For us women, our monthly gift from mother nature isn’t really the nicest gift you’ll receive in your life. Periods can come on at the most irrelevant of times, often just before or during a holiday, during exams and other important dates. Some women like to control their periods and take certain birth control to know precisely when their period will come on, or stop your periods.
Period discretion
There’s a lot for us to do, it’s the ‘norm’ to wear a bra, and when our periods do come on, we’re often very discreet. Wearing tampons and trying to be as discreet as possible when changing them at school. It’s not just the blood that comes along with the period, we also can experience terrible cramps and mood swings. Every women experiences periods differently to others, one months period may be completely different to the next months.
Recently, there has been a lot coming from women about not wanting to hide away. There’s the #freethenipple campaign in full swing. Going back to when a period comes on at the most awkward and inappropriate of times, this article is really based on a women’s inspirational story which has recently flooded through the news. Basically, a women ran the whole London Marathon without a tampon to fight the ‘stigma of periods’. Any women reading this will see just how amazing Kiran Gandhi is. Would you be able to go to the shop without a tampon? I certainly wouldn’t, let alone run a marathon! You can read her experience on her blog.
Kiran’s marathon
Kiran ran the marathon for Breast Cancer Care, she raised a spectacular £3,800. She originally planned to run the marathon for family, but due to starting her period the night before the big day, that also included running for feminism. It takes some pure determination to decide to run a marathon without a tampon. If that were me, I’d be curled up in bed in pain or stashing lots of tampons into my bag. For Kiran, she decided that she didn’t want to run 26.2 miles while wearing a tampon. So yes, she ran all 26.2 miles in four hours, 49 minutes and 11 seconds with blood dripping down her legs. She did this for all women out there saying: “I ran with blood dripping down my legs for sisters who don’t have access to tampons and sisters who, despite cramping and pain, hide it away and pretend like it doesn’t exist”. All I can say is preach! Hallelujah, there are some lovely people out there. It’s made me realise that women shouldn’t have to feel that they need to hide their period. Of course, be discreet about it if you wish. I’m certainly not open enough to mention anything like that to people. I keep my period to myself, and only my closest friends know if I’m on mine or not.
“Why I ran a marathon on my period without a tampon” by @MadameGandhi http://t.co/b0ataYsqaV
— Victoria Derbyshire (@VictoriaLIVE) August 12, 2015
Here is a quote from Kiran which has me beaming full on, I love this women and her determination:
“I thought, if there’s one person society won’t f*** with, it’s a marathon runner. If there’s only one way to transcent oppression, it’s to run a marathon in whatever way you want”.
It makes you think, did her period stop her confidence? Of course not, if any, it made Kiran more determined and it empowered her. She’s definitely on my list of inspirational women and I’m sure has made a lot of people consider if the stigma of a women’s period is really irrelevant.
…and if you thought she couldn’t get any cooler then just wait until you see this:
