The conversation about menstruation is coming out of the Dark Ages. However, some common myths about menstruation continue to circulate. Your mother and grandmother probably heard the same ones. Find out the truth about your period.
Before science and medicine, religion was the authority in explaining natural occurrences. How would you have explained why women bleed every month when they are not pregnant?
Most major religions put a negative spin on menstruation, making it a time of impurity in women. The concept of a menstruating woman being unclean, impure, or even potentially evil, led to cultural practices that isolated and excluded them.
These strict and punitive views of menstruation have faded away in most cultures. But, society still attaches a social taboo to menstruation, driving the conversation underground.
Being able to easily find information online about your period is a relatively new concept. In past decades a lot of misinformation passed around and menstruation was rarely talked about except in whispers. Health classes in school tried to fill in the information gap but usually fell short.
