Women Who Menstruate Have Every Right to Speak with Authority on Periods

As it is, our voices & experiences aren’t listened to or respected when it comes to our unique physical experiences….especially when it comes to menstruation. 

Not every woman has periods but those of us who do, know what it is like not to be heard and listened to. 

We know what it is like to have obvious and outward symptoms of something being very wrong only to be told that it is only in our heads.  #maternalhealth?

When it comes to menstruation; the medical community doesn’t know enough and society doesn’t respect it enough.

ONLY women know what it is like to have a condition like #adenomyosis (symptoms can be period related) & have medical staff disbelieve you AND be unable to even pronounce it.

ONLY women know what it is like to have doctors ignore your unusual period symptoms while you suffer with fibroids, endometriosis, adenomyosis, heavy bleeding, or something out of the ordinary for YEARS. 

(And yes, a woman can suffer from a combination of these conditions for years.) 

ONLY women have the authority to personally speak to the experience of periods. 

That’s just the way it is. A fact of life.

The complaint department is whoever you believe the creator of humanity is.   

Meanwhile, it is important that our voices be heard because it can mean everything for women and girls from quality of life, pain & suffering, or life & death.

NOTE: Treating people well does not mean that you must make yourself invisible so as indistinguishable from them. 

You don’t have to make yourself smaller to make others feel more special and accepted. 

That is not self-love. 

That is not self-respect. 

That is not self-care.

If as a woman, you do not acknowledge that many of your parts from your hair to the soles of your feet are special, unique, and very “handle with care”….how can you properly care for yourself?

After all this time, there is still more misinformation than accurate information. Women must speak. Women must be heard.

Questions

• As women, are we addressing period poverty within our own circles?
• As women, are we having open conversations about periods within our own friends and family circles?
• As women, are we certain that the girls around us who may be as young as eight (girls are menstruating earlier these days) have accurate knowledge about menstruation?
• As women, are we empowering and teaching young girls and women around us to have open conversations with their doctors about period symptoms? Do they know what to do if they feel that their doctors are not listening to them?
• As women, if the young ladies around us are away at college or the military do they know what their options are for dealing with issues or concerns around their periods?