Periods have always been a subject that people try to avoid talking about. It has been made a taboo that people think of as embarrassing to mention or dirty or shameful to talk about. Depending on where you live, or what religion you follow, periods are treated differently in every aspect.

    At a young age, mensuators¹ are conditioned to not speak about their periods as it is considered to not be an appropriate subject to talk about. So many of us experience different things when we are shedding the lining of our uterus, a natural act that is necessary for creating life.  

    We, as a population of menstrators, are not properly educated on the subject that we will have to experience every month until we reach menopause².  The school system teaches us the simplicity of what it is to have a period, but it fails to educate us on the health conditions that can contribute to periods. It fails to teach us about critical subjects such as period taboo³, period poverty⁴, what our period products are made of and how those products and their ingredients can affect us either positively or negatively to not only our bodies but also to the environment.                                                                              

  Talking about periods should not be as taboo as it already is. We should freely be able to ask the questions we have without having to deal with the common embarrassment  or shame that so many feel. 

   We need to know how to be gender inclusive when it comes to talking about periods and period products. So that we do not use the word feminine, as not all females bleed, and not all that bleed are female. 

       While some of us are able to buy, at times, expensive period products at our local grocery stores, homeless menstruators are forced to make the choice between a box of tampons or food for the day. This then leads them to use alternatives to deal with their periods such as using old socks, pieces of cardboard, trash, garbage bags, dirty objects to replace a pad or tampon. 

   This embarrassment can lead to negative effects in the way that we lose the opportunity of learning the valuable information to take care of our bodies properly and effectively.  Talking about periods should not only be normalized for the betterment of our health but for the betterment of our perception.

¹Menstruators: People who have periods 

²Menopause: usually occurring within the ages of 45-50years when periods stop and no longer continue

³Period taboo: the stigma behind menstruation 

⁴Period poverty: referring to not having access to purchasing or receiving period products such as, but not limited to, pads and tampons