Dear Tampons,
I used to be afraid of you in high school. You terrified me. The possibility of toxic shock syndrome? Shoving something up into my body to fester there and collect blood? God, no. I was having none of your bullshit. As I got older, however, I became fucking fed up with not being able to do fun stuff—like swim or wear leggings—while on my period without a giant fucking woman diaper on display for the world to see.
Goddamit, tampons, you solve all of those problems. Because of you, I can swim, I can wear leggings, I can wear thongs or other things my mother would label as “not really underwear.” I actually feel really empowered when I wear you because I’m not totally giving up other things I love during my period. Thanks to you soaking up the blood in my vagina, I can lift weights or do squats.
Like, do non-menstruating people, like cisgender guys, really realize how shitty having a period is? You literally bleed out of your body. You feel like 1,000 knives are shooting your lower abdomen. Yeah, yeah, I know the whole “it can’t be that bad” thing, but there have been instances where scientists hook y’all up to a machine that stimulates period cramps and you cry in pain, sissies (sorry). Sometimes, us menstruating individuals get such bad cramps that we get physically ill. I swear, having a period stinks. And before you, tampons, I couldn’t do a lot of things on my period, which was a real downer.
I feel like having a period and a uterus is such a defining part of my life, and sometimes, it feels great. Like, my body can sustain life and help it grow. How rad is that? But, also, for most of my adult life, every month I will bleed out of my vagina and have painful cramps. That’s not super fun. Still, there’s something really cool about knowing your body can do something so amazing.
So, tampons, thank you for helping me feel like I can do more, and also not have to walk around with a gross diaper-like thing taped to the inside of my underwear every day. Honestly, I love you. Continue being fabulous and providing other menstruating people with the same opportunities you have provided me, like wearing tight skirts out to parties when my uterus lining is shedding.
Love,
Lindy
Image credits: Giphy.com