There are a few things that we seem to be very behind on. World peace, equal pay, education and so on and so on. We are also very behind on acknowledging and discussing periods. Discussing periods with who? EVERYBODY! As well as not discussing the shedding of blood from the uterus, we don't discuss the various items, such as 'sanitary products', nor do we find ourselves idly chatting about various medical products that influence how we menstruate, such as the IUD coil, the pill, tranexamic acid tablets or the injection. Why is this? Dunno, probably because menstruation combines the two things we have universally agreed are gross: vaginas and blood.
In Tina Fey's autobiography (that I know some of you rightly have an issue with because of derogatory comments about sex workers and bath water, please stay with me) Bossypants she discusses the workshop she went on that helped inspire the seminal film Mean Girls. In it participants were invited to share when they first realised they were becoming a woman. In Fey's workshop all the participants appeared to first realise they were becoming a woman the first time they experienced some form of sexual harassment. This is unlikely to help people foster the idea that becoming a woman is in any way a positive experience.
Likewise I would be interested to ask people when they first realised periods were dirty and something to be ashamed of. The first time you asked your mother what those cotton tubes were in the bathroom and she obfuscated about privacy and personal hygiene (quit going through your mother's stuff!). Or that PSHE class in which the boys were asked to leave the room (allegedly to discuss nocturnal emissions but none of the boys I know recall this lesson. They might be lying) before your teacher handed out free samples of pillow-like sanitary towels and extra skinny applicator tampons whilst announcing you would have to be extra conscious of the direction in which youwiped. Maybe you witnessed a leaking incident and saw everybody recoil in horror at the menses slowly spreading across the white jeans of an over-confident rollerblader. Maybe you were that over-confident rollerblader haemorrhaging through your new white jeans out testing your new skates on boxing day morn...
Likewise I would be interested to ask people when they first realised periods were dirty and something to be ashamed of. The first time you asked your mother what those cotton tubes were in the bathroom and she obfuscated about privacy and personal hygiene (quit going through your mother's stuff!). Or that PSHE class in which the boys were asked to leave the room (allegedly to discuss nocturnal emissions but none of the boys I know recall this lesson. They might be lying) before your teacher handed out free samples of pillow-like sanitary towels and extra skinny applicator tampons whilst announcing you would have to be extra conscious of the direction in which youwiped. Maybe you witnessed a leaking incident and saw everybody recoil in horror at the menses slowly spreading across the white jeans of an over-confident rollerblader. Maybe you were that over-confident rollerblader haemorrhaging through your new white jeans out testing your new skates on boxing day morn...
| According toClaire Cohen in the Telegraph's Wonder Women section, all this is slowly changing. "...this week, I heard about a growing trend on YouTube. You've heard of beauty vloggers? Well, these are period vloggers (ploggers?) Girls in their mid teens are taking to the internet to pass on their period wisdom. And it's bloody great." | Maybe you witnessed a leaking incident and saw everybody recoil in horror at the menses slowly spreading across the white jeans of an over-confident rollerblader. |
It is great. The ability to find out about periods, tampons and whatnot on your own time, from a peer who is willing to share their experience and advice is something previous generations will envy. Women's anecdotes of having to discreetly burn their rags or wash them at night so as not to disturb the menfolk will die away (Janet Frame recalls in An Angel at My Table hiding her rags and throwing them into a cemetery rather than admit menstruation). The worry that giant pads are visible beneath patterned leggings has withered away (because pads are increasingly streamline, not because patterned leggings are no longer a thing). The packaging of tampons, mooncups and pads are all getting prettier, smaller and more discreet.
Can you spot the ongoing theme there? While we can vlog (or plog) about periods we cannot, it seems, go public with our periods. Particularly not to boys. Cohen notes a teenager's comment on one of the videos: “For the last 2 months I have had to ask my dad to get me pads, it sucks because he won't be seen in the store with a bunch of pads".
Cohen writes: "...boys aren't part of the conversation. Ilikeweylie says; "If you're a guy get out of my video". While user Don'tBeaSadPanda agrees; "If you're a guy and you watch this, I will fight you in the street"."
How can we create a safe space for those who menstruate or anticipate menstruation whilst shedding (like a uterus) the mystery that causes the 'ews' and refusals to buy tampons etc from men? Surely an online video - with moderation on comments - is one of the few ways in which we can invite males into the conversation and no one will fall under the misconception that menstruation is something to hide.
Squeamish Kate
Can you spot the ongoing theme there? While we can vlog (or plog) about periods we cannot, it seems, go public with our periods. Particularly not to boys. Cohen notes a teenager's comment on one of the videos: “For the last 2 months I have had to ask my dad to get me pads, it sucks because he won't be seen in the store with a bunch of pads".
Cohen writes: "...boys aren't part of the conversation. Ilikeweylie says; "If you're a guy get out of my video". While user Don'tBeaSadPanda agrees; "If you're a guy and you watch this, I will fight you in the street"."
How can we create a safe space for those who menstruate or anticipate menstruation whilst shedding (like a uterus) the mystery that causes the 'ews' and refusals to buy tampons etc from men? Surely an online video - with moderation on comments - is one of the few ways in which we can invite males into the conversation and no one will fall under the misconception that menstruation is something to hide.
Squeamish Kate
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