Growing up? It’s a girl thing!
Periods are something women and girls have had for thousands of years; it’s the reason you and I are even here. And yet around the world, there’s still an element of shame associated with a woman’s menstrual cycle.
Menstruation is linked with smells, mess, blood, gore, impurity and disgust, hate, love, hunger, happiness, sadness and a lot of mood swings.
This leads to women suffering in silence and hiding away from what some deem a “dirty secret”.
This is in part why a recent report has called for boys, as well as girls, to learn about periods and the menstrual cycle in schools. In a recent survey in England, discussing menstruation is technically part of the curriculum in science. Despite this, 15% of the young people said they were taught nothing at school about menstruation.
And for many girls, this lack of support in the classroom, and for women, the bid to make them feel shame in offices, have led to feelings of disgust and shame around the whole subject. Some girls are even missing school because they cannot afford sanitary products. All of this goes way beyond embarrassment or bullying.
While the idea of tackling this head on and talking to boys in schools, and men in colleges and offices sounds good in theory, but it’s actually tough to implement.
From my experience as a health worker, it is difficult to discuss sensitive issues such as menstruation with boys and young men. Much more needs to be done if we are to make our women and girls feel safe and secure in what is a pure and natural biological process.