#destigmatize menstration

[niiwa-angel]

@ all my fellow Radfems, I need to know what's the stupidest misconception about the female body you've ever encountered? Cause I've got three off the top of my head and I want to hear yours.

1. I knew a guy in highschool who genuinely didn't know that the vagina is not connected to the digestive system. I had to explain to him that women do not defecate through our vaginas.

2. "If periods hurt so much, why do women keep having them?" Presented as a gotcha phrase. Dude seriously thought women chose to menstruate. Refused to believe me when I explained that it was an involuntary bodily function like breathing, sweating, or urinating.

3. This one was sad more than it was annoying, because the dudes heart was in the right place. Some jackass was saying that women who use tampons aren't virgins anymore because they break their own hymens inserting tampons. Myself and another girl were arguing against him and our male friend pipes up "it's not even the same hole dummy" like 😑 yes it is. Again, heart in the right place but wrong execution.

Please let me know yours, I am very nosy and I'm making a list.

[tenaflyviper]

These soccer moms are complaining about a Pixar film trying to teach and destigmatize menstration, and all I can think of is Carrie White's mom locking her in the "prayer closet" after the poor girl had the most traumatizing first period in cinematic history.

[underwhelmingalchemist]

I've seen a lot of people talk about the period scene in Turning Red, and I thought I might as well put my thoughts out there.

I was watching the movie with my boyfriend, and when Ming Lee was talking about the products she had to help with periods (a heating pad, tampons, pads with wings) something struck me. My boyfriend probably didn't know the intricacies of period products. He has two sisters, but he doesn't menstrate, so I assumed that his knowledge of period products specifics was probably limited to, "Can you run to the store and get these specific pads." If that.

So I paused the movie and decided it would be a good time to explain what was happening on screen.

What started as, "so some pads are thick and some are thin and some have wings and some don't" turned into a half hour long discussion where I just... explained periods. The fact that there are different types of pads for different flows and overnight, how tampons work and are inserted, the use of panty liners, spotting, a difference in flow over the course of a period, how the hormones effect your body, what Midol is, and the basic side effects of periods that are very matter-of-fact to anyone who experiences them, including the fact that cramps are, surprise, very painful.

This man is 24.

He knew none of it.

He just knew the biological basics. People with uteruses build up a lining, then shed the lining, they bleed for a number of days, and they get cramps and sometimes nauseous.

And trust me, some of this is on him. People have a responsibility to educate themselves. But in order for someone to educate themselves on something, they need to know that that that something exists. And he just... didn't.

The fact that periods are being included in this movie, with things like pads just being mentioned, is more than just a neat detail. It's a step in the right direction. It's a step towards better education, to wider acknowledgement and destigmatization and comprehension, and starting important conversations. It's a step towards people understanding what roughly half of the population will go through in their lifetime, for significant portions of their lifetimes.

Turning Red is a step in the right direction, and I cannot comend them highly enough for that

[niiwa-angel]

Trans Identified Males pretending their cross sex hormones side effects are a period are so funny to me. Because while there are some other symptoms or effects of a period that aren't the actual shedding of the lining, they are directly tied to that. And every little girl (adolescent human female) has had some pretty universal experiences surrounding her period that men cosplaying as women will never understand.

Hiding menstrual products in your shirt sleeve, sock, or pocket while walking to the bathroom because you're scared of people seeing it.

Having to spend your lunch money on a little box of pads or tampons because you ran out of forgot to restock your bag and the little vending machine in the girls room is broken or empty.

Gym teachers, particularly male ones but I've had female gym teachers do it too, telling you that your period pains are no excuse to be lazy.

Sitting though a final test or exam in an overflowing pad and not being able to go do anything about it till you finish

Boys blaming your period for any emotion you may be feeling, or any perceived slight against them. Wouldn't go on a date with him? Bitch must be on her period

That awful feeling between taking a painkiller and waiting for it to kick it. Bonus points if you feel like in the time between, the cramps get worse

Honestly, unlearning all the lies and old wives tales is a trip in and of itself. Yes you can swim, you just need a tampon. No, boys can't smell that you're on your period. No, you are not dumber just because you're on your period

Learning about primitive practices other cultures force upon menstruating women and girls and being told you need to be grateful, as a girl in the West, that you aren't being subjected to that. Any complaint you voice will be stopped by someone reminding you about menstrual hits in Nepal. No period products in the girls rooms? Did you know girls in a third world country die in menstrual hits? Bet ya feel stupid now!

Toilet period as a pad because you ran out or it started unexpectedly and you weren't prepared.

Being marked late or even given detention because you were late to class. But you can't go to the bathroom in class because you should have gone during break, which is 5 minutes long and it takes much longer than that to change a pad or tampon.

Ladies, feel free to add more, I know I didn't cover it all. I also covered it from a Western perspective because that's what I have.