Periods are a completely normal bodily function for approximately half the human population, and yet there is still a lot of shame and disgust attached to menstrual blood. Recently, one-woman shows her boyfriend her period blood for the first time… and CHAOS ensues! Except, not really. The guy’s really pretty chill about the whole thing — as he should be.
Kudos to this guy for not making a big deal out of some normal bodily fluids… but also, can we agree that this is kind of a low bar? (Isn’t it fair to expect guys, if not to be enthusiastic about menstrual fluid, at least to be mature about it?)
The big reveal doesn’t turn out to be that dramatic after all, but this does demonstrate how little many men actually know about what periods look like. For example, Steven seems to be surprised that menstrual fluid comes in a lot of different colors, from pink to nearly black. “I was imagining, like, blood red, what you’d imagine the reddest of the red to be,” he says.
One thing this, is that the stigma around periods doesn’t only come from men — a lot of women feel shame and embarrassment about this aspect of their biology. It’s sad how when I first got my period, how ashamed I was feeling about it.
This doesn’t suggest that women all need to start showing their menstrual blood, or that men all have to feel great about seeing it — but women shouldn’t feel shamed by it. I think there’s a way to be still respectful and not wanting to see this. … I think there’s a way to be nice about it and still be kind of squeamish.