Reality "Females have periods. sometimes, just sometimes, it is not a bad thing to teach responsibility. I am responsible for dealing with my bodily functions. I don't want a dose of the shits at a work conference, I take Imodium." are you really comparing a normal healthy bodily function like a period with a dose of the shits?
How very sad.
"Teens don't want to fuck up their GSCE, they have choices. Teaching them to say no you can't force me to do anything is stubborn and ridiculous."
please tell me you are not in charge of young adults!
I will completely teach my children they should not be forced to do things that could be unhealthy or unpleasant for them in this way.
"We should be teaching them how to deal with things that get in the way of our day to day lives" Like being female?
Reality you do not need to answer this but may I ask if you are female and if you have a daughter/s?
MelOrSue if you want to take a medication to stop your period so you can go for a swim, be my guest. It is your body. Do I think this is advisable. No. Would I expect young girls to feel they should do this ti fit in with the school PE timetable, No. Should girls be pressurized into this so they can take an exam they have prepared for, No.
Have I had years of infertility and treatment taking all manner of drugs and medicines, yes. I am not ignorant that sometimes we need to do things to get our bodies to work better for us. But I also feel that education should allow for the fact it is normal for 50% of the school population to bleed about 14% of the time.
"umm, nobody on this thread has said they would 'expect' a girl to take this medication so that they could swim. I'm not sure who you are talking about. I clearly suggested it as an option."
No but here is how life works, if you convince a few people to do something, or if they convince themselves, then it becomes the norm and those who do not want to do it, become the awkward ones.
And although people on this thread have not said girls should take medication, the whole thread started on the premise that a teacher implied girls should be willing to use tampons to be able to go for a swim.
"If it was penis related no none would be shouting about sexism." If it was penis related and boys were being treated unfairly I would be sticking up for boys.
Reality the sexism is, for me, that everything is designed from a male perspective unless it is directly targeted at women. So the norm is 'male'. Males do not bleed for a few days/a week a month every month from 12 to 51. Girls and women do (unless ill, underweight or pregnant) so bleeding is seen as a big issue but it is normal. It does mean some women will not be able to swim and may not be able to do sports due to blood loss and perhaps pain etc.
I think if women were designing things they might take these things into consideration.