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Ovary-Acting at the Office?

21/5/2014

7 Comments

 
PicturePlush uterus
A few years ago I went through an odd phase of getting a nosebleed just before I left for work. I unscientifically linked it to the pressure of working two jobs for the price of one ("Kate, the administration director is leaving, do you want to take over their duties as well as continuing with your PR work for no extra pay?" "no" "So for all admin stuff, go to Kate") and once I left the nosebleeds stopped. Each time I thought "oh no, I'm going to have to call in nerd" but then my nosebleed would stop in time to catch the train and the misery could resume. Had the blood been menses and my job based in Taiwan I would have been able to call in menstrual. The Guardian is taking a poll asking if menstrual leave should be adopted over here. 

You can contribute a yes or no to the poll here and currently the No vote is at 62%, way ahead of the Yes vote which is trailing at 38%. The comments populated by people calling the proposal Guardian feminism and others claiming it takes away from women's credibility in the workplace. Another commenter has simply asked "is this a joke?"

It appears, in the UK, that due to nosebleeds unisex status (everybody picks their nose) it would be more credible for me to call in with a nosebleed than to call in with cramps. However in Taiwan women are granted three days of menstrual leave annually. 

The Atlantic asks: "Do these policies simply further the notion that women are weak, hormonally-addled creatures controlled by their uteri? Or do they encourage more equality by accommodating female workers' biological demands, much as maternity leave does?" 

It goes on to note that the West has a different history from parts of Asia when it comes to menstruation. In Japan since around 1947 women have been granted 'seirikyuuka' which translates as physiological leave - this came about mainly because as women began to join the workforce in great numbers the workplaces acknowledged they did not have proper sanitary facilities. 
In spite of various laws in Asia frankly discussing the discomfort some women experience during menstruation, apparently many women do not take the designated leave due to embarrassment and fear of being seen as weak by their employers.

Currently our approach to solving menstrual pain is alarmingly iffy. 

The perfectly logical argument against simply giving women annual leave designated for painful menstruation is that instead we approach it as we would any other pain. We try to cure it. Currently our approach to solving menstrual pain is alarmingly iffy. 

Women who go to their doctors about heavy and painful periods are given several options, none of which are guaranteed to work, all of which are in some way invasive and come with the risk of making the situation worse. The coil has been known to both cause heavy periods and reduce them. The pill can make women depressed, destroy their libido and cause them to gain weight. The injection can cause constant 'spotting' as well as other complications. 

With hormonal treatment once you have started you are encouraged to give it a while for your body to settle with it's new dose of hormones. Once the person undergoing the treatment has established what they already knew - the dose isn't working - they still have to wait for their body to then rebalance hormone-wise. The coil and implant require going back to the clinic to have them removed if they don't work. 

Either way people feel they can't discuss periods for fear they will appear weak, dirty or guilty of eeeew, TMI. Whether or not you think people should be granted menstrual leave we should all vote yes to more menstrual discussion.

Squeamish Kate
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7 Comments
Abby Boid link
21/5/2014 10:14:22 pm

The day before my period I am exhausted, clumsy, and find it hard to concentrate. I would like the importance of flexible working and duvet days considered, I'm not an idiot - I would always manage to deliver what needs delivering if flexible working we're common place. . Nine to five five days a week for 40 odd years just doesn't suit my physiology. Whether or not you agree with me, I Agree far more discussion needs to be had about this.

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Becca
21/5/2014 10:36:21 pm

I think 3 days is utterly pointless. If you have problematic periods then its more likely to be 12 (or 24) days you need.

I certainly struggled prior to getting decent medication and often had to leave work ill due to cramps (when you have to spend 15 minutes laid on the floor in the toilets trying not to vomit its time to go home). So I would have benefited from this in the past.

But I do think women face enough subtle discrimination due to maternity leave already and this would make it much worse. More valuable would be more awareness of what a GP can do to help, anti-inflamatories etc.

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Goth Mummy
21/5/2014 10:49:27 pm

I don’t know what the answer is but I have been using up my annual leave to cope with heavy menstrual bleeding and very bad pain that is making it impossible for me to be at work. This obviously leaves me less holiday days to spend with my children. I have sought help from my GP but the hormonal treatment and pain relief that I have been given has not yet worked to reduce my heavy periods and also has unwelcome side effects (including constant bleeding or spotting in between periods!). Something needs to be put in place to help women who are affected in this way, but I am not sure what.

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Itsnotuteriituterus
21/5/2014 11:13:26 pm

If my husband has a pain in testicles, he is not going to call in BallSick.

He will call in and say he isn't up to work that day and be left with some privacy. Why shouldn't women be afforded the same luxury? Why can't we let just let sick people take sick leave?

If you work in a sexist environment you may as well fire yourself if you call in with "period". And even if you don't get the sack you're going to put up with rag jokes all week.

Maybe if we lived in a mature enough society to handle women having periods we could do it. But we don't.

Reply
Jaime
22/5/2014 02:31:07 pm

If women want to earn the same salary as men, they can't do this. 3 days a month is about 10% less working days. Why would an employer want to hire someone with such a requirement? Add to that maternity leave and typical motherhood attrition, and hiring women seems quite disadvantageous.

Women in Asia get this because they are typically treated as weaker and inferior. I don't think we should use Asia as a model, that's backwards thinking.

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JessyJ
22/5/2014 08:45:37 pm

I agree with Jaime. Much as it is a PAIN in the ass (well, uterus) we are not physiologically equal to men, bringing this in would be a prime example of why, and I think it would make us go backwards.
My periods are very painful sometimes, to the point where I am doubled over on the floor. At work, I'm upfront and honest about it-if people are not mature enough to handle that then that isn't my problem. If I need to take twenty minutes out to deal with the pain-I do it-and yes I have also used annual leave when it has been very bad. I think It's just a price we pay, unfortunate as that is.

Reply
Kitty
23/5/2014 11:36:13 pm

I agree that three days is not enough. I suffer from a condition known as Uterus Didelphys (essentially, I have two wombs). The dysmenorrhea I have on a monthly basis is incredible. To the point where I literally have to spend 12 hours at a time in the bath tub, topping it up with hot water. 1000mg paracetamol and 500 mefenamic acid at the same time as a TENS machine cranked up to max and I'm still controlling my breathing and trying not to throw up.

This happens for three days a month.

If I can get a 'handle' on the pain - i.e. I can predict when it starts (more difficult than it sounds because due to the UD, my menstrual cycle can last anything from 29 - 45 days) and only be in severe pain for one day a month, then I feel I've 'won'.

Dysmenorrhea needs to be treated as a real illness because it affects so many women's lives. This, however, is not the answer.

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