Everybody has a story. Share yours.
Ending the stigma and shame surrounding periods is one of the most important steps in making lasting change and achieving equity. The more we talk about our experiences, and get comfortable talking about them, the better off we all will be.
We invite you to submit your “ps,” your Period Story for a feature on our blog, “The Spot.”
Please feel free to interpret a “period story” in your own way. Stories might focus on a first-period experience, painful periods, or even what you are thinking if you have yet to get it. Many of you will recall a funny or even embarrassing situation. Others will want to offer a warning by providing a story of personal health or financial hardship. We welcome and are grateful for stories from people of all genders. Your period experience does not have to come from the act of getting a period yourself.
The point of this is to share our experiences as a way to de-stigmatize menstruation, teach, laugh, and simply celebrate this amazing thing some of our bodies do.
Please note:
*Pieces are subject to edits for clarity and for space constraints.
**We will never, ever share your email address. We ask for it just in case we would like to clarify something or we want to invite you to write for us again in the future.
Finally Seeing Red
By Brianna Halek, Age 34 I remember feeling so smart when in the 5th grade, the girls were split up from the boys, each group set up to watch a video on what to expect during puberty. I had already gotten my first period and other body changes. It was a roll-my-eyes...
Teachers’ Lounge
By K. Wood, Age 74 My story and the feelings connected are distant but still with me today. I am 74 years young. I was the only girl in my elementary school having her period. I was eleven years old. If my period started or I needed to change my pad I would be...
What “Choice” Means to Me
By Hazel, Age 30 At 29 years old I made the personal decision to have my tubes removed. I know it's an iffy subject as some women can't get pregnant or have to go through horrible treatments to get help with it. But it taught me so much about the process and myself....
p.s. Seeing Red in Reading
During the beginning of the school year, in mid-September, I was at school. I'd had my period for about three months. I had thought my period had ended the night before. I was in Reading when I felt a drip. "Can't be anything," I thought. By the time Reading was over,...
p.s. Public Pool Period
One time I was swimming in a public pool, and my tampon got accidentally pulled out, and they had to evacuate the whole pool. It was mortifying. 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...
p.s. Red-Washed Jeans
One day in junior year, I felt like looking nice for once. I wore white jeans because my period had ended a day ago (or at least that’s what I thought). In calc, first class of the day, I had to take a difficult test. During the test, I was already stressed because I...
p.s. Boyfriend Bail Out
When I was 16, I slept at my boyfriend’s house for the weekend. I was quite surprised to wake up Saturday morning to the realization that I had gotten my period and stained all of their good guest room sheets! I wracked my brain about how I could possibly launder them...
p.s. Period Stories
Every one of us has a story to tell. About... 🔴A first period. 🔴How our periods do not align with the gender with which we identify. 🔴That ridiculously embarrassing time... 🔴The moment we realized menstruation was a superpower 💪🏼 🔴How our perspectives have changed...
p.s. Dog + Trash = Disaster
My college boyfriend and I would often spend weekends together with his family at their house. We would always have a big lunch together with his parents and siblings on Saturday afternoons. One weekend I had my period, and when I woke up Saturday morning, I wrapped...
