Women of Reddit around the world, how stigmatised were periods in your household growing up?

10 comments

1. Nada.. grab a tampon and get moving

2. I’m in the UK and they weren’t. I’m the youngest of 3, with an older sister and a mum who both had periods before I had them. My dad especially was super chill about it, he didn’t care. He’d go out and buy me chocolate, pads, painkillers… whatever I needed.

3. No stigma at all in my household. It’s just a regular bodily function.

   (I’m from Germany)

4. Not really stigmatized within the household, but it was still something I was encouraged to keep on the downlow anywhere else as if it were something to hide or be ashamed of in some way.

5. No stigma at all.

6. Very I got yelled at for keeping a tampon *box* in my room while my uncle came round and my mum still whispers it like it’s some secret. and says it’s not for my dad/brother to know. Grow up luv

7. I don’t know. On the one hand I remember my dad asking us if we needed any period products and him buying them, yet I remember feeling uncomfortable around my family with my period and trying to hide it.

8. My mom was super Catholic and told me that periods were a sign that your body could procreate and I would be SMITED if I engaged before marriage. Not much talk. When I got my period I had no idea what to do. Freaked me out. Didn’t tell my mom. Anyways , because I wasn’t allowed to go to any sex Ed classes I wasn’t aware it came back.
   Had a co-Ed gym class and had to to my two minute gymnastics routine. In front of two joined classes. After, the boy I had a crash on told me I had my period. Yup. Did my whole routine with it all over my pants.
   So it was stigmatized and I made sure my sisters didn’t experience the same thing. Now that I have kids I had the full conversation and am very open.

9. Whenever I got my period my siblings would throw tampons at me and say “plug it up””

10. I think the stigma came more from me. I was mortified, talking about it. Mum asked me if I wanted to see how a pad worked (back in the 80s when they were still used with a ‘belt’) and I said no way. But farts and poos weren’t talked about in our house either, so that’s probably why. I still have issues.