There is nothing immodest or immoral in talking about periods, as Bodyform's new advert shows

At 11 years old we were ushered into an empty classroom for "The Talk". Girls went into one room and boys into another, emphasising the secret nature of the things to be discussed. For about an hour, the nurse they had called in told us about the female reproductive system, periods and how it all worked. At the end there was a Q&A and the brave few who raised their hands were given practical, shame-free answers. We all left with a “goodie-bag” containing a packet of tampons, a handful of sanitary towels and a booklet on how our bodies worked. Whilst the science was no secret and we had sex education lessons all together in our class, the idea that periods were “woman things” and not to be discussed with the boys was cemented in our minds.

At 14, I read Carrie by Stephen King. From the brutal beginning (a girl gets her first period in a high-school changing room and believes herself to be dying), to the final blood-soaked climax, the whole book is a testament to the primal nature of menstruation and the negative associations. For Carrie, her blood inspires cruelty in other girls, religious insanity in her mother and, ultimately, her death as she leaves the book the way she entered it – blood-soaked and publicly humiliated. The book was written in 1974 but banned from American school libraries in 1992 due to the swearing, anti-religious themes and references to puberty.

It is now 2020. Earlier this month, a Tampax advert was removed from Irish television following complaints from 84 viewers. The ad, which took the form of a fake talk show advising women that they should not be able to feel their Tampons and had to “get ‘em up there”, was removed because of the “sexual innuendo” and “excessive detail”.

This week, Bodyform introduced their newest ad campaign alongside the hashtag #wombstories. The advert itself shows darkly humorous cartoon images of a womb-in-action, alongside footage of women experiencing infertility, miscarriage and other less traumatic yet embarrassing “delights” provided by our wombs on a monthly basis.

The initial public response has been positive, with people of all ages sharing their own womb stories and calling to normalise the discussion.

But as always, there is a coterie of nay-sayers determined to shame and bully women for discussing their experiences. The last 24 hours have seen men suggesting Bodyform “check their ad focus” as they don’t believe it should be promoted on the timelines of “50-year-old blokes”, alongside the usual comedians suggesting Bodyform include some “hot chicks” to make more men take notice. One early male commenter posted that discussing wombs was “immodest” and was immediately reminded by numerous users that he came from a womb. Jean Hatchet, who lives with (and raises money for) ovarian cancer was one such respondent, only to have her cancer proclaimed “fake” and details of her workplace posted publicly on Twitter in retaliation.

The idea that women’s bodies are merely decorative and should be viewed through a sexual lens without any of that nasty, real stuff getting in the way is dated and dangerous. The lack of real education combined with the pornographic ideals of what female bodies should look like (hairless, pneumatic, shiny and scented) create a false impression which can have real life consequences for many young girls.

The charity Samaritans was founded in 1953 by a vicar who had held a funeral for a 14-year-old parishioner who had killed herself following her first period (lacking real knowledge she assumed she had an STD, despite being a virgin). Today we like to think that such things can no longer happen, yet girls in Rwanda are forced to skip school during their periods due to social stigma and women elsewhere are dying because their pain and concerns are dismissed as “women’s problems”. It is no longer acceptable to think of female reproductive issues as “women’s things”: they are human things and should be taught as such.

If I wish to discuss these things privately, in the company of other women, then I should be able to do so. Likewise, if I feel they need to be given a public audience to help raise awareness and reduce stigma then that should be equally acceptable.

For men to attempt to police our factual discussions of our bodies, whilst being perfectly happy to indulge in conversations where those same bodies are objectified, is ludicrous. If men are able to openly discuss women as a series of idealised body parts, they should be prepared to understand the biological processes which underpin the bodies they are idealising. Likewise we should be teaching our daughters about their own bodies and how to speak out when something is not right. Our health and wellbeing depends on it.