Dear Gossips,
In my work on television I try to talk about my period as often as I can. I do this because I am a person who menstruates and for those of us who menstruate, we’re dealing with this for at least five days out of every month. Which means I’m thinking about my period at least five days out of every month – at least that was the case up until a few years ago when it was regular; now I often think about my period 12-15 days out of every month because it’s around for that long or I’m thinking about it all month because it hasn’t come around and I’m wondering when it’ll arrive.
It's interesting seeing the reactions on the faces of audience members or reading through some of the comments on social media when I’m going on about my period. Some people become visibly uncomfortable; some even look disapproving. Because, of course, it’s allegedly inappropriate to discuss our periods in public, it’s supposedly unnecessary for a person who has their period to be putting it on blast. “I’m not saying don’t talk about it ever, Lainey, I get my period too but I’m not forcing everyone to hear about it.”
What are the consequences of not hearing about it though?
Well, for starters, period shame. Shame leads to silence, silence leads to misinformation and also disinformation. Not talking about menstruation and not making periods a priority has also resulted in a lack of research in women’s health and, therefore, devastating consequences for millions if not billions of people over the course of human history.
Which is f-cked up when you consider the fact that:
“The menstrual cycle is the wheel that drives humanity.”
That’s the first line from BLOOD, the new book by Dr Jen Gunter that “dispels the shame, mythology, and misinformation around menstruation with scientific facts, medical expertise, and a fierce feminist perspective”.
Talking about periods can only help those who menstruate. Have you suffered from severe menstrual pain that was left untreated for far too long? Has someone you know experienced the same? And might even still be untreated? You can trace that back to the way we’ve all been encouraged to stay quiet about our periods.
As Dr Gunter writes:
“One of the reasons why treating period pain is important: pain begets more pain, and the legacy of undertreated painful menstrual periods can have widespread implications. There is incredible biological complexity to menstrual pain itself, and it’s only made more complicated because a healthy serving of misogyny and inadequate research is layered on top.”
That healthy serving of misogyny is why periods have never been a priority. Talking about our periods, then, is a feminist act. So we at LaineyGossip are honoured to have been asked to exclusively reveal the cover of Dr Gunter’s BLOOD that will be released January 23, 2024.
With this book, Dr Gunter has provided those of us who menstruate with an empowering guide to understanding our bodies and EVERYONE a comprehensive guide to understanding humanity.
Yours in gossip,
Lainey
