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AIBU?

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Original poster

Running a marathon without a tampon. Does it 'break the stigma of periods'?

328 replies

ArmySal · 09/08/2015 10:25

www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/kiran-gandhi-ran-the-london-marathon-without-a-tampon-in-a-bid-to-break-the-stigma-surrounding-womens-periods/story-fni0cx12-1227475480183?

When I first read the story I was open mouthed through revulsion, to be honest, but after reading the story I understand (to a degree) the point she was making.

AIBU to think 'fair play' to her? As said in the article, it highlights the fact some women don't have access to sanitary products, something I hadn't really thought about before.

OP posts:
Weebirdie · 10/08/2015 19:47

Someone needs to tell her that not all attention is good attention.

SchwarzwalderKirschtorte · 10/08/2015 19:54

I suspect she got caught short and brazened it out once she realised.

Crikey if it were me there would have been lakes of blood along the route.

Fair play to her for the point she was making though.

carolBass · 10/08/2015 21:20

It would be good if mums net could publish this to go with this huge debate........

please sign the petition.....women in the UK are going without sanitary products.....imagine......

www.change.org/p/help-the-homeless-on-their-period-thehomelessperiod?recruiter=39631815&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=facebook&utm_campaign=autopublish&utm_term=mob-sm-share_petition-no_msg&fb_ref=Default

Mrsjayy · 10/08/2015 21:39

Again what stigma for a western woman there is no stigma women everyday have periods if she wanted to do something for her cause campaignvolunteer for a womens charity donate dont try some empathetic stunt it is an insult to women and girls who have no sanitary protection who are shunned by their community for being dirty she was saying look imjust like them no your not

drudgetrudy · 10/08/2015 21:57

I agree that this is all a load of nonsense. There is a lot of room for feminism but I don't like it when a bodily function becomes a "being a woman" thing. People would be more embarrassed to have diarrhea in public. Its a bit like when breast cancer gets treated differently from bowel cancer and pancreatic cancer. (All pink ribbons). Its a horrid disease the same as the others.

lastuseraccount123 · 10/08/2015 22:05

there isn't a stigma associated with having period stains on your legs/clothes in the west? really?

fourtothedozen · 10/08/2015 22:13

*As I ran, I thought to myself about how women and men have both been effectively socialized to pretend periods don’t exist."

And yet this same runner supposedly striking out for feminism saw fit to display her hairless shaved armpits." Effectively socialised to pretend women's armpit hair does not exist"

Hmm Some mixed messages here.

Mrsjayy · 10/08/2015 22:14

So she was standing up for the women who have been caught short then that was nice of her

fourtothedozen · 10/08/2015 22:17

At least she didn't gross anyone out with her hairy armpits.

LumpySpacedPrincess · 10/08/2015 22:19

I must be missing something. What stigma? If you read some of the posts above yours you'll see that women are not believed when they tell people how bad their periods are, they are not taken seriously by medical professionals. This is because periods are something that happens to females and must be gotten on with and hidden.

Mrsjayy · 10/08/2015 22:19

And her blog is pretentious twaddle doing it for the sisters i think the sisters who dont have sanitary protection reallyfeel empowered to be bleeding monthly onto themselves chairs bedding the floor yeah im sure that feels empowering

SnapesCapes · 10/08/2015 22:20

I think it's absolutely fine to show off a bit of menstrual blood. Nobody should be horrified or repulsed by something that pretty much 50% of the world's population will experience at some point.

DS1 is 9 and knows what periods are; a girl in his class started her periods quite recently and he came home and chatted about it saying a boy in his class had been picking on her for it. I spoke to him about what it means, why it happens and why he must absolutely never be that boy who takes the piss out of a girl for her periods, that it's something to be respected. I don't believe we're open enough with children about it at all, which means that as adults we're trained to think of periods as a taboo.

LumpySpacedPrincess · 10/08/2015 22:22

Feminists are allowed to shave and wear make up four, it's all part of the big plan where we get to decide stuff for ourselves. Wink

Mrsjayy · 10/08/2015 22:23

Fwiw im not repulsed by her at all i dont think she is disgusting

VerityWaves · 10/08/2015 23:13

It makes me feel v privileged to have access to sanitary products unlike some women in the developing world.

Weebirdie · 10/08/2015 23:32

I recall seeing the documentary I linked to and one thing thats struck me is how the women involved are so private - unlike Kiran Ghandi

Mrsjayy · 10/08/2015 23:49

That article is fascinating was it a documentary too

Mrsjayy · 10/08/2015 23:51

Much better read than ms i am woman seeme bleeds blog

Weebirdie · 10/08/2015 23:54

Yes, it was, but I cant for the life of me remember if it was something that was an hour long documentary or an in depth article on the news.

Weebirdie · 10/08/2015 23:56

Sorry, if you google his name there are Youtube clips available.

Mrsjayy · 10/08/2015 23:58

I will look tomorrow

MidniteScribbler · 11/08/2015 00:20

Lots of men in contact sports get bloody and nobody calls them.disgusting.

They don't start out deliberately choosing to bleed all over their clothes before the start of a game/match/event.

Lweji · 11/08/2015 00:22

Sure, but they don't hide in shame either.

fourtothedozen · 11/08/2015 07:40

Last year my OH suffered a lot of heavy nosebleeds. Always unexpected, lasted quite a while ( over an hour) soaking towels, tissues and clothes. Twice we ended up at A&E. They happened unexpectedly, at home, at work, at a conference.
When he had his bleed at a conference, 1st aiders dealt with him, but when the bleeding stopped he had a wash and then nipped over to Sainsburys to buy a new shirt as the one he was wearing was covered in blood.

Was it shame that caused him to change his shirt? Is it shame that makes us use sanitary protection?