This is one of the catchy taglines for the period positivity movement. There is a pledge involved that includes things like “It’s period positive to challenge negative media messages, because they have been plaguing us for a century.” (1)
Even though 800 million girls and women between the ages of 15 and 49 are menstruating on any given day (take a moment to consider the magnitude of those numbers!), many women feel embarrassment or shame with some aspect of this natural biological function. (2)
Since period stigma can start very young, it is equally important to begin normalizing periods by talking about them in an unashamed, natural way. One way of doing this is ditching euphemisms. There are tons of them, from “mother nature” to “aunt flo” to simply “that time of the month.” We all started doing this young because heaven forbid, we actually use the correct term for what is occurring in our bodies. This doesn’t mean that you have to become Ms. TMI. You can simply call it your period. (2) One of the “period positive” pledges insists, “It is period positive to audit your environment to make sure that it supports people who menstruate and doesn’t reinforce taboos.”
If you are in the habit of donating canned goods or clothing to a charity, you may also want to consider giving away menstrual products (I’m sure it doesn’t need to be said, but since there are plenty of reusable products nowadays, only give brand new products). This is an area that is vastly overlooked and a great expense for every woman, especially the homeless or a woman that is struggling mightily financially. Just think: how would you function on the days of your period if you didn’t have your go-to menstruation products?
“Feminine hygiene” is the aisle many of us look for when we are buying our products, however, this term is outdated. It refuses to accept anyone but a cisgendered woman, when transgender men and non-binary people also menstruate. A good term is “menstruator” for someone who has their period. If we are going to try to be more inclusive, this is an area of life that is good to start. The period pledge asserts, “It’s period positive to advocate for menstruators on the margins because oppression is intersectional.”
Many of us as individuals have evolved greatly since our middle school days. Why are our periods stuck in the early days of our youth, giant pads concealed under school uniforms and deep shame embedded in the idea of anyone finding out? Again, the period positive movement has well thought out language for this stigma: “It’s period positive to reject embodied shame, because acknowledging it may be hard, but living with it is far harder.”
It’s darn natural. If you want some ways to get inspired, what better place than the playground of #inspired: Instagram.
No, really.
A couple accounts worth following are: pink_bits, which has pastel illustrations of realistic bodies with period stains (and stretch marks to boot). Also, the company Thinx (which has some pretty amazing period panties; #notsponsored), has a great Insta account with stats on period-shaming and other pieces of information dedicated to dismantling many of the ugly ideas we have grown up with. (3)
Period positivity is for everyone. It really is about bloody time, isn’t it?