Millennials, do you remember sex ed? Specifically, the sex ed you had in 5th grade, where the boys went to one room, the girls went to another, and everyone learned about puberty. good. Some of us learned about adolescence as a general concept. girls. Many boys never learned anything about menstruation, so many of us girls thought it was something we had to keep private and was generally something to be ashamed of. It was the worst. But society is fighting back and we love to see it.
TikTok user @OopsIDadItAgain0 — Sidebar: Perfect name. 10/10. There are no notes. — I recently posted an outing with my 10-year-old son from the store.
“Do you find it offensive to get your wife a napkin? It’s because your dad didn’t make it normal with you,” he said. “I came to buy napkins for my wife. Is that so?”
“Yes!” his 12-year-old son answered cheerfully.
That’s it. And apparently that was all it took to heal a part of me that I didn’t know needed healing.
Over the past decade or so, we have length How to normalize your period. Did you know that red liquid was used for the first time in a sanitary products demo? In 2017! (Well done, Bodyform!) Did you know it was first done in America? Until then 2020! (Well done, Cortex.)
However, that doesn’t mean we still have a long way to go.
“My MIL was surprised to find a pack of napkins on the bathroom shelf where her husband could see it,” one person wrote in the comments. “When I told her he bought it for me, she almost had a heart attack…”
“My boss calls women’s personal things “disgusting,” “disgusting,” and “things like that,”” said another. “It’s like… where’s your audacity?!”
“I’ve dated someone who thought periods were disgusting,” groaned a third man. “Such a turn-off.”
“I feel uncomfortable because I’m a woman,” another wrote.
But luckily most (many) comments supported this. One commenter summed it up best: “The green flag raises the blue flag.”
And let’s be honest, while women’s voices need to be front and center when it comes to periods (we’re usually the ones handling all things period-related), it’s invaluable for men to share this message with other men and boys. Because it’s one thing for a woman to say, “There’s no shame in buying pads,” and it’s another thing for a man who doesn’t menstruate to tell another man, “It’s no big deal.”
So, fathers, please continue to do your best. or start Good job. It’s never too late to normalize pads, tampons, and menstruation in general.
