Seems a weird thing for someone to say in public right? Wrong. I find it fascinating how so much embarrassment, awkwardness, and shame is associated with this one subject when it's something half of the population will learn to live with for the majority of their lives. Even among women, it's something we've been taught since primary school to talk about in a hushed voice and not tell the boys about. I find this absolutely disgraceful. I hate that if a girl asked me if she could borrow a pad in a public place like in school, I would be expected to somehow sneakily pass the pad from my hand to hers without anyone seeing. To any girls reading this, next time this happens to you don't even bother trying to hide the fact that woman have periods. Hand the pad directly to the other woman and see how many people even bat an eyelid. The truth is that everybody is too busy going about their own lives to take any notice about what's happening in yours.
In LEDC countries like India and rural Africa, periods are often a subject never spoken of. Sometimes girls know nothing because their mothers, grandmothers and sisters have told them nothing. Some girls started their periods and thought they were dying of cancer. For many young girls in Africa, menstruation hinders education. They are often taunted by male classmates or don't have the right protection. If woman can’t afford pads or cloths, they use straw, sand, or newspaper, often resulting in infections. (Only 12% of Indian women use pads). Some cultures still believe that when a woman is on her period she should be isolated and treated as an untouchable. This means she's banned from praying, cooking and even fasting.
This isn't a tag, but I think it's something we need to write about more. To anyone brave reading this, male or female, write up a post about periods and share it with as many people as possible. Let's #BreakThatTaboo
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