Period Power

February 08, 2019

Period Power

Periods.

So many people have them, yet so little people actually talk about them. So many people even have trouble talking about them to their mom or doctor, when those are the people who can provide you with the most help.

Recently, I read the new book Period Power by Nadya Okamoto. I read the book in only a few days because it was so fascinating. For the last seven years, I have menstruated every month but I had never given much thought to how so many other people have gone through such similar experiences. Periods, in a way, unite so many people through a common experience. Every person who menstruates has a unique experience, but there is always something that can connect us all.

In the book, Nadya discusses historical and social aspects of periods that I have not considered. While I have always been fascinated by the science of menstruation, as I have studied the human body in anatomy classes at university; I have not dug much deeper than that. The book recounts the evolution of period products, a topic I actually have looked into before. I am someone with a fairly heavy period, which got me wondering how people survived periods before more modern inventions. Personally, the whole pad girdle situation would have not worked for me, but as little as one hundred years ago; that is all women had.

Nadya explained how products evolved from contraptions like the pad girdle to our modern day tampons and many other products. It is truly interesting how these products, in the grand scheme of it all, are a fairly recent invention. The tampon was only put out onto the market in the 1920s. Open discussion of periods and period products still was fairly quiet, up into the 1960s. Thought, in the 1940s, Disney and Kotex created a educational video about periods that Nadya mentions in the book. I was curios to see what this video was like, and I actually found it online. While there are some aspects that obviously show it being outdate, I find it really amazing that it even exists.

Video link

Products specifically catered to women's’ menstrual needs have existed for a small fraction of history, but periods have existed for all of human history. I thought this could be a really interesting commentary on the social structure we have seen across history. For so long, something like menstrual health was likely not considered a problem on the forefront of people’s minds, because it was a problem for women, not men.

Period Power discusses how periods have long been ignored, because women have also long been ignored. In our modern age, the tide has been turning for decades but there is still so much farther to go. Women have been oppressed in many a patriarchal society, and with that pressure came oppression of their problems. Women were trained to not discuss their concerns, to disregard them as unimportant. But with the onslaught of social movements and science and technology evolution, the times changed. Open discussion of periods became more and more common as society evolved to be more equal.

Even with all this change, today periods can still be considered a taboo topic. From the time we start adolescence into adulthood, periods are a hushed topic. In elementary school when kids are presented with new information about their changing bodies, girls and boys are separated, suggesting that boys do not need to know about the changes girls go through. This segregation can create uncertainty and animosity between the girls and boys as they grow up. Nadya discusses this as well in her book, how girls are taught from a young age to keep their periods to themselves, as if they are some dirty little secret. Girls are taught to endure the taunts from boys about PMS, being overly emotional because of their period, the pain of periods and keep it all to themselves. This culture around periods is still something that needs to change, but I truly believe starting conversations about it, like this book does, is one of the most important paths we can take to change.

One of the most surprising things that I learned in this book is the economics around periods. Did you know period products are taxed as “luxury items” in most states? What is luxurious about sticking a contraption of cotton into your vagina to soak up blood from your shedding uterus? Not much. Yet the male lawmakers believe otherwise. I would almost be able to understand this tax from a business standpoint, except products like viagra are not taxed. Why is there more priority in erectile dysfunction than basic hygiene products?

Though I have only been menstruating for seven-ish years so far, I know I have spent an incredible amount of money on period products. I’m a heavy bleeder, so I have always gone through boxes of tampons pretty fast. If I use one box for one periods, that’s approximately already 84 boxes of tampons I’ve used in my life. When added up that’s likely over $600, not even accounting for the additional pads and liners I have also used. I could be buying my university textbooks with that money, but instead it has gone to essential period products. Luckily, I have never had to worry about my access to period products. My family has always been able to provide them for me. If I ever needed a new box of tampons, it was as simple as sending my mom a text and asking her to pick some up on the way home, but many are not so luncy. Period poverty is an incredible problem here and all over the world. There are many homeless or poor people that do not have access to these basic hygiene needs. Many resort to using unsanitary means or even just free bleeding because they have no other options. Nadya’s passion for this problem really inspired me to think more about it. Next time I have the means to donate to a charity, especially ones that benefits homeless people, I shouldn’t forget about the importance of basic period hygiene. Period poverty is a problem across the world, but hopefully as the conversation about it increases, the problem can decrease.

Overall, I learned so much throughout this book, but I think my favorite part was simply the basic fact that it starts a conversation. Just the title alone can get people to talk about periods in a way they haven’t before. Periods are a basic fact of life, that half of us all experience. Nadya shares her experience with periods, not only her own but everyone she has encountered, to start this conversation among people. I would love if more people were open about their periods, especially for young girls when they first start. Starting your period can be a scary and unfamiliar experience for young girls, so conversations like these can help so much. So because of this, I thought I would share my period story so far. If even one person reads this all and learns something or maybe is able to feel a little less alone, that is all that matters.

I started my period at age 13 (approximately, I don’t remember exactly because it was right around my birthday and I can’t remember if it was before or after). Honestly, I don’t remember a whole lot of that day. I had just woken up and when I went to the bathroom, I saw blood. I remember being scared, and for a moment I thought I was really sick or something. One of my best friends had started her period two years prior to me though, so I knew what it was. In the few months before, my mom had also mentioned to me that my period might be coming. I didn’t know exactly what was happening inside, but I knew I would start bleeding once a month. When I started, I told my younger sister to run and go get my mom. My mom was a lot calmer about it all than I was. She went and got a little bag full of period products and a book about periods. I remember that months before I started, the kids clothing store Justice had handed out these little period prep bags to every young girl that bought stuff (shoutout to them for that! I think that is such an amazing idea!). That morning my mom showed me how to put a pad in my underwear and explained the basics of what a period will feel like and how the cycle comes every month, then sent me off to school. I can’t remember exactly, but I don’t think I made it that whole school day. It was a big state standardized testing day, so I wanted to be there for the tests, but I was really uncomfortable. I remember my English teacher coming up to me during a break and asking if I was okay, apparently my discomfort was written all over my face. I told her I didn’t feel good and she suggested I go home. Even at a younger age, I was stressed about missing a test, but she told me not to worry and go get some rest. Even years later, I still remember her being so kind to me that day and it really made me feel better.

The first few months of my period were not fun. I have never had significant problems with cramps or other symptoms, but since the very beginning I have had long and heavy periods. For the first three or four cycles, I used only pads. And oh my god, that was terrible. I would have to change my pad around five times a day at least to be comfortable, and I hated the feeling of free bleeding on the pad. I felt like I couldn’t do anything active at all, without worrying about leaking all onto my clothes. Some people are fine using only pads, but I knew this was not going to work for me long term. I was always uncomfortable, especially during sleep. I remember waking myself up like every two hours while I slept in order get up and and go to the bathroom. As summer ended, I knew I would not be able to go to school like this. Before school started, I wanted to ask my mom how to use tampons. While my mom was really open about talking about period stuff, I was so scared to ask her. When I finally did, it was a pretty simple thing. She explained that the applicator goes into your vagina, which doing so may hurt a little the first few times, then you can push the cotton part into your vagina and remove the applicator. At the time, this process was slightly terrifying, but I knew it would better than wearing a pad all the time. Without tampons, I think my period during my high school years would have been significantly worse. It took me some time to adjust to the use of tampons, but I felt a lot better after getting over that learning curve. I was still someone who had to change her tampon every five hours or so because of a heavier flow, but it was a great improvement from the pads. Now, I’m trying to venture from tampons to a menstrual cup. I have only tried it once for a few hours, but I am really interested in getting it down because I am tired of spending money on tampons every month, and it is better for the environment. (I may do a full blog on my menstrual cup experience in a few months, once I get the hang of it.)

Over the years, my periods got easier. I never had too many side effects, only occasional cramping and it was rarely enough to hold me back from normal daily activities. There were a few times in the eighth grade that I went home from school with cramps, or because I did not have any tampons with me. My school did offer free tampons and pads, but they were only available in the PE room or the nurse. Something that I will always remember is when during one of these times that I went to the nurse, I asked to go home because of cramps. The nurse that worked there told me that cramps were not a good enough reason to go home and that I was not really sick. My 13 year old self did not want to talk back to an adult, so I just left. I went to the bathroom and called my mom. She was outraged, she called the school and told off the nurse for trying to make a decision like that for me. The nurse thought it was her place to tell me how my pain felt. My mom’s best friend, who is like another mom to me, came to the school to pick me up. She is someone who is incredibly kind to everyone, but I remember even her being really mad at that nurse too.

The only major problem I have had with my period over the years is that naturally my period tends to last seven to ten days, with a relatively heavy flow the whole time. When I did ask my doctor about it, she told me that every girl has a different flow and it just so happens that I have a heavier and longer flow. That fact kinda sucked, but I knew I just had to deal with it. At 18, I finally went onto birth control to help regulate the length of my periods. It took a couple different brands and formulas of birth control to find one that really made a difference, but once I did it; it significantly helped. My periods still tend to be on the longer side, usually 5 days, but now they are much lighter.

And that is most of my period story. Overall, my period has never been a huge problem for me. I have had ups and downs as I have adjusted, but it’s never been a huge terrible things for me. I attribute a lot of that to who open my mom was about it, especially when I started. I still saw a lot “period taboo” throughout high school, though. There were still boys who made jokes about PMSing and periods. And even today, we have a president who blamed the behavior of a woman on her period, saying she had blood coming out of her wherever.

I think it is direly important that periods evolve from being a taboo topic. Men and women alike should know the basic anatomy of the human body, and everyone should respect how it works. Talking about periods shouldn’t make people uncomfortable, when it is just a natural part of life.

This may just be one blog in a small corner of the internet, but I hope you learned something from this post. I hope you consider trying to be more open about your period, if you have one.

Lastly, thank you Nadya Okamoto for writing this book. You truly are a Period Warrior.

Thank you for reading.