Menstruation without a filter
“I have a friend who, when he heard the words “period” or “menstruation”, would turn red as a beetroot. It embarrassed him so much that there was absolutely no chance for him to talk freely about it”, Karolina Marcok-Olejniczak recalls. Earlier this year, she created the Instagram profile “Mam okres” [“I’m on my period”]. She runs it together with her husband Grzegorz (“because periods are not just a women’s matter”). In one of her first posts, she emphasises, “I’ve always enjoyed talking about periods, I did it wherever I could, it was incredibly fun to educate others about different period solutions or how the body functions during menstruation.”
The account is followed by over a thousand people, I came across it while browsing the hashtags: okres [period] (over 13 thousand posts), menstruacja [menstruation] and miesiączka [menstruation] (over 5 thousand posts each). The tags direct to graphics explaining, for example, the menstrual cycle, photos of panties soaked in menstrual blood, posts about menstruation-related experiences, and finally offers of reusable sanitary pads or menstrual cups (zero-waste period).
Most of these posts didn’t come about by accident. They are part of the menstrual-positive movement, which is supposed to make periods no longer a cause for shame, and talking about them no longer a taboo perpetuated by generations.
Some profiles have grown out of the need of menstruating people to share their thoughts and learn about others’ experiences. A lot of users also use Instagram as a platform for education about menstruation.
“Doctors don’t talk about mundane women’s issues, and when I bring up the topic of menstruation or hygiene in the office, it turns out that a lot of things still need to be explained”, the gynaecologist who posts on Instagram as Wróżka Cipuszka [Pussy Fairy] (almost 3,000 followers) tells me. Under a graphic with the slogan “Okres nie jest niebieski” [“The period is not blue”] she writes: “Yes, the secretion that flows from the female body contains red blood and yes, menstruation is a natural phenomenon. Sometimes it is a cause of pain and malaise, but it is also a source of great joy! Want to talk about being on your period? That’s okay. Don’t want to talk about it? That’s okay, too. But don’t be embarrassed and don’t be ashamed of your menstruation! Like your period! And if it is blue, be sure to contact a doctor!”
Basia Pietruszczak, journalist and author of the book “Twoje ciałopozytywne dojrzewanie” [“Your body-positive pubescence”], created the profile “Pani Miesiączka” [“Mrs Menstruation”] (over 12k followers) on Instagram in May 2019. At the time, she was one of the first who decided to counteract the period taboo also with posts on Instagram. Now, she says, the topic has germinated and you can see it on social media as well. “Every year in Poland, more and more people are talking about menstruation. In the mainstream media, the discussion was sparked by the 2016 cover of the “Wysokie Obcasy” magazine with a sanitary pad on the cover. Last year’s report by the Kulczyk Foundation on menstrual exclusion was also an important event, but most of all it was the grassroots activity of women and activists. Of organisations such as Różowa Skrzyneczka [Pink Box] or Akcja Menstruacja [Menstruation Action], but also all the others which are now uniting under the banner of Okresowa Koalicja [Period Coalition]”, points out Basia Pietruszczak. And she adds, “Also, the politically turbulent reality is pushing women and menstruating people to speak openly about what affects us that has remained hidden until now. I feel like we’re at a historic moment of reclaiming our bodies for ourselves. And part of that is the reclaiming and validation of our periods”.
But to break the taboo, Instagram itself had to mature. It was helped by Rupi Kaur. A Canadian poet of Indian descent showed a picture of a woman with a bloodstain on her pants on her profile. Instagram deleted the post twice, claiming that it violates the terms of use of the site. Some commentators were also dissatisfied. They wrote to her, “Fuck your feminism” or “Come over here and let me make your vagina bleed”. When Kaur made headlines in connection with the censorship of her photo, Instagram acknowledged the mistake and apologised. That was in 2015. Since then, according to Polish Instagrammers, the algorithms have become more tolerant of pictures of panties or sanitary pads with menstrual blood. “But sometimes you can get a shadow ban. It’s a way of limiting the profile’s features and reach that the user may not be aware of”, explains Gabriela Krysiak, who goes by the nickname monthiest on Instagram. By day, she sews and sells menstrual panties but, as she says, the profile serves to get people used to periods. “What does menstrual taboo mean to you?”, she asks in one of the entries. It was accompanied by a picture of a person reading in blood-soaked panties. “Instagram took the post down three times, probably thinking I was promoting nudity. Only when I reported what the issue was, a human verified it instead of an algorithm and restored the photo”, says monthiest.
The profile of Pani Miesiączka [Mrs Menstruation] is dominated by infographics. “The idea is to include information, among others, on legislative changes that are taking place around the world and which concern menstruation”, explains the profile’s administrator. But she’s quick to admit that Instagram is also a good place for memes. “I think humour is the best form of breaking taboos. Of course, reliable information about menstrual periods and menstrual cycles is important, but when faced with ingrained shame, memes can do a lot”, she admits.
To dispel menstrual shame, she also decided to collect herstories and other stories about first periods. “It’s a liminal moment accompanied by very different emotions. I wanted to collect them and publish them so that we could see how different human experiences are”, says Basia, who receives dozens of messages on this subject.
“I was 13 at the time. Once I’d finally got it, I wanted to wash the underwear I had dirtied. When my mother saw this, she yelled at me harshly. I thought it was my fault that I was a woman and that I was on my period”, wrote 19-year-old Wiki.
“I woke up one morning and Mrs Menstruation was there. I received her with excitement – I felt very mature and special. When I came out of the bathroom, I told my grandmother, who hugged me and said with a smile on her face, ‘Congratulations, welcome in our midst’”, recalls 24-year-old Daria.
Basia Pietruszczak: “I believe that storytelling has a therapeutic power, and I believe that listening to each other can be purifying”.
Such “period stories, memes, facts and tips” are also collected by the administrators of the “Stories of miesiączka” [“Stories of menstruation”] profile.
“Whether you associate your period story with pain, fear, sadness or a positive memory, telling it will help lift the spirits of all the girls who felt ashamed or did not receive support from anyone on this important day”, she encourages in one of the posts of Wróżka Cipuszka [Pussy Fairy].
Social media are also a place where even the subject of menstruation can provoke negative reactions.
“Normalising menstruation? I find this picture disgusting.”
“Everyone knows periods aren’t blue. But why show something in ads that can cause unpleasant feelings?”
“I menstruate, but every time I see blood, I feel faint. I don’t understand what showing such photos will change.”
These are just some of the comments I find under posts related to menstruation. “The menstrual-positive movement is not about telling the world you’re on your period. But thanks to talking about menstruation, even on Instagram, the taboo begins to fall apart. And this is the most important thing”, emphasises Basia, i.e. Pani Miesiączka [Mrs Menstruation].
“Menstrual blood should not be shown, just like urine and faeces are not shown”, Karolina Marcok-Olejniczak faced such arguments even before she started her Instagram profile. She wrote a bachelor thesis about the period, or, more to the point, about how the topic is represented in advertisements and media. “The conclusion was that menstruation raises a lot of very different reactions, but most people are rather reserved when it comes to it. I don’t quite understand where it came from, but I decided to counteract the menstrual taboo”, she says. In addition to her Instagram profile “Mam okres” [“I’m on my period”], she founded a company with the same name and today sells, among others, menstrual cups and panties and reusable pads. She recalls that the beginnings of the business were difficult. And that’s because some people found the name of the company hard to swallow. “I go to the airport distribution centre to pick up the packages. And there’s a lady who works there who, when I said I was from Mam Okres [I’m On My Period], asked in a whisper, ‘I’m on my period?‘ I said, ‘Yes, yes, I’m On My Period‘”, says Karolina. But a few visits have made words seem easier to say. “Now, when I come, the lady who dispatches the parcels says that she has something for Mam Okres at the top of her voice”, says Karolina with excitement. “Running a profile on Instagram, I find that a lot of people don’t know how to talk openly about their periods, that they look for other terms, like ‘red sea’ or ‘Aunt Flo’”, Karolina says. And she adds that she would like everyone to say the word “period” or “menstruation” without embarrassment. She credits herself with some success already, “The guy who blushed when he heard about menstruation even talks about menstrual cups today!”
Author: Monika Waluś
Photo: Olga Plesińska
On the photo: Gabriela Krysiak, known as a monthiest
The text was published in „Wysokie Obcasy” a magazine of „Gazeta Wyborcza” on 4 September 2021
