Who decided a period leak was the end of the world?

[Jilly_in_VA]

Most women spend their whole lives pretending they don't have a period. Girls are taught the art of concealment early – how to avoid leaks, how to sneak a tampon into their pocket on the way to the bathroom, the utility of a strategically wrapped sweatshirt to avoid post-seep humiliation.

For centuries, periods have remained stubbornly taboo. Half the world's population menstruates and yet no one really wants to talk about it. When they do, it's often quietly or through euphemism. Generations of women have been conditioned to believe their periods are disgusting or shameful, which has consequences for women's bodies, healthcare decisions, sex lives and overall well-being.

"Even those of us who have access to materials, even those of us who identify as feminists, even those of us who can talk period-positive, we are still soaked in shame," said Christina Bobel, a gender professor at the University of Massachusetts Boston and an expert in critical menstruation studies. "That's the genius of menstrual stigma. It's under our skin. It really doesn't leave. No one is immune.In America and elsewhere around the globe, menstruation is conceptualized as a problem rather than as a healthy bodily process. Framing menstruation as a problem, experts say, demands a solution, and the solution people have been offered is better access to feminine products. But some experts argue this doesn't address the underlying causes of menstrual stigma, which have roots in misogyny and have been exploited by corporations.

"I'm cranky about these pads and other product-focused menstrual campaigns because I don't think they fundamentally challenge menstrual stigma," Bobel said. "Menstrual stigma is what sets in motion this necessity of menstrual concealment."

https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/health-wellness/2021/10/15/period-shame-problem-tampons-pads-not-only-solution/6060181001/

[FirstLight]

1. thank you for posting this...

Women's health is still used against them in so many ways...

We get told to lose weight
we get told to take antidepressants
we get painkillers, instead of biopsies

I had ovarian cysts and fibriods for years and my drs never took that into account when looking at my other chronic health issues, but it's all connected...

[Clash City Rocker]

2. To some extent it may just be a general distaste for talking about bodily fluids

“Cause nobody really likes your bodily fluids, y'know. Unless you keep them to yourself. People don't want them. Really, think of it. Any fluids of semi-fluids that you secrete or excrete or whatever. People don't wanna hear it. Earwax, blood, sweat, ‘Get it outta here, man!’ Sometimes they'll take your blood if they're in trouble, otherwise keep things inside; people want you to keep things inside.” - George Carlin

My wife never has trouble telling me about such issues in detail, although she wouldn’t mention it at a dinner party. She knows I lost all my squeamishness when our daughter was born. Once you hear the term “mucus plug” enough times, nothing can gross you out.

[Srkdqltr]

3. A little off topic but body fluid-ish. All the people who dont get "pimples " popped because

Of embarrassment and have to go on TV to get help.

[Backseat Driver]

5. I think there were other "fears" involved as their "problem"

grew in size and/or severity and caused undue attention and lack of self-esteem. Lipomas, abscesses, cystic acne, rhinophyma, and cysts are not simple "pimples." They can be quite debilitating or financially expensive to treat; clearly just covering up encapsulated skin infections or masses for years isn't smart, but we'd need to walk in their scared shoes as well. Many never made it a priority after a prior consultation, and many also had ineffective care in past years. Dermatology is still a specialty in which much is still unknown. And yes, there's some sort of weird satisfaction in others watching the ooze, globs of icky tissue, etc...be eradicated. Be kind.

[Backseat Driver]

4. The family dog had no general distaste for sanitary pads...

He'd find 'em, chew them up, and leave them in the living room. With only one small bathroom in the house, you'd think mom would get a covered waste can for herself and two menstruating daughters, but there was an entirely different agenda to that madness of making her daughters march those used/wrapped Kotex out to the kitchen, and the soaked undies or bedding to the basement. Trust me, it was no picnic either feeling that pain come on so suddenly and irregularly (by the calendar) and then the clotty piece of uterine lining the size of an apple passing from one's body during algebra class, quite non-absorbable into any variety of pad or past the tampon worn just in case. One night I sought mom out to ask to go to the family doctor about my menstrual difficulties thinking that I had a confidante, an "you can talk to me about anything" mom, but, I guess because the contraceptive pill was brand new and I did not yet drive a car, she replied in that catty way, "Are you sure you don't want to talk to me about something (else)?" as she brushed my request for medical consultation aside. I never spoke about reproductive processes to her ever again. I also made sure my daughters could call their doctor and take themselves to an appointment should they ever need to do so...I trusted them with their bodies!

[marble falls]

6. Advertisers. The same ones who came up with halitosis, ring around the collar, ...

https://saveourbones.com/big-pharma-invented-these-diseases-to-sell-drugs-osteoporosis-is-one-of-them/

[Jilly_in_VA]

7. I don't think so

Ever heard of menstrual huts, ritual impurity, the mikveh? Goes way back before advertisers. Women bleed but don't die.

[marble falls]

8. The leak isn't a problem until someone makes a product to prevent it.