Period talk

Photography by Dennis Magati

Cerys Mason confronts the ongoing stigma on the public discussion of periods, and what we can do to break the “cycle”.

Picture this: You and a friend are sitting on campus, having a trivial chat, then naturally the conversation veers towards her period cramps. Yet, as soon as the sound “per…” even comes out of her mouth, hostile looks are directed your way like the cluster of stubborn pigeons that inconveniently invade Tottenham Court Road on your way to uni. If you’re reading this with an all too familiar exasperation, then chances are you have also been subject to this infuriating judgement, and you’re not alone – a recent study has revealed that 32% of men deem it “unprofessional” to discuss periods at work. 

As a woman, I must admit the rationale behind the much debated ‘period stigma’ is completely beyond me. However, its force even to this day is a largely influential one. As it stands, 48% of women in the Initial Washroom Hygiene study would be reluctant to discuss period symptoms with their manager, and 46% would feel uncomfortable taking menstrual products out of their bags in front of colleagues. While this kind of evasion is just downright exhausting, it can also be dangerous to one’s health – 4 out of 10 women in this study have admitted to using sanitary products for longer than medically advised to avoid asking colleagues for replacements.

Several issues seem to arise from these findings, the foremost being that a third of men look down on menstrual hygiene discussions before even knowing the content of those discussions. Whether this is due to a lack of education on the topic or purely the social stigma forbidding the acknowledgement of a perfectly normal bodily function, something here must change. Even the words associated with periods are testament to the discomfort in addressing the subject. A study conducted by the International Women’s Health Coalition found that there are roughly 5000 slang words in 10 different languages to refer to menstruation. On the surface, this may not seem like much: however, by reverting to what are essentially code-words, it highlights not only the evasion of straightforward discussion, but also how this is a global trend that stretches from the workplace to whole communities.

The taboo around periods can become so great that gaps in common knowledge have become the norm. For example, in China it was reported that many didn’t know you could swim while menstruating without bleeding in the pool before Fu Yuanhui’s performance in the 2016 Olympics, while on her period. This is because only about 2% of Chinese women use tampons, as local beliefs tend to maintain that the use of a tampon equates to losing one’s virginity – which is still regarded as a shameful act. This illustrates some of the potential origins of the period stigma in play. 

While the list of global examples goes on, I return back to the context of an office workplace. Now, I think I speak for every menstruator when I say that if it were possible to leave our periods at the door every morning, OH WE WOULD. Sitting at a desk with the worst cramps known to man should be an Olympic sport. But it’s not that simple. Periods may be horrible, but there is a reason they exist, and therefore a reason why they should be talked about, whether this is to educate or to merely ask if anyone has a pad. In a place as familiar and mundane as the workplace, where you spend a considerable amount of your time, surely this isn’t that big of a thing to ask?

Clearly, an increase in menstrual and sex education is the one definite course of action to take here, to ensure our future workplaces don’t preserve a period stigma. Creating space for healthy conversation can be kick-started with the smallest gestures, such as installing sanitary bins and free sanitary products in workplaces, and most importantly the courage to break the stigma. We need those uncomfortable conversations and extremely awkward illness call-ins to your boss – even though it feels like you want to crawl into a hole and die, you are actually making a difference by letting people know that periods are a real thing!

While I don’t doubt that universities are a much more forgiving environment for this kind of behaviour, the taboo is definitely still in our midst. Please, don’t be the one-third statistic that is too afraid to speak out; be the one that shouts the loudest.