October 19th was the first ever National Period Day – a day surrounded upon the idea of “elevating the issue of period poverty and demanding real change to making period products more accessible for all and ending the #TamponTax.” The non-profit PERIOD started these rallies in an attempt to raise awareness about the ungodly costs of period products and the lack of accessibility that groups have access to.
When I saw this trending on Twitter, I scrolled through the tweets and found that I suffer from a lot of the same problems that the people fed up on Twitter do. Whether I related to what everyone said or not, here are the main issues that National Period Day is bringing awareness to and why we need to get woke and on trend with this.
Any Gender Can Get Their Period
Notice how I didn’t say women, and I said people. There were numbers of tweets discussing the fact that not all people who get periods identify with being a woman. You can be Transgender, Cisgender, GenderQueer, or any other gender identiifcation term & if you have female sex organs then you know the pain of having a period. Anyone with a vagina, despite gender identification, can own that.
Let’s Get Real About Period Pain
To anyone who says that having period cramps or period pain is something that we can just shake off or get over, I invite you to walk a day in our uterus and feel the pain that we go through. For one, period pain should be a valid excuse to miss class or take a day off if you are someone who suffers from abnormal pain.
Apparently periods aren’t supposed to cripple you with pain, cause intense back ache or nausea, but I didn’t know that. Nobody really talks about how that pain isn’t a normal thing for everyone. Honestly, until very recently, I didn’t know that it wasn’t normal to go through 12 super plus tampons in a day. WHY? Because nobody takes the time to in depthly educate us on what we are supposed to experience and what isn’t normal.
Which brings me to the point that is – we need to incorporate better sex education that includes conversations that normalize mensturation and highlight signs of disesases that people can look for with their periods.
What Your Period Might Be Telling You
Some diseases that can be found from extreme period pain are as follows and are completely common.
Endometriosis –
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Very painful menstrual cramps
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Lower cramps or back pain during your period
If you’re experiencing any of these symptoms, go see your gynecologist and get checked. All the check requires is a small scope for quick moment to search for signs and symptoms.
Fibroids –
Fibroids are benign tumors that grow in the uterine wall. You can also get checked for polyps which can cause extreme bleeding or menstrual cramps. While it is a hard disease to diagnose, you would rather know than live with pain.
Get Down with Getting Rid of the Tampon Tax
The basis of this sexist rule is that tampons, in some states, are not considered necessities. Let’s be clear this means that bleeding profusely and the means to stop it is not a necessity. To see PERIOD. Ad representing how much of an issue this is view the video here. Imagine your nose was bleeding all day for days on end and you couldn’t afford to clean it up. The cost of period products, especially to people in poverty or in prisons, makes it impossible to afford. Even I, a broke ass college kid, feel like I’m stretching money thin to buy them each month.
There should be no tax on them and they should be free in public restrooms. Period.
We Bleed, Get Over Yourselves
I, and I’m sure many other women, have always been embarrassed about having a period. I would try to discreetly hide them up my sleeve or in my pocket in middle and high school as if it was something to be ashamed of. But it’s not. It’s natural and it shouldn’t be a taboo thing to talk about. It shouldn’t be a big deal for men to buy products for the women in their life, and it shouldn’t be something that anyone with a period at any age should feel like they can’t talk about. It’s not gross, it’s natural and should be treated as such.
I am woman, hear my roar about why periods are normal and not to be stigmatized, politicized, or something worth taxing.