I Wrote This On My Period

Editor: Katherine Dollison

Have you ever been up at night thinking about why the world hates women so much? Yes? Same. Especially a menstruating woman. Luckily, I’ve entered a new chapter in my life where my menstrual cycle has graduated from a shameful burden to just a part of my life… and It’s been a long time coming. I’m working towards honoring and celebrating my time of the month. It isn’t easy unlearning the narrative that a menstrual cycle is a dirty secret. What helps me is understanding where some of these ideas came from. 

I was raised orthodox christian by my Eritrean-American family. When I was 13 years old, I went to the bathroom in my home and looked down at my hand and saw blood stained toilet paper. Once I stopped screaming in fear, my mother prepared me for the years ahead. I was told to be hygienic, cautious and discrete during my menstrual period. Later, I learned I could not attend church services or be in the presence of priests of the church because a woman who is menstruating is impure. *insert inverted smiling emoji* This is not uncommon in religion. Infact, many religions share the same, if not, similar beliefs. Menstrual Taboos Among Major Religions takes a look at where menstruating women exist in civilization. The religions mentioned in that article include Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Bhuddism and Hinduism. All of which put menstruating women under limitations. 

This IS NOT an anti-religion argument nor am I passing judgment on any of the religions mentioned. I personally believe that religion is a beautiful part of life that at the same time is not exempt from evolving along with humanity. Here are some of the highlights of what I learned: 

Judaism: In the middle ages, menstruating women were considered a physical danger to the men around them and were to be avoided. 

Christianity (Russian Orthodox): A menstruating woman’s gaze negatively affected the weather as well as repelled fish and game. 

Christianity: Menstruation plays a significant role in keeping women from attaining positions of authority. (Priests, pastors, etc.)

Hinduism: A menstruating woman may not cook or serve food as she is considered impure/unclean. Menstruation is referred to in some cases as a curse. 

Buddhism: It is thought that a menstruating woman attracts ghosts and is therefore a threat to themselves and others. 

Islam: A mensturating women is viewed as impure. They are not to recite prayers nor is she to touch Islamic holy texts. 

This goes without saying, but these are hilarious. Most importantly they’re outdated and ridiculous. I was impressed to learn that these religions come together on the idea of menstrual impurity. Again, this speaks more about people more than it does about religion. Once upon a time, a woman bled from her genitals and survived. A man could not comprehend why therefore intimidation ushers in outlandish claims that a woman’s body is defective. At least that’s how I see it. For the sake of the argument, let’s also note that these beliefs emerged during times where humans’ understanding of anatomy was limited. However, these beliefs have undoubtedly shaped our current approach to menstruation. 

Research conducted by THINX shows that over 40% of women have experienced menstrual-shaming and 12% mentioned that shaming came from family members. We’re still finding ways to make women feel ashamed of what their bodies naturally go through as well as accommodate those who do not understand how women’s bodies work. I would go into those details but some people didn’t even make it past the title of this article and that to me is a problem. 

Also, the taboos… yeah, we’re just going to have to cut all that out. There really is no room to perpetuate any impurity or shame with menstruation in this decade. We’re leaving it in 2020 with all the other unwanted events. Menstruation is powerful. It plays a role in reproduction (aka the very reason we are all living). If you were told otherwise it’s because men still want agency over women’s bodies. We have seen enough examples of that in media, politics and religion. We can’t erase history but we can point out the goofy shit. People were once certain that the world was flat and the sun revolved around it. A menstrual cycle is nothing less than sacred and honorable, and that’s on peridot.