Periods? Yuck, no one wants to talk about that!
Although it may be difficult to discuss, it shouldn’t be! Periods are a natural occurrence of the female body. It happens to all of us.
I can’t say that it’s an easy topic for me. I’ve had moments where a man has brought up periods to me, and I look away and giggle. I’ve had moments where even a close friend has brought up her period, and I change the subject as quickly as possible. It hasn’t been my cup of tea, but I want that to change.
I’m here to tell you, your period is beautiful and so are you.
To normalize means to make normal. It means that the subject should be a comfortable discussion topic and an everyday conversation to be had, free of cringing, embarrassment and shame.
Aside from the fact that women deserve to feel beautiful and intelligent no matter if they are on their period or not. Periods should be normalized largely for the fact that it allows women to be aware of their health and to have open discussions about it. In turn, this allows women to effectively communicate with their medical professionals on what is needed to improve the experience.
The openness of the topic allows women to know and understand their bodies, and therefore to know when something is not right health-wise. If women are embarrassed to talk about their periods and are told they are “gross,” then a universal understanding of their health will not take place, and therefore no action will be taken in bettering a woman’s health or combating physical issues when they arise. This is why normalizing periods is necessary.
Sophomore music major Adrian Zuñiga is in favor of normalizing periods and says, “I’m totally for those kinds of conversations being normalized; it’s a normal bodily function. There’s nothing wrong with talking about [periods]. I feel like for most guys it’s uncomfortable because it’s the unknown to them, but for me being raised by women, I didn’t have the issue.”
Alexandria Hormozi, a senior anthropology major at the University of La Verne, believes periods should be normalized. Hormozi says she has “extremely difficult periods and they affect how [she] interact[s] with people. So when [her] friends ask if [she’s] okay, [she] can be honest and let them know [her] period cramps are bad, or that [she’s] PMS’ing and not to be worried if [she] seem[s] annoyed.”
Hormozi says, “normalizing periods opens the conversation as to what really happens when a woman goes through her cycle, and it helps break the stigma that every girl has the same symptoms.” She agrees that an important aspect of normalizing periods is to allow women to talk about periods, so they know what to look out for regarding their health.
Periods must be normalized so that women can openly and comfortably discuss them, and in turn are able to communicate effectively and productively with those around them, including their medical practitioners if she is seeking help. Periods are natural. So why is discussing them not?
NORMALIZE PERIODS! We are female, we are beautiful and we are proud.