poverty’. Period poverty essentially means that some women are having to go without sufficient supplies for their periods, due to the cost of these products, and having to prioritise food etc. instead. This problem is taking place on a large scale, for example a recent survey by the group ‘Women for Independence’ found that 1 in 5 women in Scotland are experiencing/have experienced period poverty – with some women reporting to having used loo roll, rags, socks, newspaper or other such similar items in place of actual sanitary products. This clearly has a huge impact on health, hygiene, and wellbeing more generally for these women. Sub-par products, or not being able to change sanitary products often enough can cause thrush, UTIs or even the deadly toxic shock syndrome. This is not okay. Periods are a necessary cycle that happen to half of our population (it is estimated that women have 450 periods in their lifetime), and much more should be done to ensure that all women can have as safe and hassle-free a period as possible. Women and girls are having to miss school and work due to period poverty, and the cost of sanitary items being the cause of this is just not acceptable.
The deeply rooted sexism in the cost of feminine hygiene products is made evident by the value-added tax (coined the ‘tampon tax’) that tampons and other similar items are subject to, whilst in many places, condoms and viagra can be acquired free of charge. How can anyone deny a gender bias in a world that considers a man’s orgasm as more important than appropriate care for a woman on her period? Clearly, so much more needs to change in our societal attitudes and actions before the treatment of periods is just, but until then we can help make a difference for others in need. Donate a box of good quality tampons or towels to a charity collection box, as sanitary products are required as much as food donations. Feel no shame about your period, and stay angry about the way periods continue to be treated.
Edited By Niamh Perry
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