Hollywood Acknowledges Menstruation

The recent Oscars Ceremony made history as Hollywood acknowledged menstruation for the first time in history. The film “Period. End of Sentence” won Best Documentary Short Subject at the 91st Academy Awards.

The film highlights the stigma that surrounds periods in India and features the business of a pad making company called “Fly.”

Women in India face period poverty, meaning they do not have enough money to buy pads and tampons every month. They have to use cloth instead, which is highly dangerous because it can cause an infection.

The films depicts how men prevent women from going to work and laugh when mentioning menstruation. Periods in Indian society are often viewed as a repulsive subject, and women feel ashamed of themselves for having them.

Sophomore AnnMarie Sorenson believes the stigma is commonly seen in her community and school.

“With the way [our generation] has been raised, if you’re seen carrying a tampon its weird and people will judge you for it. I will have it in my sleeve or in my pocket, but why should I have to do that?” Sorenson said.

This is a common factor that contributes to the misconception of a period, which makes it uncomfortable for men to discuss.

Senior Greg Smart pointed out a few generalizations society associates with menstruation.

“There are a lot of [assumptions] that girls get super moody and upset and only eat chocolate when they get their periods, and it’s a weird subject to bring up when they are on their periods because I don’t want to make them uncomfortable,” said Smart.

Along with Smart, sophomore Devon McVicar notices the immaturity men have when it comes to women and their periods.

“Teenage guys tend to think of [menstruation] as gross, but that is very immature of them. A period is a natural thing that happens to every women, and it’s not like they can prevent it,” McVicar said.

“Get over it. Get over yourself. Stop being so immature and start understanding what happens to women more,” McVicar said.

The lack of education both genders receive from school systems and adults leads to ignorance and lack of discussion on a topic that affects our mothers, daughters, sisters, and girlfriends.

Senior Nick Franklin believes the lack of education and conversation of the menstrual cycle is a huge contribution to people feeling uncomfortable and awkward.

“I know my sister isn’t going to talk about it with me. I think that [periods] should be more comfortable to talk about because it is apart of human nature,” said Franklin.

“I think it’s hard for people to talk about periods because it involves parts of the womens’ body and reproductive cycle, which is always challenging to talk openly about.”

Junior Macy Rowland encourages women to walk with their products freely in their hands and be open about periods.

“Women should definitely not be embarrassed or hide their pads and tampons when they go to the bathrooms, I walk around with it in my hand,” Rowland said.

“I know other girls are not going to judge other girls, but guys cannot judge women because they don’t have a period, and if they say it’s gross, they have never experienced it and therefore may not say that to me or any other woman.”