It is a Thursday morning, the day of a huge math test. It is that day of your period, where heavy flow and abdominal cramps are your worst enemies. Filled with discomfort and stress, you walk into your first class, determined to cram as much calculus into your head as possible. However, you notice halfway through that your pad has been filling up. You ask to go to the washroom but your teacher does not allow you to leave. Your heart drops and you begin to desperately plead that it is an emergency, in which they reluctantly agree. Agitated and tense, you forcibly grab your pad, unbothered to hide it up your sleeve as usual. As you are leaving, everyone is noticing your every movement and you feel their glares imprinted on the lower half of your body. Just what the day needed: stress, discomfort, and embarrassment.
According to Actionaid UK, nearly 46% of British women are embarrassed when starting their period, a familiar statistic to many young girls in the world. Despite menstruation being a customary part of a woman's life, social pressure plays a concurrent role as well. In fact, the International Women’s Health Coalition stated the word “period” has euphemisms in 10 languages and over 5,000 slang words; It has become one of the most taboo topics. Menstrual stigma is defined as menstruation being an abomination of the body and where women are viewed as unclean when menstruating. Similar to other societal influences, menstrual stigma is difficult to physically view, especially when most is concealed by the lack of menstrual awareness and the normalization to approach this subject covertly.
It is common for women to discreetly hide menstrual products in public environments, such as school and the workplace. There are related various articles which are one quick search away, including one titled “8 Ways to Sneak a Pad or Tampon to the Bathroom at School” by Wikihow. Some of which include generic ways, such as hiding a pad in a back pocket, to more farcical methods, such as sneaking a tampon into an empty lipstick tube or a coffee mug. There have even been reports where women made coughing noises to hide the sound of opening a hygiene product, despite already being in the women's washroom. Approaching women’s hygiene products in a covertly manner is also present in industrial marketing and advertising. Ginsburg, director of the Education Justice Project at the University of Illinois, conducted a study, where she viewed 150 different packages of feminine hygiene products, and found them to be generally plain. Ginsburg states that this was to avoid “reference to the physicality of the objects inside or to their use” in order to “distance these products from any suggestion of actual use.”
As such, by regarding menstruation in a furtive manner, it exudes a negative connotation where women are viewed as ‘dirty’ when menstruating. It is not due to the menstrual products themselves as they are sterile through its plastic wrapper packaging. As well, it is not through association as it is not much different than bringing a magazine into the bathroom, when everyone knows what will occur. According to Johnston-Robledo and Chrisler, “some have argued that menstrual blood is viewed as more disgusting or aversive than other bodily fluids.” This damaging mindset can lead to viewing women as overly emotional and high maintenance; This can be seen through common astringent remarks, such as asking a woman if it is their time of month. Women are then degraded to mere “hormonal, animalistic” emotions rather than having valid, fundamental feelings. By viewing menstruation as a reduced entity rather than a standard norm, many misconceptions could create detrimental effects to a woman’s health. Sanitary pads are not meant to be worn for more than 6 to 8 hours. However, it is a common mistake for girls to wear them for longer, 12 to 16 hours, leading to rashes and yeast infections. As well, it is a common East Asian myth that the use of tampons could damage a woman’s hymen, resulting in approximately 2% of Chinese women wearing them compared to 70% of European women. Through the lack of education of menstruation perpetuated by universal silence, women are being ridiculed over nonsensical ideas, causing more painful menstruation cycles both physically and mentally.
Unfortunately, menstrual stigma is not an unforeseen subject that is suddenly introduced in our society. It has been passed down by various cultures and societies, where its roots are in gender inequality and men’s fear of the potential ‘evil influence’ of women. In the Victorian era, men controlled the menstruation narrative: its process, relevance, and education. According to a journalist from Augustana College, a British psychiatrist, Henry Maudsley, described menstruation as a method to demonstrate that “women were of lesser value” and to establish the natural weakness in women. As such, the women preferred to keep menstruation as a secret to avoid being objectified. Feminist scholars states, “In order to preserve their feminine identity and earn the associated social currency, women must present themselves as sexualized and sanitized, completely distanced from their embodied, creaturely selves.” Thus, it is not surprising to see menstrual stigma be continued into further generations.
Menstruation is part of a woman’s standard way of life and thus, should be treated as such. There have been recent efforts to destigmatize menstruation through advertisements, one showing a girl’s first period as worth celebrating, as well as more feminist speakers. However, we still have a long way to go and we must continue to tackle the stigma of menstruation within our daily lives. Next time you are going to the washroom, it is time to say, “Pads out!”
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