I’d like you, if you are female, to think back to your first period. Can you remember it? Do you remember how it happened? Do you remember what your mum or the adults in your life told you beforehand, to prepare you? Did you feel supported? Did you feel informed? Did you feel confident?
The chances are, no, you didn’t. There are still huge gaps in education and support for young people, which are of course passed on intergenerationally. Many women feel shame about periods, and this is culturally reinforced by the messages in advertising that tell us, for example, that a period product is great because nobody will hear you opening the wrapper, or that show us how their products work using the ubiquitous blue liquid. Continue reading “End the shame around menstruation”
