A review by emeelee
Period: Twelve Voices Tell the Bloody Truth by Kate Farrell

3.0

Menstruation stigma is a global human rights issue. When people who menstruate don’t have the means to safely manage their periods, when they don’t have access to supplies, or to bathrooms where they feel safe, they miss out on education and the opportunities it leads to. All societies suffer when half their populations have their educational and economic potential cut short.

3.5 stars. Period is a collection of essays, mostly biographical, by various authors surrounding the subject of menstruation. It is not a book about reproductive anatomy, but rather how periods affect the people who experience them, in ways as varied and similar as the people are themselves. It is about the culture of shame and silence that has historically surrounded this topic, and the necessity of sharing period stories in order to normalize this experience and move toward making it equitable and non-limiting for all.

Periods happen to lots and lots of people. Many of them are women and girls, but those of us who are something else should have a context for our experience and a way of talking about it without being misgendered.

What this essay collection has accomplished really well is including a diverse range of contributors. Included are essays about having a period while: intersex; transgender; black; wheelchair-bound; homeless. The essays are fairly US-centric, though. I especially enjoyed Kylyssa Shay's essay on homeless menstrual experiences and Jennifer Weiss-Wolf's about the politics of periods (including the "Tampon Tax"). I've been inspired to start regularly donating menstrual products to local shelters and charities.

It’s not unreasonable to provide free menstrual products everywhere[…] We have free toilet paper, so wanting the same for menstrual products is not extreme. This is a normal human function.

Though many of the essays were short and a bit shallow, I think Period broaches a taboo topic in an accessible and attractive way. The book has a very pleasing format and design, which is a mixture of the traditionally feminine (pink, fancy typescript) and traditionally grotesque ("blood-stained" edges and splash pages). There's also suggestions for further reading/watching in the back of the book. This is a quick read, and worth the time it takes to do so.

By establishing an expectation of period shaming, many modern societies prevent the opportunity to actually bond over an experience that half of the world’s population will likely have in their life.