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Menstruation 101: Your Beginners Guide to Periods

Writer's picture: Vasudha IyengarVasudha Iyengar

It's time to bid goodbye to codewords such as Aunt Flo and That Time of The Month, to create an open conversation around periods.

A woman on her period

Growing up in a desi (South Asian) household there were several topics of conversation that were kept under wraps; one of them was menstruation. When I reached puberty, I was able to uncover generations of social stigma and taboos surrounding menstruation, such as not touching any food items while on my period. I am not going to lie, as an adolescent who didn’t know much about it, I would often succumb to the thought process, and internalise feelings of shame.


It was in these times that I think the internet acted as my saviour. I would spend hours online trying to understand the ins and outs of menstruation which helped me break many of the misconceptions that I had nurtured in my head. I would often wonder about the lack of awareness and even sex education I had about something that has a significant impact on my life. So, as I began writing this week, I decided to write to my prepubescent self and discuss some topics she would regularly browse on the internet. Through this article, we will look at what is menstruation, its effect on you and the stigma surrounding it. So let’s begin.


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What Is Menstruation?


Before we talk about stigma and menstruation effects we would have to first understand what menstruation is. For that, we would have to take a trip back to 7th-grade biology, chapter reproduction.

Diagram of Uterus in a White Background
Menstruation is the monthly discharge of blood and tissue.

Menstruation (also known as menses or periods) is the monthly shedding of the uterus lining. Every month, our bodies go through a menstrual cycle comprised of four phases: menses, ovulation, follicular, and luteal, which help prepare the body for the possibility of pregnancy. If an individual is not pregnant, then it leads to shedding as mentioned earlier in the form of blood. The menstrual blood comprises both blood and tissue that flows from the uterus through the vagina.


The duration of each cycle varies between 21 to 35 days, while the menstruation phase in itself lasts anywhere from 2 to 7 days. Most individuals experience their first period (also known as menarche) around the age of 12, until the age of 45-55 (also known as menopause).


I am pretty sure some of you have either experienced this first hand or as I said before learnt about it in school. However, there is one part that the school might have looked over. Despite what many individuals may think, individuals of different various gender identities menstruate. Bearing this in mind, from this point forward, this article will address those in question as individuals who menstruate.

menstrual cup on pink background
Individuals from different gender identities experience menstruation


What Does One Experience During Their Period?


Menstruating individuals experience a variety of physical and psychological symptoms during and prior to their period as if the aforementioned bleeding wasn't enough. One of the most prominent effects is in the form of Premenstrual Syndrome commonly known as PMS. You must have come across the term “ Are you PMS-ing?” which is used quite frequently to mock individuals who display either sensitive or aggressive behaviour.

woman experiencing period cramps
Individuals experience a range of symptoms before and during their period e.g. abdominal cramps

While the cause of PMS is unknown, experts suggest that not being pregnant during the ovulation and follicular phases of the menstrual cycle, results in a drastic decrease in hormones such as oestrogen and progesterone, resulting in PMS.


During this phase, individuals tend to experience symptoms such as headache, irritability, mood swings, fatigue, changes in sleep and eating patterns along with depressed mood and anxiety. It is estimated that around 75% of women experience mild PMS during their menstrual cycle. While everyone might not experience the same symptoms, many undergo some combination of them during their cycle.


Some individuals report that these symptoms can have an effect on their daily functioning. Dr Marylin Glenville, an expert in women’s health suggests that for some individuals, periods can be quite draining as a result it has an impact on their productivity. In addition to that, some individuals also experience brain fog which they report affects their memory and multitasking abilities. While the research on this is inconclusive, some have suggested that the fluctuations in hormone levels affect brain functions while others have busted this notion.


The above factors help highlight that our hormones play a great role not only in how we feel and behave but also in one's menstrual cycle. However, the lack of awareness about menstruation gives way to stigma and discrimination at a social level which we will examine now.


Is There Stigma Around Periods?


Despite menstruation being a biological process, there is an immense amount of social stigma and taboo surrounding the topic. Menstruating individuals are frequently perceived as impure or dirty, leading to shame and discrimination on a monthly basis. However, this issue is greater than one individual, or society. It begins right from the top through governmental policies.


When we examine from a macro level, till today several nations levy what is known as a “tampon tax” thereby viewing menstrual products as non-essential. So much so that, in several US states, and EU countries such as Hungary, Denmark, and Switzerland, the tax rates levied on menstrual products are similar to those applied on jewellery, cigarettes and alcohol.

Woman holding a menstrual cup and pad
Many countries levy high taxes on menstrual products therefore viewing them as non-essentials.

In other terms, these nations view menstrual products as items of luxury as opposed to essential products. The outcome of this is that menstrual products no longer become affordable and accessible to those who need them thereby putting them at a higher risk to resort to using unsanitary alternatives such as newspapers, hags, toilet paper etc.


Global Citizen, an organisation that works towards alleviating poverty suggests that at any given point in time, there are 800 million individuals who are menstruating, out of which 500 million do not have access to menstrual hygiene products. Let that sink in; that is 63% of the population have better access to obtaining non-essential products such as they cannot afford to purchase pads or tampons. These numbers highlight the need for us to recognise making menstrual products more affordable so that individuals can not only access these products easily but also prioritise their health and hygiene as well.

An assortment of panty liners, sanitary pads and tampons
Around 63% of the menstruating population do not have access to menstrual products.

Moving from the national level, societies and communities also play a great role in perpetuating the period stigma.



But, before we get there, consider this: imagine being forbidden from touching food, sleeping in your bed, or visiting religious sites. I'm sure some of them aren't things you'd be comfortable being told not to do. However, this is the plight of many menstruating people around the world. On average, a person who menstruates may spend 7 years menstruating, during which they have to put up with discrimination and restrictions.


Let's examine some of these restrictions. As we previously mentioned, various cultures view women and girls on their period as dirty and impure and as a result, restrict them from performing regular activities. While in some, girls tend to drop out of school after their first period. In others, the onset of one's period is viewed as a marker for the individual being ready for marriage, thereby increasing one's vulnerability to child marriage and sexual violations.

Woman putting finger on her lips
By viewing periods as taboo, society plays a great role in silencing any conversation on the topic.

Social exclusion restrictions and taboos when levied upon individuals at a young age can have an impact on their psychological well-being. Furthermore, the lack of adequate sex education in schools further perpetuates negative feelings about menstruation consequently impacting their ability to learn about it.


Menstruation is a biological process that is not limited to women. Unfortunately, over time, it has been associated with negative connotations in society. Individuals who menstruate not only have to undergo the painful ordeal that their body puts them through, but also have to deal with social stigmas, taboos and restrictions every month. While this article might not be comprehensive when it comes to learning about menstruation, I hope it has helped in taking a small step towards normalising conversations around periods.

References Rydström, K., Hasson, K. A., Kissling, E. A., & Roberts, T.-A. (2020). Degendering Menstruation: Making Trans Menstruators Matter. In C. Bobel, I. T. Winkler, & B. Fahs (Eds.), The Palgrave Handbook of Critical Menstruation Studies (pp. 945–959). essay, Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. Bixo, M., Ba¨ckstro¨m, T., Winblad, B., & Andersson, A. (1995). Estradiol and testosterone in specific regions of the human female brain in different endocrine states. The Journal of Steroid Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 55(3-4), 297–303. https://doi.org/10.1016/0960-0760(95)00179-4 Lacroix AE, Gondal H, Shumway KR, et al. Physiology, Menarche. [Updated 2022 Mar 17]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2022 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK470216/ Leeners, B., Kruger, T. H., Geraedts, K., Tronci, E., Mancini, T., Ille, F., Egli, M., Röblitz, S., Saleh, L., Spanaus, K., Schippert, C., Zhang, Y., & Hengartner, M. P. (2017). Lack of associations between female hormone levels and visuospatial working memory, divided attention and cognitive bias across two consecutive menstrual cycles. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbeh.2017.00120


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