To not get the attitude to periods

[mytartanscarf]

Some people seem to think there really is something horrible about them. People always urge sanitary protection to be given in food bank parcels. Someone leaving a sanitary towel out is treated with horror.

I don't get it. I've occasionally found myself in a position where I don't have sanitary towels in. I don't think a used sanitary towel is necessarily any worse than anything used for bodily fluids! I think there are more prevalent things on the minds of homeless women than periods.

Aibu? Not being an arse: I don't get it!

The best bit is he is enabling the women in villages. Sisters are doing it for themselves!

CaptainJamesTKirk

LOVED that article, what a man! Its could be a film. super

OP's wide eyed innocence about "lady things" is rather transparent

I am fit as a butcher's dog and have horrendous periods. Stop equating health with periods....they have no actual correlation.

I don't know what you mean by that, AF.

No; I really don't. I think you're implying I am not 'real' but I'm not 100% sure.

Actually OP - my mum and a good friend of mine have both had trouble-free periods for many years.

Came as a shock to my mum when I got period pains, PMT etc… But then when mum went through the menopause she had a horrendous time.

perhaps op is a FreeBleeder

AF is that really what it sounds like?

Super - I don't think my mum had any real trouble with hers although like yours she had an awful time in the menopause emotionally certainly.

OP - I won't tell you about my mum's menopause (it actually was an emergency op before and I think she had menopause afterwards).

I do know that my mum liked real coffee (ground) but found this made her moody/jittery and linked this to periods. But other than that, no trouble whatsoever.

My mum was a slightly older mum and she went through the menopause when I was ten. She was a nightmare! So I'm not sure what her periods were like - but definitely have no memories of her having them if you see what I mean. She died when I was in my early teens so couldn't/ can't really ask her.

Your poor mum though!

Being forced to bleed all over your clothes sounds horrible.

I'll be blunt: This isn't nice reading.

Dirt and sweat is not the same issue. Even a small quantity of blood would keep clothing saturated for quite a while, possibly causing something akin to nappy rash. If you only have one set of clothes, and no privacy, you can't take them off to let them dry. Without being able to wash the clothes the blood could start to decompose and rot, because it is essentially dead tissue. When this is in direct contact with a bodily entrance (e.g. the vagina) or broken skin (e.g. sores from "nappy rash" as mentioned, sores from STIs, injuries from scratching (perhaps due to discomfort from having to wear soiled clothes), injection sites from drug use, possibly injuries from sexual or other violence, on the upper legs injuries from falling over while intoxicated.) - this could cause serious infection, making a person quite unwell and in serious cases leading to blood poisoning.

In the absence of proper sanitary protection desperate women may resort to using any scraps of absorbent material they can find. Scraps don't stay together nicely in your pants, so they are more likely to use them like a tampon. This again is an infection risk in general, (especially if the scraps are found on the streets) a health risk when putting substances unintended for this purpose up there, a serious infection risk if small pieces are left up there accidentally, and a risk for TSS, especially when items are left for long periods. Tampons are smaller and easier to steal than packets of pads so women may use tampons, but spread them out by using them for longer periods.

Yes YABTU.

Sorry I think I xposted with quite a few people there.

Kitchen roll is all well and good if you have kitchen roll. Homeless people don't tend to have kitchens, though! :)

Completely accepted Bertie - despite what people think, I really wasn't starting a thread to goad (pointless?) I wondered.

Anyway I did drop a packet of sanitary towels into the tesco food bank trolley this morning :) and for those who wondered I was worried about it looking weird amongst the soups and baked beans! I didn't see any hygiene items in there so I don't know if they'll think its a mistake or not but hopefully they can use them!

I think they'll be appreciated tartanscarf. I remember sometimes having to use toilet paper as a teenager. It was so uncomfortable and just embarassing really. Having periods is shit anyway, they're so much worse without adequate protection. I say that as someone who mostly had normal length, not that heavy periods.

mytartanscarf just as an aside, my periods were more like spotting and totally painfree until I had my last DC in my late 30's! I never really knew what a 'proper' period was until then. They are now rather traumatic what with the massive clots, flooding and excruciating cramping. I am good for nothing for days 2 & 3.

I can't imagine how difficult it would be to manage periods like that while not having my own hygienic washing facilities, a washing machine/tumble dryer, and lots of sanitary towels -not to mention painkillers, hot baths and a clean comfy sofa to lie on--. I think I would rather pay for sanitary protection/painkillers than food in that period (no pun intended).

I will be putting them in the foodbank trolley in future thanks to this thread.

That was a good thing to do, TS

Anyone that has ever been caught short and had to make do with toilet roll stuffed in the knickers etc will know. It chafes like fuck and then you get the nasties as described by Bertie. No woman/girl should have to live like that.

Please read this

www.vice.com/en_uk/read/for-homeless-women-having-a-period-isnt-just-a-hassle-its-a-nightmare-124

It sums up exactly why sanitary protection is so important.

Also it points out that sanitary protection is stilltaxed as a 'luxury item'. Which is, excuse the pun, bloody laughable. Men's razors aren't taxed.

And whilst we're here and I have my multi-pack of lillets soap box out,

m.huffpost.com/uk/entry/5363720

Cou thanks for sharing.

In some ways I do think that rhe points in that article were what I was trying to say here. The homeless women interviewed said they were embarrassed about asking for sanitary protection - why? Why is a sanitary towel more embarrassing than loo roll or a toothbrush or a condom?

The article says the 'it would be mortifying to be caught shoplifting for anything, but tampons so much worse.' I genuinely don't see why.

I agree with other points raised but I have to politely disagree with the idea that a period is so much 'worse' (from an embarrassment point of view) than anything else.

Good thread . I shall also put some in the food bank op . Ashamed to say it never occurred to me and it bloody well should have

I am in the heavy period gang , in fact recently had surgery for one of the causes

My Friend bled for nearly 6 months and had to stop work

Sometimes I wish I had just had a bloody hyster

So many good posts here. It's humiliating to leave blood trails behind you, for people to see blood dripping down your legs. I think that alone makes it worse than lack of soap etc. It's deeply personal and part of human dignity.

Another petition, with over 100,000 signatures:

www.change.org/p/george-osborne-stop-taxing-periods-period

I was sent that petition yesterday and thought someone I knew had been reading this thread for a second.

It's a really good one and everyone who has posted on this thread should take a minute to sign it.

I don't understand what you are saying do you mean sanitary protection is unnecessary or if you don't have them it doesn't matter so these homeless women should suck it up not having a packet of towels isn't the end of the world?