Why Are We So Ashamed of Our Periods?

For people who menstruate, the fear of leaking through their clothing causes major anxiety.

We go about our daily business as normal when on our periods, but feel a sense of uncertainty at all times.

If I wear these jeans, will my period seep through? Will doing this cause more blood to come out? If I sit on that chair will I leave a stain?

But where does this shame come from? When it comes to periods, from blood, to tampons, we're really keen to keep it all under wraps.

We asked Rachel Grocott, from Bloody Good Period, where she thought the shame originates.

Rachel Grocott:

“We provide period supplies to refugees, asylum seekers, and others who cant afford or access them.

And we do that through partnerships with over 100 organisations across England and Wales.

Walk of No Shame was actually our founders' idea, Gabby Edlin, and it came about because of a team meeting.

At the meeting she needed to go to the loo and change her period product, and she realised that she was hiding it, and she realised that this was totally ridiculous for the CEO of a period organisation to be doing that.

But I think that just underlines how normal that is, it's so ingrained in us to hide those things away because we’ve been taught that this isn't something to talk about.

So everyone hides that away, big advertising campaigns (say) that we should buy products that have got rustle free wrappers, and its part of how we’ve been conditioned as people who menstruate, that this kind of stuff, it just shouldn't be talked about.

And that's kind of crazy because it's a normal, healthy bodily function, and if we can't talk about it then we can’t get the information and the support that we need.

So Walk of No Shame was devised as a lighthearted way of tackling that, and pointing out how crazy it is.

Originally we intended it to be a real life thing pre-covid, and we did have a few people participating in that, doing fundraising events for us, and deliberately people would not be hiding their products.

With lockdown that was a bit harder to ask people to get involved in, so we turned it into No Shame Here, so that people could take part online, for example posting photos of their products online.”

We are raised with this shame, it’s imprinted on our psyche - and it has dangerous
consequences.

It may start with the scare stories about periods, the doomsday
countdown until our first one, the instruction to hide our ‘lady business’ - but it’s
all wrapped up with our mental health, self esteem, sexual experiences, and
the perception we have of our bodies.

If we’re taught from a young age to stay quiet about our
periods, to hide things away, to not mention the pain, to not express our emotions,
then we grow up believing that this extends to all areas of our lives.

So what can we do to start normalisng periods?

Well first, let's start calling it as we see it.

Using code words may make people relax and feel more able to talk about the issue - but
it’s important that we normalise the word ‘period’. avoiding the word only
breeds an avoidance of the matter altogether.

Menstruating is sadly seen as dirty
and taboo, so it’s understandable that we feel embarrassed to state in explicit terms
what our body is going through, for fear of ourselves being seen as dirty.

But,
spelling out that we are on our
P-E-R-I-O-D has benefits for all - in health, relationships, and employment.

P
E
R
I
O
D

A discomfort around using the word period means women are not speaking about it with their employers or school; a 2019 study found that when they felt unwell due to their menstrual cycle, only 20.1% of women explained that this was the reason.

But the lack of support isn't only leaving female employees without the support they need when on their period, it's also hurting productivity.

The same study found that an average of 8.9 days worth of productivity were lost per woman per a year.

If employers created an environment in which periods could be honestly spoken about, perhaps creative measures could be put in place to help both employer and employee.

Next, lets own it.

You bleed through your skirt on the rush hour? Shrug it off.

You come on your period at the beach? Thank your body for all the wonderful things it does.

You wake up to blood stained sheets after a one-night stand? They can just deal with it.

Why Are We So Ashamed of Our Periods?

But where does this shame come from? When it comes to periods, from blood, to tampons, we're really keen to keep it all under wraps.

We asked Rachel Grocott, from Bloody Good Period, where she thought the shame originates.

Rachel Grocott:

“We provide period supplies to refugees, asylum seekers, and others who cant afford or access them.

And we do that through partnerships with over 100 organisations across England and Wales.

Walk of No Shame was actually our founders' idea, Gabby Edlin, and it came about because of a team meeting.

At the meeting she needed to go to the loo and change her period product, and she realised that she was hiding it, and she realised that this was totally ridiculous for the CEO of a period organisation to be doing that.

But I think that just underlines how normal that is, it's so ingrained in us to hide those things away because we’ve been taught that this isn't something to talk about.

So everyone hides that away, big advertising campaigns (say) that we should buy products that have got rustle free wrappers, and its part of how we’ve been conditioned as people who menstruate, that this kind of stuff, it just shouldn't be talked about.

And that's kind of crazy because it's a normal, healthy bodily function, and if we can't talk about it then we can’t get the information and the support that we need.

So Walk of No Shame was devised as a lighthearted way of tackling that, and pointing out how crazy it is.

Originally we intended it to be a real life thing pre-covid, and we did have a few people participating in that, doing fundraising events for us, and deliberately people would not be hiding their products.

With lockdown that was a bit harder to ask people to get involved in, so we turned it into No Shame Here, so that people could take part online, for example posting photos of their products online.”

So what can we do to start normalisng periods?

Well first, let's start calling it as we see it.

Using code words may make people relax and feel more able to talk about the issue - but
it’s important that we normalise the word ‘period’. avoiding the word only
breeds an avoidance of the matter altogether.

P
E
R
I
O
D

Next, lets own it.

You bleed through your skirt on the rush hour? Shrug it off.

You come on your period at the beach? Thank your body for all the wonderful things it does.

You wake up to blood stained sheets after a one-night stand? They can just deal with it.

Go check out Bloody Good Period here:

Twitter: @bloodygood__
Facebook: @bloodygoodperiod
Instagram: @bloodygoodperiod

But where does this shame come from? When it comes to periods, from blood, to tampons, we're really keen to keep it all under wraps.

We asked Rachel Grocott, from Bloody Good Period, where she thought the shame originates.

Rachel Grocott:

“We provide period supplies to refugees, asylum seekers, and others who cant afford or access them.

And we do that through partnerships with over 100 organisations across England and Wales.

Walk of No Shame was actually our founders' idea, Gabby Edlin, and it came about because of a team meeting.

At the meeting she needed to go to the loo and change her period product, and she realised that she was hiding it, and she realised that this was totally ridiculous for the CEO of a period organisation to be doing that.

But I think that just underlines how normal that is, it's so ingrained in us to hide those things away because we’ve been taught that this isn't something to talk about.

So everyone hides that away, big advertising campaigns (say) that we should buy products that have got rustle free wrappers, and its part of how we’ve been conditioned as people who menstruate, that this kind of stuff, it just shouldn't be talked about.

And that's kind of crazy because it's a normal, healthy bodily function, and if we can't talk about it then we can’t get the information and the support that we need.

So Walk of No Shame was devised as a lighthearted way of tackling that, and pointing out how crazy it is.

Originally we intended it to be a real life thing pre-covid, and we did have a few people participating in that, doing fundraising events for us, and deliberately people would not be hiding their products.

With lockdown that was a bit harder to ask people to get involved in, so we turned it into No Shame Here, so that people could take part online, for example posting photos of their products online.”

So what can we do to start normalisng periods?Well first, let's start calling it as we see it.

Using code words may make people relax and feel more able to talk about the issue - butit’s important that we normalise the word ‘period’. avoiding the word onlybreeds an avoidance of the matter altogether.

PERIOD

Next, lets own it.

You bleed through your skirt on the rush hour? Shrug it off.

You come on your period at the beach? Thank your body for all the wonderful things it does.

You wake up to blood stained sheets after a one-night stand? They can just deal with it.

Go check out Bloody Good Period here:

Twitter: @bloodygood__Facebook: @bloodygoodperiodInstagram: @bloodygoodperiod

So what can we do to start normalisng periods?

Well first, let's start calling it as we see it.

Using code words may make people relax and feel more able to talk about the issue - but
it’s important that we normalise the word ‘period’. avoiding the word only
breeds an avoidance of the matter altogether.

P
E
R
I
O
D

Twitter: @bloodygood__
Facebook: @bloodygoodperiod
Instagram: @bloodygoodperiod