Have you ever missed school/work/an event due to pain or discomfort? Were you surprised at how little non-menstruating people know about all this?
- No.
- No. I don't feel it's a 'valid' reason due to internalised misogyny.
- I personally haven’t. Hearing friends’ experiences those who have extreme pain/discomfort/heavy flow should definitely get time off/WFH without question and with full sympathy and understanding.
- So many!!
- Yes and yes. You don’t feel like you can be honest about the reason why.
- Yeah for school and uni. Think my job’s too high pressure and too busy thatIi never take a sick day – I’d feel way too guilty.
- Yes, I always take a day off work when I get my period because the pain is too much for me to focus or even be comfortable and I feel like I need to be comfortable to use the bathroom. My boss (a guy) never understands.
- Yes and yes.
- Yes.
- I have always powered through and gone to work because I knew my male bosses wouldn’t think period pain was a valid reason to miss it. Because of this I have had episodes of crying in toilets from pain – you just get on with it.
- No. Not really. But the level of pain for me has never been bad enough. I know people who have though and it’s understandable but not necessarily accepted.
- Yes and yes!
- I wished I could but it always felt like a cheap excuse so you just have to deal with it.
- No – but probably should’ve taken days off.
- Yeah...
- Yes, often. I usually don't admit that's the reason though.
- Yes, I have missed many occasions. I am surprised considering 50% of the population menstruate.
- Yes.
- Yes, I missed work even if I dragged myself to work whilst in excruciating pain on trains and buses, only to be sent home soon after.
- Yes, plenty of times. Before WFH I used to call in sick to work every month.
- Yes, I have missed school although now with the option to work from home, I’d probably just suffer in silence at home
- Yes, no.
- Not that I can think of. I'd be afraid to use it as an excuse because I don't want to be judged or seen as weak/feeble. Would have liked to skip events/work for it sometimes.
- No, as mine are not bad.
- I’ve missed plenty. I had to run back home from school because all my pants were full of blood. I cancelled events with friends because I would rather be in a horizontal position for the day.
- And yes, I’m still surprised that non menstruating people know so little about how it works and how it makes you feel.
- Yes, I have missed events and I regularly had to miss lessons at school because the pain and nausea was so intense it made me vomit in the school toilets. Even some people who do menstruate but have less painful periods are sometimes surprised by this.
- Yes, I had to lie that I was sick of something else.
- Yes, yes and YES.
- Yes and yes. All the time.
- Yes, I plan everything around my period and will definitely not go on holiday or do sport on my period.
- I’m not surprised that men don’t know much, but all teachers should know more.
- Yes
- Yes, I’ve missed work. But no, I’m not really surprised about how little is known about it by non-bleeding people, it’s still a very taboo area and still conditioned to have so much shame attached to it, makes it hard to talk about.
- Yes.
- Yes I have. I got into trouble for missing school.
- Yes, I've missed work. Continually surprised by how little some non-menstruators know (some are great though).
- Yes and not really, the pain and discomfort of periods isn't spoken about enough. Though in this scenario, calling in 'sick' is enough you shouldn't have to stipulate why.
- I've missed events – I'm not surprised because it's been happening for so long.
- Yes and yes! They don't understand and don't want to relate so you feel like you're lying or over-exaggerating. It's not dirty either.
- Yes, it happens maybe four times a year. I just tell people I'm sick so they dont think I'm weak.
- Once.
- Occasionally but I wouldn’t have said the real reason why.
- Yes.
- Yes and yes.
- Yes. To be honest I’ve never asked, but it wasn’t until recently when I started seeing more street interview videos with men asking them about periods/how many tampons a woman would use over the course of her period that I realised how little non-menstruators know
- No, I've never missed school or work.
- No, I've always just awkwardly pushed through.
- No, because my period takes longer but is weaker. It surprises me every day.
- Yep. I wasn't surprised and was treated like an absolute skiver.
- Had to leave school plenty of times because of the excruciating pain and had to skip some events. Not only was I surprised by the lack of knowledge, but also by the lack of empathy and shame they would inflict upon me.