Women’s Opinion on Menstruation
Women in the U.S., while not going through some of the hardships that some women around the world face, still seem to have quite a bit to deal with when talking about menstruation. Normally, the topic of menstruation is usually a topic that is kept “hush hush” within the American household, and it appears that even most women have adopted this “don’t ask, don’t tell” attitude. Why is this? When asking my sisters and mother why they may have negative views towards menstruation, I was met with responses that centered around their symptoms. Cramps, bloating, and bleeding were the reasons for them having a negative view on their period, but there didn’t seem to be any sort of embarrassment involved with it. However, this opinion is not shared with most other women within the U.S.
Why the Stigma?
In my personal opinion, the reason for menstruation being such a taboo topic may stem from multiple things. One, maybe it’s even the slight mention of blood that causes people to be squeamish and not want to talk about some things. Two, and the reason I think is the most probable, there isn’t a lot of general knowledge behind why menstruation occurs and what happens during it. This lack of knowledge trickles down to the very beginning when teenage girls experience it for the first time. a young girl experiences her period. At first, she isn’t aware of what’s going on and is terrified. Then, when surrounded by young boys who also don’t understand it at all, she decides to hide it in order to not cause a disturbance or disgust someone. Fast forward later on when the girl is now a woman and has a better understanding of what her menstrual cycle consists of, yet her male partner does not. This ignorance causes a misunderstanding and a lack of empathy for something that is generally out of the woman’s control due to it being natural.
All in all, this negative attitude towards menstruation eventually causes both girls and women to feel as though they need to hide the fact that they’re on their period, and may cause them to believe that them having their period is a burden to themselves and to others. As anyone may understand, it isn’t easy to believe that you have to “deal with something” that occurs naturally every month.
How Can We Fix It?
Education. Education. Education. The key to destroying a negative stigma is to educate young individuals so that they may grow up with knowledge about it so that they may not fear it. For women, tell young girls exactly what goes on and why it happens, and inform them that it isn’t something to get ashamed about due to it being a natural occurrence. On the flip side, inform boys that, while they may not go through it, understand that it is an important part of being a woman, and while they may not enjoy the idea of blood coming out of a vagina, they should be respectful of the natural process and attempt to look at it in a less negative light.