OPINION: Period stigma – We don’t know our bodies

Emilie Williams 

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It wasn’t until I was 19 years old, whilst reading Maisie Hill’s novel Period Power, that I first heard that extremely painful periods should not be considered ‘normal’.

I had spent so many years believing that menstrual pain was an unavoidable part of womanhood and something I had to accept.

My Experience

“I didn’t know my body and was never given a chance to fully understand it.”

Education on the menstrual cycle at school was limited and didn’t prepare me for the changes my body and mind were about to go through. There was no discussion on important topics such as hormones, the implications of harmful diets, uterine problems such as cysts or endometriosis, discharge and breast pain, or menstrual disorders.

The socialisation I underwent as a child taught me that my period was embarrassing and must be kept a secret. It was suggested that period and uterine pain was normal and inevitable when extreme pain from any other part of the body would be encouraged to be investigated.

“Most of us are socialised into believing that because period pain is common, it’s normal. It isn’t.”

Not only is this messaging incredibly difficult to take on as a young child, but confusing and misleading.

I didn’t know my body and was never given a chance to fully understand it. This continued into my late teens as doctors brushed off my symptoms and offered me birth control as the magic solution.

Hill writes: “Most of us are socialised into believing that because period pain is common, its normal. It isn’t.” Reading these words felt revolutionary and made me feel understood after so many years of my pain being dismissed.

Period Power changed the way that I view my cycle, the female reproductive system, and the power of the patriarchy.

How Stigma is Produced

Limited and insufficient reproductive health education encourages ignorance and fear which produces harmful stereotypes and stigma.

As the female adult body is feared, unrealistic expectations are set that idealise pre-pubescent features such as hairlessness, slimness, lack of stretch marks, curves, and signs of age.

Menopause is then feared as it is seen as the end of youth, fertility, and thus desirability towards the male sex. Germaine Greer touched upon the sexualisation of the female body in her novel The Female Eunuch when she wrote that the breasts are only admired “for as long as they show no signs of their function”.

Just as the breasts are admired until they are used for breastfeeding, the vagina is valued until it bleeds.

Patriarchal society not only expects the cycle to be hidden but also praises pregnancy, which is ironic as they are both natural processes that occur in the same organ.

Hill argues this is because the female body is seen as a ‘reproductive vessel’ and that this value on pregnancy causes the cycle to ‘remain disgusting and hidden’. The presence of blood is ultimately seen as the absence of a child, and so menstruation is seen as a threat to reproduction.

Advertising

“Companies ultimately profit from period stigma and shame whilst menstruators suffer the consequences.”

Menstrual products are described as ‘sanitary’ and ‘hygienic’, inferring that the menstrual cycle is dirty.

Greer goes on to say: “The success of the tampon is partly due to the fact that it is hidden.”

Menstrual pads are lined with harmful fragrances that are advertised to cover the ‘smell’ of a period but can inadvertently increase the likelihood of infection.

Companies ultimately profit from period stigma and shame whilst menstruators suffer the consequences.

HOW WE CAN FIGHT PERIOD STIGMA

“The only way we can become a more inclusive, kinder, and harmonious society is to face what makes us uncomfortable and question why.”

Period Power fights against period stigma by providing facts that explain the functions of the female reproductive system. Hill explains each phase of the menstrual cycle and the hormones involved whilst shedding light on the health problems and disorders associated with the uterus.

Hill offers her readers the knowledge needed to gain control back over their bodies and treats this information as a right of knowledge rather than a taboo subject. The only way that period stigma and shame can be overcome is if we collectively take on Hill’s approach.

EDUCATION

We must teach the names of each phase of the cycle to incite the confidence to navigate it. Childish nicknames for reproductive organs should be avoided, as we shouldn’t feel embarrassed to use their biological names.

EQUAL ACCESS TO INFORMATION

The problem with our current education system is it doesn’t give all genders the opportunity to learn about the female body.

Reproductive health classes in schools are often single-sex to avoid children feeling embarrassed or misbehaving, which causes a disparity in access to information. Fathers, friends, and partners born male may feel incapable of approaching the topic of menstruation as they haven’t been empowered to learn or ask questions.

Providing sufficient education on reproductive health to children of both sexes eases the air of mystery surrounding the reproductive systems of the opposite sex.

As people reject and attack what they don’t understand, the inclusiveness of this discussion will help dismantle the misinformation and stigma surrounding periods and the female reproductive system. Young menstruators will understand what is happening to their bodies and will be less likely to mistake natural bodily functions for concerns.

The only way we can become a more inclusive and harmonious society is to face what makes us uncomfortable and question why.

Reproductive health education should be paramount to our efforts in dismantling period stigma and shame. Uterine problems should be investigated and treated, and the functions of the female reproductive system should be normalised and not feared.

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Featured image courtesy of Monika Kozub on Unsplash. Image license found here. No changes were made to this image.