“Do you have period products with you?” This is probably not a sentence that comes easily to the lips at a normal volume. Many people feel uncomfortable when they have to reveal that they are menstruating. The period taboo is real - and unfortunately it is the case all over the world. But why is it so uncomfortable for many people to talk about their bleeding? After all, around half of all people have it. In today's blog post we are devoting ourselves to the topic Period Shaming and look at the background to this. But we can say one thing in advance: We finally have to start talking more about periods!

How come periods are mostly kept secret? And when they are mentioned, they are often in the form of Euphemisms that are meant to gloss over periods. Many people have a hard time with the word menstruation. They prefer to switch to terms like “strawberry week” or “red aunt”. Absurd, we think. Where period shaming originates is still a matter of debate. Freud, for example, believed that period shaming originated from the fear of blood. It could also have arisen because early humans saw menstrual blood as dirty and unclean Clellan Ford also suggested that the menstrual taboo arose because early societies knew about the "toxic, disease-causing effects" of menstruation. Wherever period shaming comes from, the fact is that periods were seen as something negative.

Periods were considered impure all over the world for centuries. It even got to the point where Bishop Theodore of Canterbury banned menstruating women from entering the church in 690.  No entry However, menstruation is still an issue today. Menstruating women are not allowed to enter many holy sites throughout Asia.
In India and Nepal, people are often separated during their period. The reason: Some Hindus believe that menstruating women are impure and unable to take part in daily life. This even goes so far that menstruating women are not allowed to touch male family members who are not menstruating during their period for fear of disease. So you see: The myth that periods are impure and behave like an illness still has enormous effects today.Superstition and the  stigma remain in many countries.

We also have a short digression on the topic Advertising for you. Period advertising started in the 1870s. No, not in the way you think. The advertising promoted the idea that periods were something shameful and had to be hidden. Period products were also not allowed to be advertised on television until 1970.

Have you ever heard of the term “ Menotoxins ”? It is made up of “meno” for month and “toxin” meaning poison - monthly poison. Perhaps you can already guess what the term refers to. We will enlighten you. In 1520, Paracelsus explained the existence of “menotoxin”, which was supposed to be found in the blood and sweat of menstruating women. This menotoxin could cause flowers to wilt and the idea was still being discussed well into the 20th century.

In the 1920s, scientific research was carried out on menstruation. The doctor Béla Schick noticed that ten of his red flowers had wilted just one day after he had received them. He then asked his maid whether she was currently menstruating and she said yes. In further research with bread dough and flowers, he allegedly found that when maids were menstruating, the flowers wilted and the bread dough did not rise. His bottom line? Menstruating women prevent the bread dough from rising and kill plants. From this he also concluded that the skin of menstruating people is a  Poison had to drop out.

George and Olive Smith, specialists in reproductive diseases, also conducted

In the 1950s, scientists conducted research on this topic, which later gave rise to the term “menotoxin”. The specialists took samples of menstrual blood and injected it into small animals. These died a short time later. For them, this was proof that menstrual blood must contain a poisonous substance. However, it was later shown that the bacteria in the blood killed the animals and not toxins.

Menstruating women made use of aids to collect blood early on - long before there were products such as disposable sanitary pads or tampons. They helped themselves in other ways: menstruating women made sanitary pads from raffia, linen or grass. The first disposable sanitary pad was available in Germany in 1894 and the tampon followed in 1947. In advertising, menstruation was supposed to be portrayed as "clean", which is why the fluid was blue and not red for a long time. This once again showed the classic existing stigma. Only recently, since 2016 to be precise, has the period been shown in advertising as it really is - red. The slogan: "Menstruation is normal. Showing it should be normal too." During this time, movements such as the " Period Pride " or " Period Positivity ”. People finally started to look away from body shame and towards body and period pride. But even now we are not yet where we would like to be. Periods are the most normal thing in the world and should therefore be normalized and de-stigmatized.

A topic that we should not ignore in this article is the so-called  Period poverty  . And the fact is that it still exists all over the world. Period products are expensive and many people do not have the financial means to buy them. A first step in the right direction was taken when the VAT on period products in Germany was reduced from 19% to 7% in 2020. This means that the products are still expensive, but much more affordable. But that is not the case in every country: in Italy, for example, the tax rate on period products is a whopping 22%. Crazy, right? So one thing is clear: many countries must follow suit and recognize periods for what they are: normal. If you want to find out more about the so-called tampon tax, you should definitely read our Blog post  on this topic.