Menstruation is a taboo subject. We get our periods every 28 days. We bleed. We use tampons and pads and we break out and get cramps and get into foul moods and even so, we are never supposed to mention it. Lucky for us, a new hashtag on Twitter — #livetweetyourperiod — is looking to change all that.
The results of #livetweetyourperiod are hilarious and spot on, so to speak. And they also lift the veil on something all women go through, but few of us really discuss. Why? It’s natural, after all. I have always believed that if men had their periods, we would be talking about it a lot more.
Here are some of the best:
My uterus is reenacting the scene from Alien where the alien rips through the stomach, but more bloody and painful #LiveTweetYourPeriod
— GetLeaving45 (@lessoninleaving) June 22, 2015
I want to go to class but I would probably roll into a ball on the floor and groan in pain for five hours aka no thanks #livetweetyourperiod
— via getty🌹 (@deadlydapp) June 18, 2015
https://twitter.com/Deanna_RVA/status/611370878773907456
That moment when you stand up and there's a rush of blood and you hope & pray it didn't stain your pants. #livetweetyourperiod
— Veronica McDonald🗣 (@Purify_toast17) June 12, 2015
It’s not like these are particularly clever or shocking. But they are true. They are real. It’s always struck me as odd the way that men speak so readily about masturbation and sex and their bodies, but women keep it all close to the vest. As though we don’t use vibrators. Or poop. Or bleed once a month.
More:Model suing tampon company after she lost her leg to toxic shock
I say, let’s all speak our various truths. Women should not be exempt from being real when it comes to the way out bodies exist in the world. Our job is not to make men more comfortable by hiding our tampon purchases and feeling shame about our body’s various functions.
We can make babies, people. We can carry them nine months, push them out and nurture them with milk made from our own breasts. That is mad cool. And our periods are half the reason. We should be loud and proud about that shite. We make people!
More: What your period can tell you about your body
My period is about to start in the next week or so and I am craving chocolate and carbs (and salt). I am bloated and crampy and feel badly about the world and everything in it. It will pass. Next week, I’ll be flowing and happy and back to normal. And the week after that, I will be wanting to have as much sex as possible because I will be fertile. Is that TMI? Probably. But it’s also true. I am ruled by my cycle and I am female and I am not ashamed of these truths. You shouldn’t be, either. And I hope my daughters are happy with the magic of their bodies when the time comes, too.
Periods are so cool. And even if they aren’t “cool,” they happen. They are real. We all need to know that.
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