Dystopic literature defined the 2000s and 2010s. The era of Twilight, Supernatural, Shadowhunters, The Hunger Games, Divergent and more happened right around when I started reading young adult fiction in middle school. Even as a kid, I recall wondering, “What are these heroines doing about their period?” Like, was Katniss just free bleeding while fighting for her life, or maybe was she just so malnourished that her cycle wasn’t coming anymore? How did Edward Cullen never eat Bella when she was bleeding once a month?
Last week, one of my sorority sisters pulled me into our TV room and asked me to watch a scene from their favorite show: The Last of Us. The scene in question answered all of my preteen questions about menstruation during the apocalypse.
In The Last of Us, the story follows a teenage girl named Ellie who might just be immune from the zombies in their world. In episode three of the show, Ellie is seen scouring an abandoned convenience store with her companion, Joel. While Joel explores the cellar and looks for zombies to fight, Ellie intently looks through the debris when the audience hears her whisper, “F*ck yeah.” We then see her holding a dusty, grimy, partially-crushed box of tampons.
We never witness this strong female protagonist being embarrassed about her menstruation. She never hides the tampons or quickly stashes them in a bag, not even in front of the overly masculine persona of Joel. This scene felt so refreshing and empowering to watch. The showrunners could have easily written Ellie to find a first-aid kit, antibiotics or water. Finding the tampons nods to the fact that managing your period is just as human as needing food and ammunition in the zombie apocalypse. It effectively combatted period stigma in one of the most-watched shows in pop culture right now.
My sorority sisters became even more excited during episode six. This episode of The Last of Us showed the DivaCup. For those who may not know, a DivaCup is one of the most popular brands of menstrual cups. A menstrual cup is a small silicone cup-shaped device that women can insert. The cup then catches menstrual blood throughout the day and allows women to menstruate without worrying about the toxic shock syndrome that the chemicals in tampons could cause.
In this episode, Ellie and Joel find friends at a commune. An older woman gifts Ellie a haircut, new clothes and toiletries (including the infamous DivaCup.) Unlike at the convenience store, Ellie’s eyes do not immediately light up, but instead, we see a slight face of confusion. She reads the instruction pamphlet before realizing what the cup is intended for. At this, she then squishes the cup and exclaims, “gross,” with a robust smile.
The usage of a menstrual cup just makes sense during the zombie apocalypse. Unlike a tampon or pad, these would be reusable and won’t expire. Ellie may need to find some boiling water to clean the cup every now and then but has found a sustainable tool for managing her period. Again, the screenwriters don’t create a big fuss about hiding the menstrual supplies from Joel or the other men.
Even more interesting, the showrunner of The Last of Us, Craig Mazin, explained why the screenwriters didn’t have a womanly bonding scene between Ellie and the woman who gifted the cup to her. Mazin described how they intentionally did “very little hand-holding” with the audience about defining the menstrual cup. They included the pamphlet with the words “menstrual solution” so audience members could Google it for more information but did not overtly describe its usage. Mazin elaborated, saying, “We do this all the time in shows with things like guns. People don’t know how to load guns, and we don’t explain it to them. Why should we have to explain this?”
The screenwriters answered my questions about what women do in post-apocalyptic worlds about their periods. They sparked immediate conversation throughout my sorority about periods in general. My sorority has always had menstrual supplies like tampons and pads available in the bathroom for anyone in need. It’s never been a topic we shy away from per se, but this show encouraged a whole new side of the conversation we had never indulged before. We talked at length about the health benefits and side effects that each of us had experienced from our period products. We talked about whether any of us had ever used a menstrual cup and how to clean them. We paused the episode and began researching what the best period products to use are. It was a whole new definition of sisterhood I had never seen before.
The Last of Us showed women worldwide a shameless perspective of menstruation and inspired the women in my life to learn a little more about our own cycles. For that, I am grateful.
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