What’s the Menstrual Movement and Why Should You Care?
Despite over 2 billion women menstruating worldwide, menstruation is still stigmatized. Let’s trace the origins of menstrual stigma, how it led to the rise of menstrual activism, and what the menstrual movement looks like today.
History of the Menstrual Stigma
We can trace period stigma back to the days of the Old Testament. Leviticus 15:19-33 says that during her menstrual period, a woman becomes unclean and contaminates the furniture around her. She is only able to rejoin society and become “clean” after seven days. A variety of cultures around the world held beliefs that women should seclude themselves while menstruating.
This reinforced the belief that menstruation was something dirty and contaminating and led to menstrual stigma and taboo. To this day, there are a variety of terms to avoid directly even saying menstrual cycle, with phrases such as a visit from Aunt Flo, shark week, that time of the month, and more.
The first time the word “period” was ever uttered on TV was in a 1985 Tampax commercial starring Courtney Cox. Though groundbreaking for the time, the commercial still regards periods as unclean by focusing on tampons as a cleaner more comfortable option. Thirty-five years later in 2020 the first commercial used red liquid to display a pad’s absorbency instead of blue liquid from a test tube aired!
How Menstrual Stigma Hurts
Menstrual taboo and stigma allow misinformation to propagate. Girls and women are believed to be crazy, irrational, and moody due to their raging hormones and PMS (premenstrual syndrome). The misinformation and misogyny around menstruation leads to women who feel less confident in themselves and ashamed of their bodies. Menstruation is already stressful enough without the added fears of can someone smell my or detect me being on my period? Can they see my pad? Will I bleed through my clothes? Am I right or am I overreacting because I’m on my period?
Because of the period taboo, women might be afraid to speak out when they notice something abnormal about their periods. Instead of asking for help, they might choose to stay quiet out of shame. This could girls and women suffering in silence instead of getting diagnoses that might help them. 79% of girls and young women polled in a 2018 study reported symptoms about their period that concerned them but hadn’t reached out for medical assistance.
The Birth of the Menstrual Movement
The menstrual movement began in the second wave of feminism during the 1970s. One hallmark of 1970s feminism was a rejection of body shaming and menstrual stigma prior generations of women endured. In 1972, the non-profit the Boston Women’s Health Book Collective (which still exists today under the name Our Bodies Ourselves) published Our Bodies, Ourselves, a book that depicted menstruation as a natural, healthy process. The book’s goal was to empower women through educating them on all aspects of women’s sexual and reproductive health including menstruation, menopause, birth control, sexual health, and more.
The Menstrual Movement Today
The menstrual movement of the present inherited the desire to empower and inspire women through knowledge just like the women in the 1970s. Today’s menstrual movement focuses on a few key things like menstrual equity, breaking the stigma, and menstrual education.
The goal of menstrual equity is to ensure menstrual hygiene products are accessible and affordable for all. In a 2019 survey, 35% of women regularly or occasionally sacrifice something else within their budget to afford menstrual hygiene products. These women are experiencing period poverty, something that makes what can be an already stressful time even more overwhelming.
Menstrual education is another key goal of the menstrual movement. Educating girls and women on menstruation, reproductive health, and wellbeing will help to empower them to make the best decisions for their health.
The key to breaking menstrual stigma is to talk about it! The more we talk about it, using the correct terms, the less taboo menstruation becomes. Acknowledging menstruation directly will help others feel more comfortable starting conversations and asking for help when they need it.
- Jasmine Morris
References
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“Committee Report No. 8 – Fewo (44-1) – House of Commons of Canada.” Committee Report No. 8 – FEWO (44-1) – House of Commons of Canada, 2023, www.ourcommons.ca/documentviewer/en/44-1/FEWO/report-8/page-39#:~:text=In%20Canada%2C%20results%20from%20a,menstrual%20poverty%20or%20period%20poverty.
Cotropia, Christopher A. Law’s Ability to Further the “Menstrual Movement,” University of Richmond – School of Law, 2021, scholarship.richmond.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2643&context=law-faculty-publications.
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Okamoto, Nadya. “Why Talking about Menstruation Is Actually a Good Thing.” Teen Vogue, Teen Vogue, 25 Oct. 2018, www.teenvogue.com/story/period-power-a-manifesto-for-the-menstrual-movement-nadya-okamoto-excerpt.
“Out for Blood: Feminine Hygiene to Menstrual Equity.” Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University, Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University, 2022, www.radcliffe.harvard.edu/event/2022-out-for-blood-feminine-hygiene-to-menstrual-equity-exhibition#:~:text=The%201970s%20women’s%20movement%20embraced,pride%20as%20unique%20and%20powerful.
O’Brien, Claire. “The History of the Period Movement.” Active Iron, Active Iron, 22 Feb. 2024, www.activeiron.com/us/blog/the-history-of-the-period-movement/.
Sharfin, Sami. “What Is the Menstrual Movement?” Aunt Flow, Go Aunt Flow, 15 Jan. 2025, goauntflow.com/blog/what-is-the-menstrual-movement/.
