Oobat Laurtsnem

This week I am writing about something that personally really, really irritates me.
Something that affects 100% of the population in one way or another.
Something so widely recognised that it has its own wikipedia page.

Some of you will probably disagree with me that this needs to be addressed and may dismiss this as another "whingy feminist rant". But I believe that today, this is one of the biggest things that is disadvantaging women. Living in the 21st century, I am optimistic about gender equality. We live in a tremendous time where, in my opinion, the glass ceiling is disappearing, women have the same rights as men (in terms of voting, etc.) and gender is becoming less and less of an object. Of course, we've got a long way to go, but look at how far we've come!

- Menstrual taboo. (The reverse spelling of the title; I had to do something clever and cryptic so you'd read it!)
Ironic really, that there is such an overt term for a subject so undoubtedly avoided in every day life.

From a young age, boys are hidden away from the harsh reality of periods: I remember in year 6 when we had sex education lessons, boys and girls split up while girls learnt about periods and boys learnt about something else. Still don't know what, dying to find out - let me know.

Women (because that's the cliché isn't it? That when a girl starts her period, she's a woman) are made to feel dirty or disgusting for something that is as natural as breathing. I know this because I (yes) am a woman. And too many times in my life have I felt embarrassed to admit it! Times including once to a male teacher, and many times in the P.E. changing rooms when shyly asking the other girls if they had any spare sanitary towels.

Women's bodies are incredible; we can endure childbirth, and although they plague us for a week a month, our periods have one of the most exciting functions. We've all (even boys) had the year 9 science lesson that explains what a period is, so I wont bore you with that. But I will bring in something of my expertise - reading into things too deeply. Vaginal bleeding can symbolise many things: that this person's body is ready for a change, she is a woman; that this person is not ready to conceive a child or that this particular child is not ready to be born. Men, as our physical counterparts, should respect this.

Some of us (me) at our time of the month, turn into the evil Period-Bitch-Monster from Hell. My mood swings are so bad that they give me whiplash (not to mention my boyfriend, who deals with me so well, thank you thank you thank you). But again, this is all very natural. You're not a moody, horrible person, you tend to release your frustration on those people you love the most. If they really love you, they will be able to deal with seeing you at your worst. People, especially those close to you, although they may already know this, should learn to respect and understand that sometimes, it may just happen. Of course, it's not an excuse, but it is a contributing factor.

But how can we expect the men in society to respect female menstruation when our society itself does not? We've all seen the posts circulating facebook that tell us that included in the price of tampons is VAT, a 5% reduced rate which is the lowest under EU law. The argument is that sanitary products are a luxury and women have menstrual cups, (read up on them, I'm considering switching as it's much better for the environment) but that's not for everyone! Tampons aren't for everyone! Some people prefer sanitary towels. Whatever your preference, "tampon tax" as it has been dubbed by the media, is in my opinion, ridiculous. If you'd like to know why I think it's ridiculous - please read this article which explains which items in the UK have VAT and which do not and try not to get as frustrated as I did - http://www.which.co.uk/money/tax/guides/what-you-do--and-dont--pay-vat-on/. Sanitary products aren't really a "luxury" when we can simply not go without them. With today's general attitude towards menstruation, we could not regress to the old days when we didn't have sanitary items and women used to have to carry a rag around with them to wipe (which is where the phrase "on the rag" comes from - crude, yet clever). Today that would seem like the most horrific thing a person could do, so no, I don't really see sanitary items as a luxury, but a necessity. They're hardly Prada handbags.

Having a period is nothing to be ashamed of - it is your body's way of telling you that you are a healthy woman. I'm not going to pretend I haven't experienced this, or be tactful because let's face it, when am I? All of us women will know the struggle of perhaps waking up having come on your period and you've bled onto the bed, or that awful feeling of coming on when you know you don't have any sanitary towels, or some of us may have come on while on holiday or at a swimming bath. We get desperately embarrassed and try to hide the sad fact, with the thought that if anyone did happen to notice that red spot on your jeans, they wouldn't understand.

Well no, up to 50% of the population will have personally experienced what you're going through.

But what some men genuinely don't understand (and this isn't me calling you stupid, you don't know simply because you don't have vaginas) is that women don't go to the toilet and menstruate in the same way they would go for a wee. It can happen anytime, anywhere and we do not have any control to be able to stop it. This is why it can be really embarrassing for women if one of the aforementioned situations happens, as people may categorise it in the same ballpark as women weeing themselves. Wrong. Very, very wrong.

I'm not saying that removing the taboo from menstruation will ever make this embarrassment that women feel completely go away - I can't predict how people will feel about the situation in future - but it will HELP.

If I've said it once, I'll say it a billion times more - language is the most powerful tool we possess. If you're sad, the best thing to do is open up to someone, if you're happy, tell others and infect them with your joy, if you want the period taboo to bugger off - TALK ABOUT IT. We are lucky enough to have the freedom of speech; the best thing we can do is utilise this and make a change. I truly believe that power lies within the masses and if we want to do something, we can do it. We can have gender equality - I want to live in an age where young girls aren't crying because they've started their period, where women can openly ask one another if they have a spare tampon, where we are not made to feel disgusting for something that is healthy and natural.

I want women to celebrate being women and not be ashamed of themselves. I want men to support women in celebrating this. Men are just as important as women in making this change. Together, we make something absolutely awe-inspiring - the human race. Homosexual, heterosexual, male, female, transgender, no gender - who cares?! We need to support each other and I believe that to abolish this taboo is absolutely fundamental to achieve gender equality.

Finally, I will enlighten you all on something that has inspired me - the #periodpositive campaign. Chella Quint developed this movement in order to counteract the mainly negative public discourse. She does this by using a positive approach explained on the website - https://periodpositive.wordpress.com/.

Although I strongly believe in this cause, individuals can only do so much - it's up to you, men and women, to end this taboo in a positive way.

Have a think, kids!

SOURCES
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/features/we-need-to-talk-about-periods-9638267.html
https://periodpositive.wordpress.com/
http://www.which.co.uk/money/tax/guides/what-you-do--and-dont--pay-vat-on/