Overcoming Period Shame Through Education and Body Literacy | Kate Morton | TEDxKoenigLane

[Music] thank you [Music] today I'm going to share a story with you guys I've actually never shared publicly first I want to introduce you to the main character this is 10 year old Kate getting ready to start fifth grade who had just moved to a new school struggling to find confidence but was definitely on her way there could you imagine starting your period for the first time in front of your entire fifth grade class at age 10. well that's exactly what happened to me I was at recess walking across the balance beam feeling confident in

my brand new khaki pants when a group of boys came up behind me snickering and laughing they asked me what's that big spot on the back of your pants did you have an accident instantly shame fear and humiliation engulfed me my face turned bright red and I had tears spring to my eyes I jumped off the balance beam and ran to the bathroom as quickly as I could when I sat in that bathroom stall and pulled down my pants I realized they were filled with blood something I had never seen or experienced before and you

can imagine my confusion and fear sitting in that bathroom stall I did eventually figure out that I think I had started my period but something shifted deep inside of me and that was shame I felt like I had done something wrong none of the other girls in my class had started their periods yet and I felt different and ashamed of my body that was my first introduction to period shame but it wouldn't be my last this shame led me to get bullied all through elementary school middle school and high school for starting my period early

and very publicly and also going through puberty before the other girls in my class I started extreme dieting and restrictive exercise plans and this led to a long long battle being deeply disconnected from my body but I also wasn't ready to become a woman as everybody was telling me I didn't even know what that meant and I was deeply under educated and disconnected on my body so I wish I could tell this 10 year old I'm about to tell you guys it wasn't her fault she didn't do anything wrong when she started her period it's

the world around her that needs to change and the lack of education is a major problem sadly this seems to be a common theme the average age in the United States to start your period is 12. this is the same year that girls become at a higher risk for developing an eating disorder and following the same path that I did Young menstruators deserve better when I started my period I knew that it was not going to be an easy Road for me from then on and I quickly got a crash course in the period stigma

but if you're not familiar with it I'll run you through it first let's talk about the education you get as a young administrator it starts off by separating students by gender educating them on their bodies so to say but only 17 states require medically accurate sex education and that doesn't even have to include menstruation then I had to sign something saying I wouldn't actually share what I learned we weren't allowed to talk about what we learn in our separate classes together further deepening my shame or what about the fact that 60 of people report feeling

uncomfortable talking about periods and eighty percent of people think that menstruation is unsanitary how do we expect to have period positive education in a society that still finds it gross disgusting and unsanitary but what about pop culture we learn a lot there too it's not just all at school or at home well when I started menstruating the two biggest movies were super bad and mean girls everyone's probably seen them and you may recall they have two horrible scenes about periods let's start with super bad where Jonah Hill's character is Dancing with a girl at a

party and she bleeds through her skirt getting blood on his jeans he instantly announces to the entire party what's happened screams how disgusting it is and his friends start snapping pictures and sending them around the school cue every teenage girl's worst nightmare or Mean Girls when one of the students shares in an assembly that everyone keeps writing she's not a virgin because she uses jumbo tampons she can't help but if she has a wide set vagina and a heavy flow the male counselor looks her in the eye and says I can't do this and leaves

the room leaving her there with no answers and feeling ashamed or what about what this looks like in policy in the states we live in let's talk about Texas do you know that there's a tampon tax here period products are taxed as a luxury item yes the irony is not lost on me there and this tax is 8.5 it makes an estimated 28 million dollars a year for the State of Texas and you know what that looks like for the average administrator about 18 000 in your lifetime spent on period products one in five girls

right here in America is missing education opportunities as well as school because they don't even have access to these products or can't afford them so we need to get something sorted right now periods are not gross they are not disgusting and they are not unsanitary everyone in this room is quite literally here because of a missed period so menstruation is the future we can't continue to move forward without menstruation and it's time it got recognition it deserved so how did I get up on a tedx stage to tell you about periods when I was this

10 year old girl deeply ashamed and afraid of my own body education changed my life as a dietitian I moved into the period world not expecting it for it to change my entire world I learned the value of the menstrual cycle and I want to give you a glimpse of what menstrual education could look like and only about 60 seconds keep in mind there's a lot more to learn but did you know that the menstrual cycle and a period are actually two different things your period is just one of the four phases of the menstrual

cycle on your period this is your physical bleed it shouldn't be painful or uncomfortable but you might be more tired it's okay to say no to activities and hang out at home after you finish menstruating you move into your follicular phase this phase might feel like spring to you your energy is rising along with estrogen you might feel more creative and you might want to go out and hang out with your friends more enjoy your energy and creativity but you're gearing up for ovulation ovulation is the next phase of your cycle that phase when the

egg is physically released and it's a phase everyone should learn to track and if you're having cervical mucus get familiar with what's in your underwear because it will give you an indication if you're ovulating after ovulation the corpus luteum forms producing progesterone and moving you into the luteal phase this phase is really great for accomplishing tasks and getting things done it can also be associated with PMS but PMS is common not normal and that's great news so you can move past it and have a good period if the egg is not fertilized the whole cycle

starts over again that is just a glimpse of what menstrual education could look like in schools and I don't know about you but that's not the education I received I like to know how things work and I like to know what's going on in my body that's a huge way we could do that if you're standing here and you're like well I don't have a period maybe it doesn't relate to me periods are for everyone and I want to give you guys three actions you can do right now to be more period positive in your

life one when you leave this talk everyone has access to Google right now Google the menstrual cycle learn something new and turn around and share it with someone whether they have a period or not number two stock period products in your office or your house again menstruation is for everyone you never know who's going to be in your space this is a great way to show you're an ally and that you support menstruation number three get familiar with what's going on in your community if that fact about the tampon tax surprised you I guarantee you'd

be horrified if you continue to do your research and figured out what else was going on unfortunately so now we've talked about periods and I appreciate you guys having an open mind I never thought I'd be up here doing this and 10 year old Kate would be so proud of 28 year old Kate for celebrating her cycle and learning about her body I still have to work on period positivity and to undo the stigma that was laid deep inside but if I can make this transition so can anyone in this room or anyone who's watching

I encourage you to take this seriously and give the next generation of menstruators a chance to leave free of period shame for their entire lives thank you guys [Applause] foreign