Surfing the crimson wave. Aunt Flo. That time of the month. On the rag. The period tracking app Clue found there are thousands of euphemisms people around the world use to talk about menstruation.
The question of why the menstrual cycle is so stigmatized is at the heart of “Periodical,” a new documentary by Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Lina Lyte Plioplyte. The film not only examines how something natural became so taboo but also features activists, medical experts and celebrities, such as Naomi Watts, Gloria Steinem and Megan Rapinoe, who are taking the conversation out of the restroom.
Plioplyte, 40, said that before working on the film, she never gave her period much thought, but she always knew it was something that wasn’t meant to be discussed.
“We are going through this intricate monthly event, and we are not really supposed to talk about it,” she said. “That ‘not supposed to talk about it’ sparked my asking, ‘But why?’”
Her curiosity gave rise to more questions that lasted longer than seven days. Why, for instance, do women feel they have to hide a tampon on the way to the ladies’ room?Why are they embarrassed to admit when it’s “that time of the month?” Why is Florida seeking to ban girls from talking about the menstrual cycle in schools?
Plioplyte said she made “Periodical,” which is now streaming on Peacock, to get to the root of this shame. The film also highlights educational programs, specialized diets, sacred rituals and protests of the tampon tax, the sales tax thatnearly two dozen states collect on the retail purchase of menstrual products.
“We have all the tools in the world to understand our cycles better, so we never, ever have to say ‘She is chaotic’ ever again,” Plioplyte said.
The Washington Post spoke with Plioplyte via Zoom about her film, her efforts to end the stigma of menstruation and finding the power in periods. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Q: “Periodical” discusses prominent tropes around menstruation. Tell me about them.
A: When a woman is acting out in public, we’re typically like “Is she on her period?” or “Is she PMS-ing?” We have that in our culture to call out women who are being anything but nice and sweet as if they are irrationally reacting to their cycle. Hollywood fed into that idea wholeheartedly because it creates culture. What we have are “Superbad” and “Carrie,” movies that show us menstruation is the most disgusting thing you could ever think of or it’s some kind of dangerous thing that you should not mess with.
Q: How can we end the stigma of periods?
A: Stigmas grow in the dark, and shining a light on it will make it go away. We should start endorsing carrying a tampon in your jacket pocket where it pokes out or walking to the bathroom in your office carrying them in your hand without hiding it in your sleeve. We can all be more effective in breaking down this taboo by being loud about our menstruation.
Q: What’s the goal of this film?
A: We just want to equip you with the right knowledge because no one has done it before. In the school system, you are not getting the information you need to be proactive with your body as a teenager. Schools are only teaching menstruation. We’re not teaching in schools about ovulation, which is an equally important part of the cycle. Knowing when you’re ovulating automatically gives you agency to prevent pregnancy. If you don’t know it, then you’re just afraid of your body, afraid of your cycle because you think you can get pregnant at all times every month.
Q: The film includes Megan Rapinoe, the soccer star, talking about competing during her period. How are professional athletes changing the conversation around menstruation?
A: They’re figuring out how to exercise differently, do endurance exercises, do different food intake depending on the time of month. What happened with the U.S. women’s national soccer team is that they started tracking every single player. The World Cup is a month long so everybody gets their period. They figured if we played the endurance game, if we understood how we could be the most optimal when ovulating or menstruating while playing, that would give us the biggest chance to win.
Q: What was the most surprising thing you learned while making “Periodical?”
A: The Lakota Native Americans celebrate their cycles, and they see that women are more connected to the divine when they menstruate. Now, take that as a remover of stigma. Before the 1978 American Indian Religious Freedom Act, the Lakota were forbidden from practicing their ritual, Isnati, which is a four-day coming-of-age ceremony for a girl who starts bleeding. Speaking about this is revolutionary.
Q: What do you want viewers to take away from “Periodical?”
A: I really hope people get excited and more curious about their bodies and their cycles. Now, we have just enough science to start digging deeper. Do we have all the answers? Absolutely not. We barely know that endometriosis happens to 1 in 10 women. And only a few people have started talking about [menopause] out loud. This is the reason why we got Naomi Watts because she decided to open up about her early perimenopause journey. That’s another tide that’s rising to flip the conversation not only about sexism but also about ageism.
Q: What’s next for the menstruation movement?
A: What’s next is finding a way to talk about menstruators in the Deep South and the remaining 21 states in which the tampon tax is still prevailing. What’s next is discussions about how we’re dealing with perimenopause and symptoms in the workplace. We understand that women are going through something like puberty in reverse. Perhaps we can be more empathetic.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2023/11/22/periodical-documentary-periods-stigma/
NO COAST MENOPAUSE 