Let’s talk about periods. And no, I don’t mean let’s talk about periods the way they do on commercials for pads or tampons. No twirling in white dresses in a field of flowers or diving off of an impossibly high diving board at the local pool. Let’s really talk about periods, or more specifically, let’s talk about all of the lies you’ve probably been told about periods.
- “You’re Becoming a Woman Now”
Oh my god, can we please stop saying this when someone gets their first period? People like to tell you this after you get your first period to let you know that you’re in some sort of special club now that you bleed from your uterus once a month. It’s supposed to make you feel better, make you feel more comfortable. That doesn’t mean it actually does. For starters, it establishes a harmful connection between gender and genitals, reinforcing the idea that all women get their period and only women get their period. It also can sexualize a cisgendered girl without her permission by attaching her emotional and sexual maturity to her body. Most people get their first period between the ages of ten and fifteen and to decide their natural body functions suddenly makes them an adult is unfair to them.
2. “Virgins Shouldn’t Use Tampons”
I’m not entirely sure what is with the stigma around tampons, but I’m going to try to break it down for you. When using a tampon, it is possible to tear your hymen, which partially covers the opening to the vagina. If someone with a vagina tears their hymen during sex (bleeds during sex), it is commonly thought that they are a virgin due to their hymen being intact. However, just because someone doesn’t tear their hymen during sex, doesn’t mean they aren’t a virgin. The hymen can tear from riding a bike, horseback riding, or some people with vaginas aren’t even born with one at all. If your hymen tears from using a tampon, it is no way means you aren’t a virgin anymore. No one loses their virginity to a tampon. And to many, virginity is a social construct anyway.
3. “Tampons Aren’t Safe to Use”
There is actually some truth to this one, but not because tampons in particular are unsafe to use. The only extra risk that comes with using tampons instead of pads is getting Toxic Shock Syndrome (TSS), which, while it is important to be aware of, is not all that common. On a yearly basis, about 1 in 100,000 women report a care of Toxic Shock Syndrome as a result of tampon use, however, using a tampon isn’t the only way to develop TSS. What may truly make tampons unsafe is a risk associated with both tampons and pads: they are considered medical devices by the FDA (yet still taxed as luxury items in many states?) and manufacturers are therefore not required to disclose ingredient information. Despite this, tampons, pads, and menstrual cups have all been approved by the FDA. The fact that there is very little transparency about feminine hygiene products has led to concern over what we are really exposing our body to when we use them and what the long term effects may be.
4. “Your Period Isn’t a Reason to Skip School, Work, or Gym Class”
I’m fairly certain the only people who ever say this are people who don’t get their periods. Periods can be painful and uncomfortable, especially when coupled with a disease like endometriosis. Sometimes the reason to miss school due to a period isn’t because to painful cramps or other symptoms at all, but due to the large number of people globally that do not have access to feminine hygiene products for their entire period and as a result stay home. Considering you don’t know what another person’s period is like, maybe you shouldn’t tell them what they can or cannot handle while on it.
The misinformation surrounding menstrual cycles needs to be corrected, especially since there is not similar confusion over how other bodily functions work. After all, I’ve never heard of there being confusion over how my digestive system works, have you?
