Urmi Hossain, She/Her
Age 34
We just finished Ramadan—one of the holiest months for the Muslim community.
Women and men fast for 30 days, with no food or water from sunrise to sunset.
During those 30 days, women get about a week’s break when they are on their period. Women are not allowed to fast during this time, which means they can eat and drink as they normally would.
I started fasting the year I became a woman—the year I got my first period, 2003. Every Ramadan since then, I looked forward to my period week, because I knew it would be a short break from fasting. As a young teenager, you don’t fully understand the value of fasting; you just hope for a moment when you can eat again.
Back in 2003, when I first began fasting, everything was going smoothly until the week I had to stop because of my period. I thought I could finally eat —especially in front of my dad and my uncles—without any worries. But I quickly learned through my mom that even though I was on my period, I wasn’t allowed to eat in front of male individuals.
According to her, if I did, everyone would know that I was no longer fasting—and assume it was because of my period. Since then, I was expected to hide when it came to eating during my period in the month of Ramadan. It would be considered shameful if I went around the house—or even the city—and people who knew me saw me eating.
There was so much stigma around periods, even during Ramadan, that I couldn’t eat in peace without having to explain myself. Which brings me to this point: as women, we already deal with periods, cramps, and mood swings. If we are given a break from fasting during Ramadan, why are we still expected to hide that we are on our period?
Why don’t we normalize it by educating both men and women, so that women don’t feel the need to hide?
It has been 20 years since I started menstruating, and even now, as an adult, I still find myself hiding when it comes to eating during my period. In the office, surrounded by many non-Muslim colleagues, I get questions when I’m not fasting: “I thought you were fasting this week—what happened?”
I don’t expect non-Muslims to fully understand. But am I expected to explain myself every single time? It doesn’t matter if we are in 2003 or 2026—the stigma around having period is still shameful, no matter how natural it is for a woman. Even when we are allowed to eat during Ramadan because of our period, we still suffer—we can’t eat freely, without hiding, or without explaining ourselves.
p.s. Period Stories. Everyone has a story to tell. All stories are welcome, whether or not you get or will get a period. If you’d like to share a story, click here.