The hashtag #LiveTweetYourPeriod has been gathering steam in recent weeks. The tag, used by women tweeting the ups and downs of their rollercoaster ride with menstruation, provides a window into the experiences women keep quiet about every month.
Jokey tweets about eating the entire contents of the fridge mingle with wince-worthy “my uterus is being ripped out” statements and witty “my moon cup runneth over” one liners.
The hashtag isn’t just an outlet for the venting of monthly frustrations, however – it makes a clear statement about the way women’s bodies are viewed.
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Periods are a natural part of monthly life for 50 per cent of the population – yet we rarely talk about them – which is odd since every other part of women’s sexual anatomy is aired in the media on a daily basis.
Despite the ready availability of soft porn all over the internet – when artist Rupi Kaur posted a picture on Instagram that featured period blood, it was deleted due to being considered offensive.
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Whilst the sexualisation of women is rife in nearly every media outlet, the actual functions of our bodies are considered “a bit too gross” to talk about loudly.
The hashtag gained kudos from Jenna Wortham, who wrote about it in The New York Times Magazine. She said:
[The hashtag seems to be] a micro protest against a modern paradox. Social media is saturated with images of hypersexualized women, but these are rarely considered as scandalous as content that dares to reveal how a woman’s body actually functions.
Here are just a few of our favourite #LiveTweetYourPeriod comments…
Literally #LiveTweetYourPeriod pic.twitter.com/pMwaNp5bv2
— Laura no esta (@titisorto) June 22, 2015
Disarming a bomb is less stressful than realizing you have to sneeze. #LiveTweetYourPeriod pic.twitter.com/t1ekFlsRck
— Little Alice (@LittleAlice06) June 22, 2015
Don’t think I won’t kill and eat you today. #LiveTweetYourPeriod pic.twitter.com/bYg2Tdg98j — E (@VexSlain) May 19, 2015
Am I sad or happy, or is it just that I’ve run out of almond butter? http://t.co/KQnVcoeqKL #LiveTweetYourPeriod — Catrin Cooper (@catrincooper) May 5, 2015
I may get behind this hashtag RT @catrincooper: Hungry. For. EVERYTHING. #LiveTweetYourPeriod http://t.co/bCKHQ0OFg0 — Meryl O’Rourke© (@MerylORourke) April 10, 2015
Honestly maybe I am… Dying that is! #LiveTweetYourPeriod pic.twitter.com/2bfC9FfoPi — Nimko Ali (@NimkoAli) June 23, 2015
Periods come with their own unique frustrations for women who ride, or like to be active on a daily basis.
We find ourselves feeling off-par when struggling with PMS, affected emotionally and physically by contraception, and it’s hard to figure out what sanitary “protection” to opt for on the bike and when running around.
However, some users feel that tweeting details of individual women’s periods is just a bit too much information.
#LiveTweetYourPeriod is about the same thing as men live tweeting while taking a dump. #TMI
— Julie Borowski (@JulieBorowski) June 23, 2015
Do you think we need to start being more open about our periods, or do you think some things are best kept between you and the little bin in the toilet cubical? (Speaking of which – who decides how often those bins should be emptied? Perhaps we should start a new feed: #EmptySanitaryBinsMoreOften?)
We’d love to hear what you think of the #LiveTweetYourPeriod campaign…
