2026-05-06 11:43 UTC
Replies (21)
-
@alexadeswift@lgbtqia.space 2026-05-06 14:58
@vagina_museum@masto.ai That trans/inter folx actually CAN get periods, albeit without menstrual blood
-
@vagina_museum@masto.ai 2026-05-06 11:43
Perpetuated by patriarchal and cisnormative myths and misconceptions, this shame and stigma affects girls and gender diverse children the most. Without the language to describe what’s happening to them, children grow up unable or ashamed to ask questions — to express curiosity or concern about their bodies. Naturally, this influences behaviour not just in childhood, but well into adulthood. And it affects all of us.
-
@brunogirin@mastodon.me.uk 2026-05-06 11:53
@vagina_museum This is so well described in Bloody Hell, a collection of short life stories edited by Mona Eltahawy: https://www.feministgiant.com/p/bloody-hell The main question that comes back time and time again is: "how the hell did I not know that?"
-
@nusher@mastodon.scot 2026-05-06 12:01
@vagina_museum I wish period pants had been available when I was younger, so it didn’t always look so obvious you were wearing a pad. The other big embarrassment was getting out of swimming when the boys were also there. Also that tampons don’t suit everyone, I felt like a freak for not using them.
-
@farah@beige.party 2026-05-06 14:08
@vagina_museum I was basically baby (ok not really, I was 9) when I had my menarche. And absolutely no one prepared me for it. I grew up in a south Asian country. The whole concept of menstruation was a taboo subject; everything was very hush hush. I had to deal with the pain and shame all by myself, it was all very lonely.
-
@em_and_future_cats@mastodon.social 2026-05-06 14:21
@vagina_museum This ^. I was fortunate that I was not “shocked” when I started bleeding, but the “shame” & hiding was definitely a significant undertone. What I wished to have known is taking pain relief early on & also understanding that fibroids are an actual thing… I finally got treated (15 yrs of pain)& had to have surgery which removed a fibroid the size of a softball along with 5 smaller ones. EDUCATION ON THIS AND TALKING ABOUT IT IS PARAMOUNT. We definitely need to STOP SHAMING IT NOW.😿😾
-
@maj@cosocial.ca 2026-05-06 14:23
@vagina_museum That it's possible (for some folks) to opt out! I figured out skipping the birth control sugar pills in my teens, had and nursed babies in my 20s, then an IUD and have generally avoided having to deal with them most of my life. Not an option for everyone, but I'm shocked so many people put up with the pain and mess. #tmi #meirl #menstration
-
@KitsuneVixi@sakurajima.social 2026-05-06 14:45
@vagina_museum@masto.ai That the homework was due :neofox_sad:
-
@PattyHanson@mastodon.social 2026-05-06 15:16
@vagina_museum I had 2 older sisters + our mom & at age 12 I knew nothing more than what I secretly read on the sanitary pad boxes in the bathroom. I had no idea what to expect in real life. That "belt". What sort of contraption was that? My mother was awful. I know that's terrible to say, but when I did get the courage to ask, she told me tampons caused pregnancy. Then, while on a family vacation at 13, I started & was too embarrassed to tell anyone. Spent time washing underwear to hide it
-
@deepmud@mas.to 2026-05-06 15:26
@vagina_museum my emotionally neglectful mother didn't warn me so my first period was extremely traumatic
-
@argv_minus_one@mastodon.sdf.org 2026-05-06 16:47
@vagina_museum If even my ignorant male ass knows about endometriosis, what the hell is everyone else's excuse?
-
@leiawelsh@toot.wales 2026-05-06 17:10
@vagina_museum That you don’t have to keep the fact you’re having one top secret - smuggling pads into the loo hidden in tissue boxes and similar nonsense! The best thing about covid was the hot water bottle in the lap for cramps. Had been settling for paracetamol in-office. I get active pleasure from stubborn non-secrecy these days. “Oh are you cold?” - “Nope I have period pain”. Stunned Silence. But why though? If I had said I had a heat pad for back pain would have been unremarkable.
-
@shansterable@ohai.social 2026-05-06 17:25
@vagina_museum Before my first period, I wish I would have known that throughout my adult life, in which I never wavered in my choice to not bear children, that my uterus would be a source of debilitating pain, and that a patriarchal medical system would prolong my suffering by denying my hysterectomy until I was perimenopausal due to "risk of regret," and that I should have lawyered-up and been a raging self-advocate from the get-go.
-
@artemis@dice.camp 2026-05-06 18:23
@vagina_museum I just wish I had known that it was going to happen at all. It's so panic-inducing to find blood in your panties.
-
@starkraving666@jorts.horse 2026-05-06 19:06
@vagina_museum I wish I'd known how to recognize my first period. I didn't know for a few hours and ended up thinking I had somehow pooped myself without realizing Also, let's not forget about what happened with Carrie
-
@NilaJones@zeroes.ca 2026-05-06 19:29
@vagina_museum I wish I, or specifically my doctors, had known that iron deficiency anemia is NOT caused by periods Someone finally did a study about 10 years ago. It turns out that over 80% of women with iron deficiency anemia have intestinal bleeding -- The same percentage as men with iron deficiency anemia The catch was that no one had checked for this in women before, because of the persistent myth that it is caused by periods
-
@technicolourpenguin@void.lgbt 2026-05-06 21:08
@vagina_museum That it wasn't normal to get it at 8. That I had a right to medical intervention. That the pain wasn't normal.
-
@memyselfiamweird@mastodon.scot 2026-05-07 07:48
@vagina_museum@masto.ai Oh man, the migraines one would have been helpful to know. It took until my mid-thirties to get a Dr to mention it could be period-related..
-
@abvolition@spore.social 2026-05-08 08:48
@vagina_museum@masto.ai I wish I had known that getting an intrauterine device (IUD) can reduce the number of days you bleed per month or eliminate period blood entirely
-
@djtoebeans@mendeddrum.org 2026-05-08 11:09
@vagina_museum@masto.ai I wish I had known much earlier that reusable menstrual cups and discs existed. I would have saved a lot of pink tax money on disposable pads and tampons, and I'd have been so much more comfortable too. Flex Disc >>>> tampons.
-
@GinevraCat@toot.community 2026-05-09 17:06
@vagina_museum@masto.ai Not quite the same, but I wish I'd known years ago that normally underarm hair is a sign that one's first period is 6 months to 1 year off. That would have made SUCH a difference for my child who started later than average. https://answersville.com/15-signs-your-daughters-first-period-is-on-the-way/