Shedding our stigma

A few weeks ago, a small art installation made of tampons and menstrual pads suspended from strings stood beside the bus stop on Abele Quad. An initiative by The Feminist Make Space, the sculpture encouraged students to pause, reflect and ask questions to combat the stigma surrounding menstrual health. In light of President-elect Donald J. Trump’s comments on breastfeeding and allusions to a reporter’s period affecting her job performance, candid conversations about women and women’s health seem particularly necessary. While cisgender women are not the only people who menstruate (some transgender men and non-binary individuals do as well), the gendered history associated with how we address menstrual health as a society foregrounds a necessity to open dialogue on campus about this topic.

Projects like the art installation by The Feminist Make Space can be shocking to students since our society often demands we address menstrual health in a euphemistic manner. Phrases like “time of the month” and “time in the red tent” have ostensibly replaced any straightforward declarations of the monthly shedding of uterine lining. Because many cultures across the globe validate some sort of taboo surrounding periods, most Duke students have been exposed to a stigmatized discussion of women’s health. This reluctance to talk openly about menstrual health extends to the way feminine hygiene products like tampons and pads are packaged, sold and bought in our society.

The inappropriate handling of women’s health does not end with unnecessarily discreet conversations about the monthly period, however. A lack of education about menstrual health can lead some to believe that the emotional side effects of a period are particularly damaging to women. This perpetuates the myth that the period inhibits a woman’s inability to think or act rationally, leading many to conflate a period with emotional instability.

The ramifications of an overwhelmingly skewed narrative of disgust surrounding menstruation relegates women to a category of the “other.” It normalizes men’s bodily functions and presents women’s bodily functions as unusual. For many women, these sentiments can be internalized at a young age, contributing to a lifetime of negativity surrounding completely natural processes. Many women have their cycles presented as demeaning punchlines and their emotional changes weaponized against them. We hold a double standard and often sexualize females but do not truly discuss them. As a result, in many ways, uteruses and periods are mystified.

Educating ourselves about our own bodies and the health and bodies of others is an essential step toward demystifying reproductive health. Those who do not menstruate should push toward a greater understanding about female bodily functions and definitely should not be repulsed during anyone else’s discussions about the subject. Organizations like the Feminist Make Space, the Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity and the Women’s Center provide established spaces for students to engage with women’s health with experts and other students in a constructive manner. These organizations work hard to dispel myths about menstrual health and other bodily functions. However, they cannot counter the toxic narratives and hypersensitivity we have been exposed to our entire lives by themselves. We must all take ownership to discard the euphemisms we utilize, confront our own misconceptions and prevent the mystification of women’s bodies.