What Nobody Told Us About Our Periods, and Why That Has to Change
By Julia Demillones Moore, IMH-C, Menstrual Cycle Educator
Think back to your very first period.
Perhaps it came in the middle of a school day, on vacation, or during a birthday party. Maybe you felt a rush of shame or confusion before you even fully understood what was happening. Maybe you wondered with terror, Am I dying?
And then someone's older sister handed you a pad ,or you had to be the one to seek one out for yourself… in the back of a bathroom cabinet, at the nurse's office, or riding your bicycle to the pharmacy in town. Maybe your mom left a book on your nightstand or slid a pamphlet under your door. Perhaps there was a short, hushed talk that ended before it really began. Or you kept it to yourself for many months, quietly carrying it alone, until someone caught on.
For millions of people, that moment set the tone for decades to come. We learned to fold our pads quietly so they wouldn't crinkle. To tuck a tampon up our sleeve on the way to the bathroom. To smile through cramps that had us doubled over, because suffering in silence was simply what you did. We were handed a biological reality and told, in so many ways through hushed conversations, through omissions, through rushed and (embarrassing!) clinical health classes that our body was something to manage and that we would have to endure, rather than something to understand.
And so most of us never did.
Decades of lived experience, and still so many of us are strangers to our own bodies and cycles because of the myth that menstrual cycle literacy is beyond our intelligence and because our bodies were never considered worthy of understanding.
Menstrual silence has a cost and a burden. For us it can show up as shame, taboo, anxiety. We shrink and minimize when we should expand, decades of silently enduring what our bodies were trying to tell us. A stifling of our inner knowing and connection that impacts the quality of our lives.
Now think about the preteen in your life. This bright, curious child!
Maybe it's your daughter. Your niece. A student. A child who is approaching adolescence right now, on the edge of something big, and looking (consciously or not) to the adults around her for a signal. Is this something to be ashamed of? Is my body something to hide?
You have the power to give her a completely different experience.
Menstrual cycle education goes beyond biology. Yes, it is about hormones and anatomy and physiology. But it does not stop there. Actually, this is just the beginning. Teaching young people that their bodies are not embarrassing problems to be managed, but a process and rhythm to be understood and be aware of, is the root of self-esteem and confidence. When a girl learns to recognize the rhythms of her own unique cycle, she has access to a whole other level of awareness. When she understands why she feels the way she feels and can name it, work with it, communicate about it, she gains something profound that will develop for the rest of her life: trust in herself.
This confidence and understanding becomes her foundation to speak her truth, make informed decisions, and trust her intuition and creativity.
This is why I do this work. And this is why I'm inviting our community to be part of it.
Period positivity events that I facilitate are designed to educate, normalize, and celebrate what our bodies do. When we gather in circle as parents, caregivers, and preteens, something remarkable happens. The room shifts. Girls who arrived unsure begin asking questions, sharing curiosities, exhaling. And in that exhale, the bridge to adolescence materializes. The space to have real and open conversations is cultivated. Since 2024, I have had the honor of witnessing this with over 50 families- their daughters leaving with a sense of belonging, preparedness, and awe.
To join or host a Period Positivity Event, email Julia at julia@wisegal.org.
