When I had my first period in 2011, my mom handed me an orange Always pad. When I got my next period she handed me the same thing. Soon after she passed away. My older sisters menstruated, but they did not like talking about it.. So I kept wearing orange pads made by Always. My period was HEAVY. Like filled up a pad every hour for two weeks straight, heavy. All I had was my trusty orange Always pad, but I leaked constantly and felt extremely uncomfortable from the feeling of the pad. A little later my flow got better, but the symptoms got extremely worse. When I got older I tried birth control and my period became much more manageable.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t until then that I knew Always made a bigger pad: the purple one! My world totally opened up. For the heavy second and third days of my period this became my new best friend. When I was unsure what my flow would be like, I wore the purple pad. Going to bed? Wore the purple pad. I started wearing it even when I knew I could use a smaller size. I was so traumatized from wearing the wrong sized pad for years that I chose to still wear the wrong size, but this time larger. I hated trying tampons because of a traumatic experience with them when I was 12. I knew of no other options so I stuck with pads and still do to this day. However, I am now becoming more aware of eco-friendly alternatives that are available. Thinx, a period underwear brand, seems easy to take care of and use, but are extremely expensive for a college student ($30+ a pair). Diva cups are cheap, but as someone who doesn’t use tampons they seem extremely hard to use; Diva cups also have to be dumped out and boiled which requires constant access to clean running water.

I am appreciative that I know of these options now due to social media, Google, and Buzzfeed. However, why is this information not as accessible to someone younger? I guess it was also there for me, but I never knew to look. There was a stigma around it even in my household of four girls. It’s crazy that this happens to so many people’s bodies for a significant period (pun unintended) of their lives, but it is still not talked about enough. Yes there are more organizations talking about it and Youtube videos to watch, but when it comes to actually interacting in public it is taboo. My dad thankfully now feels comfortable getting me pads and will even get the brand right. Even still, if I were to have a really bad period, I wouldn’t ask for an extension from a male professor even if the pain was inhibiting me from working. I would lie and say I was sick. If it was a female professor, I would tell them the truth. I think this is upsetting because I should not be ashamed of what my body goes through and I should be able to talk about it. I also want to help younger people navigate their period and try to show them what options are available. Giving people more confidence in their period can help someone SO much. I can’t tell you how many nights I stayed up crying in my living room because I was in pain, couldn’t sleep, or bled out onto my bed. I am pretty sure that helpless feeling is common in menstruating bodies. I hope as a society we can grow to better appreciate women’s bodies and expand period education to those that do not menstruate.