I’ll start this off by apologising for the terrible puns that feature in this blog, I just can’t help myself! However, all jokes aside, it’s time to have a serious talk about periods. It’s a taboo topic that many people shy away from discussing, but why? Menstruation is a natural process that happens to people every month, and it’s about time that we got bloody serious about it.
I’ll start this off by apologising for the terrible puns that feature in this blog, I just can’t help myself! However, all jokes aside, it’s time to have a serious talk about periods. It’s a taboo topic that many people shy away from discussing, but why? Menstruation is a natural process that happens to people every month, and it’s about time that we got bloody serious about it.
Recently, Jasmine, Lauren and I attended the NUS Wales Women’s Conference in Merthyr Tydfil, where we were lucky to get the chance to hear from Chella Quint; an American comedian who dedicates her time to spreading positive messages about periods, under the hashtag #PeriodPositive. She spoke about how the media have painted a negative image of periods and how in the olden days, women would wear red petticoats when on their period so as to not ruin their lighter coloured ones with stains. However, they were not bothered at all by this; they just put on their red petticoats and carried on with the ‘flow’ of their day to day lives. It wasn’t until advertising for sanitary products began that women started to become so ashamed of their periods – the media makes them out to be as if they’re something to be embarrassed of. It started as a sexist selling point to get women to buy the products, because if they didn’t they would be an embarrassment to their husbands. Now in the 21st Century, everywhere you look sanitary products are screaming the message that periods should be discreet and un-heard of; offering up “quiet” wrapping so that nobody can hear you open it and simple product designs to cover up the fact that you’re using a sanitary product. Needless to say that Chella has opened my eyes to just how much of an impact advertising has had on the way that we talk about periods; and I’m not ovary-acting!
Well Aber, it’s time to put a stop to it. Whilst I’m not saying that we should all go out and purchase red petticoats (unless you’d like to do that of course), we need to stop being ashamed of our periods, because we’re going to have them every month for a very long part of our lives, whether we like it or not (I’m sorry for pointing that out, it makes me sad too)! Before my time comes to an end as your Welfare Officer, I will be working on kick starting the #PeriodPositive campaign around campus, so that we can erase the stigma that sits on our monthly cycle and feel less embarrassed when Mother Nature strikes. If you’d like to get involved in some way, I’d love to hear from you! You can email me on union.welfare@aber.ac.uk or pop in to my office in the SU for a chat.
I’m also really pleased to announce that, as well as the free condoms that we offer at Aber SU, we now have a stash of tampons, pads and liners for you to take when you’re hit with a moment of need! The products (including the condoms which were previously available at reception) will be situated at the bottom corridor of the SU, near to where all of the SU staff live in their offices (just through the doors at the back of the Underground) and will be available for you to take for as long as the building is open. I just ask that you be respectful and only take what you need, so that there’s enough to go around. We’re also hoping to look in to providing more sustainable products in the future, such as re-usable cups, however with the dreaded sanitary product tax we may be in for a difficult battle with those, but watch this space!
Thanks to:
