{"id":2880,"date":"2026-07-29T11:16:33","date_gmt":"2026-07-29T15:16:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/monthlydignity.org\/?p=2880"},"modified":"2026-07-31T11:31:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T15:31:14","slug":"period-stories-across-cultures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/monthlydignity.org\/fr\/period-stories-across-cultures\/","title":{"rendered":"Histoires de r\u00e8gles \u00e0 travers les cultures"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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I grew up in a very conservative Muslim South Asian household where the topic of menstruation was highly stigmatized. As a young child, I was forbidden from attending sex education classes or even mentioning to my dad that I got my period. My very first experience, and the ones following that, were quite traumatic: constant pain, heavy blood flow, and difficulty sleeping properly. In addition, as a Muslim woman, I wasn\u2019t allowed to pray, enter the mosque, or even read the Quran. If someone asked why I wasn\u2019t going to the mosque on a certain day, I just had to say, \u201cI am sick.\u201d<\/span><\/p>

This article is a collection of stories across different cultures around the world. I, being an advocate of representation and cultural awareness, wanted to bring to life the stories of fellow women who, like me, went through real struggles with menstruation and how it is seen in other parts of the world.<\/span><\/p>

A common thread that appears in many of these interviews is the same: menstruation is a silenced issue. Women, regardless of their culture, country of origin, or religion, are often not allowed to talk about periods in any circumstance. They are told to suffer in silence and put up with all the cramps that come with it. There is still a lack of education in many schools and a lack of facilities in many rural areas.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

In the western society, the conversations are not any better. In Europe, in the States, or Canada, we grew up with ads of women being confident and pain-free during their periods: happily working out, confidently commuting to work, and comfortably going about their daily lives. These ads and campaigns were a lie about menstruation, portraying an unrealistic reality of what women truly experience during that week: mood swings, pain, fatigue, and more. Commercial companies have been great at selling us the idea that during the period week, we would be invincible with our \u201cleak-free\u201d period pads.<\/span><\/p>

On the flip side, though, it seems there is a lot more awareness nowadays with women standing up for themselves and against what we were told; we are finally telling the truth. Every single woman I interviewed is craving to share her story. We are creating a movement where we no longer hide when it comes to passing a pad to a friend in need;, we no longer whisper when we need a pad, we no longer \u201c put up with the pain\u201d and decide to stay at work because we have to.<\/span><\/p>

Many of these women are part of organizations that are starting a revolution to bring more awareness of period issues: the need for clean washrooms, the need to educate girls at schools and in the communities about basic hygiene, and the need to provide free period products.\u00a0 The future is bright, and our stories won’t go silenced.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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