Bathroom Quandary

Tiffani D.  •   Pennsylvania  •  24

 

It was the summer before 5th grade and no other girls had gotten their period yet. I was staying at my grandmother's and woke up from a nap to what felt like pee in my underwear. Embarrassed, I went to the bathroom and pulled down my pants and it was covered in reddish brown liquid. I swore I just had a wet fart, so I changed my underwear and threw the old ones away.

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A few hours later I had the same sensation, and the same liquid was on my new pair of underwear. I didn't know what was happening to me, I thought I was peeing out poop. I hid in my grandmother's bathroom until my mom picked me up and told me that I was simply becoming a woman...

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Period Pride

Diane R.  •   Illinois  •  62

 

As the youngest person in my class, I watched all my friends get their period. For me? Nothing. For some strange reason, I remember thinking that I must be gay.

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On April 23, 1968 I finally got me period and realized that I was definitely not gay. Mostly because as everyone hopefully knows, the two don't have anything to do with each other.

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The Curse of Womanhood

Allison W.  •   Illinois  •  35

 

It was a Sunday and my mom and I had just returned home from Catholic Mass. I was a scrawny, late-blooming 12-year-old who was closer to Barbies than bras. I had a stomach ache so I went into the bathroom and there it was. Blood.

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I burst into uncontrollable sobs. My poor mom, who was baffled by my reaction, tried to comfort me, gently offering me pads and tampons, but I was devastated. I wasn't ready and the fact that it clearly started during Mass felt like an extra little "fuck you."


Anyway, my period is still a total asshat that I hate but at least I'm not Catholic anymore.

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