“We need more opportunities to highlight and amplify this work, eliminate the unfair stigma, and demand real change towards menstrual equity.”
Allié: When I look back at the uncomfortable and unsure state that set in with my period as a girl, I realize that I found myself in the same state as a woman. For me, it wasn’t until just recently that I lost that ‘uncomfortable’ feeling and found comfort in the natural cycle I was blessed with as a woman. How do we change this, Nadya? How do we help women feel comfortable in their own skin… in their own cycle? How do we change the narrative?
Nadya: So much of this work to end period poverty begins with starting conversations about the issue and about menstruation in the first place because it has been such a taboo topic throughout history. We need more opportunities to highlight and amplify this work, eliminate the unfair stigma, and demand real change towards menstrual equity. At August, we are also on a mission to de-gender periods. Gender does not dictate whether or not someone experiences menstruation. There is a saying that goes, "not all women menstruate, and not all menstruators are women." And what that refers to is that some people who might identify as women may not be of menstruating age, or might choose not to get a period by using something like birth control. And others who may menstruate may not identify as women, but may have been assigned female at birth and identify as nonbinary or transgender. Gender and sex are two separate things, and since menstruation is more directly linked to sex (eg. having a uterus), someone's gender identity is not equated to whether or not they get a period. We must center gender inclusivity in the menstrual movement. Learn more with this guide for gender inclusion period talk developed by August: awarenow.us/august-gender-inclusive-period-talk
29 AWARENOW / THE OUTSIDE EDITION
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