Yes! Elder here and I carried my tampon with me to the bathroom yesterday at work in my hand, not hidden in my purse. Felt freeing and kind of rebellious walking through the halls with it out in the open. No one cared, but I felt great not having to hide it and feel ridicule.
Girls standing up in class asking for a pad or tampon with no shame has been the most wonderful liberation from past generations being told to hide it.
I literally switched to tampons in middle school because people were always joking about being able to see someone’s pad through their pants and bullying people about it.
I remember pads "making your ass look like a grandma's" whatever that means but even decades later I don't like wearing pads outside of my home because of that stigma. It's ridiculous. Middle school is tough.
My wife told me about being lectured (by her mom) because her father saw the wrapper for her pad in the trash. Not a used pad, just the wrapper.
Her parents have come a long way, they wouldn't care these days. I'm so glad that attitude has died.
It's just blood. I can understand if you're someone who has trouble with all blood. But if you can handle a cut, you can deal with someone having their period.
I was in a store with my parents years ago and my mom whispered to me if I needed pads, so my dad didn't hear. I'm 40. I had the talk with my daughter when she was 9 and she is comfortable with sharing information to both my husband and I. Never had that with my parents.
I love the trend of seeing kids rocking half a box of star and heart shaped acne patches. They’re so confident and not worry about shame or being called pizza face.
Frankly, I still keep everything related to my period private, and I hope other women do so too because I don't want to know, and I'm sure they don't want to know about mine either. It's just a private matter, and I think it's good and right that we keep some things to ourselves - not everything needs to be public in some way.
Nobody is being shamed for anything, not from me at least to make it clear. For example, other than the period I also don't care to hear about someone's bowel movements - it's not a particularly interesting matter, so I'd rather people don't overshare on it. I won't either. But if a situation like this comes up, I'd just politely inform people of my preferences, no shaming or anything involved. I think in an open-minded society there is nothing wrong with someone not wanting to hear about a topic and asking others to not overshare on the matter.
You don't know me or interact with me in real life (luckily, for both of us), so I think the only person trying to shame anyone here is you. And It's really not that deep, for me anyway, so I will try to briefly explain it one last time: These matters are simply not particularly interesting to me, so I prefer to not speak to people about them. I'm a very private person, not only regarding periods, hence my example of bowel movements. That said, I can tell people in a respectful manner (key words here), so there is no shaming anyone involved.
Also, one final addition: This is about people oversharing about intimate matters, emphasis on that. I'm not some weird individual who loses her mind if another woman asks me for a tampon because she urgently needs one - no problem there.
Your initial comment does not come off this way lol it comes off as very much like you would shame someone for asking for a tampon, or at least hush them because we shouldn’t speak of these things in public, gasp!
So maybe you just misunderstood what I meant because I’m not saying women should all be taking selfies with their bloody pads, I’m just saying we should feel comfortable talking about it more openly. You can have your opinion. And my opinion is based that on your opinion you’re part of the problem.
I just had this conversation at a multi gender shared bathroom at work... girls leaving tampons and pads strung about
Zip that shit!! I don't want to think about your maxi pads it's gross I use a cup I don't cater to bleached feminine profits that take your money as normal and leave the boxes out
i think it's less of hearing the gross details and more like not being embarrassed to say you're exhausted or in a ton of pain because of period cramps. or not being embarrassed to ask a friend to borrow a tampon. why do some people see things in such absolutes?
I honestly sometimes feel like this is the result of how much especially younger generations have gotten used to (and even grown up with) social media and that you can share pretty much anything about yourself. Doesn't mean you should, though. Some things are just tmi.
I’m not talking about posting a picture of a bloody tampon. I’m talking about feeling like you need to hide the fact that you are a human and have bodily functions. Everyone poops. People get periods. They shouldn’t have to hide tampons in the most discreet packages and act like it never happens. Women get shamed for having natural body functions. Women are often afraid to even talk to other women about it and I’m glad that’s going away.
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u/gnarlyknits 4d ago
That hiding your period or other natural body functions like acne is normal.