The Guardian

The stigma over periods won’t end until boys learn about them too | Amika George

One in five young women in the UK has experienced bullying about periods. Boys must be taught menstruation is not taboo
‘We have been socialised into thinking that periods are a female issue.’ Protesters against period poverty at the London Women’s march, January 2019. Photograph: Jenny Matthews/Alamy Stock Photo

My friend Ben told me how, in a house of three boys, his mum would stealthily hide her box of tampons to avoid questioning from her sons. Other male friends remember being separated from the girls in their class to be taught sex education, or being left in complete bewilderment when the “time of the month”

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from The Guardian

The Guardian4 min read
‘Still A Very Alive Medium’: Celebrating The Radical History Of Zines
A medium that basks in the unruliness and unpredictability of the creative process, zines are gloriously chaotic and difficult to pin down. Requiring little more to produce than a copy machine, a stapler and a vision, zines played a hugely democratiz
The Guardian7 min read
Gwyneth Paltrow: Is Her Life A Work Of Performance Art?
Ripping to shreds Gwyneth Paltrow’s Goop gift list has been a media preoccupation for years now, to the point that the website even titles it, “The ridiculous but awesome gift guide”. Still, even those not driven by well-documented animus towards Pal
The Guardian8 min read
PinkPantheress: ‘I Don’t Think I’m Very Brandable. I Dress Weird. I’m Shy’
PinkPantheress no longer cares what people think of her. When she released her lo-fi breakout tracks Break it Off and Pain on TikTok in early 2021, aged just 19, she did so anonymously, partly out of fear of being judged. Now, almost three years late

Related Books & Audiobooks