Can Period Simulators End Stigma?

While scrolling through YouTube or Instagram, you might have stumbled across videos for the “Period Simulator Challenge.” For this challenge, participants, usually men, strap a device on their stomachs that makes them feel the same pain that women do when they have period cramps. At first glance, the videos may seem as ridiculous as the Fire Noodle Challenge or the challenge where people try to eat a spoonful of cinnamon. But men often leave the Period Simulator Challenge with new awe and respect for women who experience menstrual pain. This challenge could help men and women have honest conversations about periods — and could help erase the stigma around a completely natural part of life.

When I first got my period in middle school, I referred to it as “the red wave” to my mom. I thought this was a funny inside joke between my mom and me, but people in lots of other countries also have code names for periods: in Austria, it’s called “strawberry week”; in Brazil, it’s “I’m with Chico”; in South Africa, “Granny’s stuck in traffic.” These euphemisms may seem harmless, but they reinforce period stigma by making girls believe that periods are something they should talk about in code.

In middle and high school, I thought my period was a secret I could only openly share with my mom and doctor. Whenever we would ask each other for a pad or tampon in school, we would always do it as quietly as possible. It was almost as if we were handling contraband and not giving out hygiene products. There’s this belief that when you have your period, you should be quiet about it. That idea is reinforced by the name of my favorite brand of pads: “Always Discreet.”

When I got to college, my attitude toward my period changed. My classmate and I were talking one day, and she casually joked that she was going to “do homework while suffering from [her] period cramps.” I laughed because I was also on my period that day. I had cramps, a headache, and felt exhausted. I excitedly responded, “I'm on my period too!” Suddenly, I wasn’t tired anymore. It was as if being able to talk openly with her made my pain go away.

The conversation I had with my classmate is just one example of how positive language about periods can help us all overcome shame-induced stigma. In 1980, Jeanne Brooks-Gunn developed the Menstrual Attitude Questionnaire, which presented many participants with unexpected and previously unrecognized positive aspects of their menstrual cycles. This survey asked participants when they experienced high spirits, self-confidence, and feelings of power during their cycles. In more recent years, period tracker apps like Flo and Clue also help users find joy in their cycles by marking dates when they are expected to feel calm or energetic.

It’s important for people to learn from a young age to talk to each other openly about their periods. The trending period simulator videos are examples of why boys need to be involved in the conversation, too. The boys who take part in this challenge are often shocked by the pain they experience, and their reaction could be due to never asking others about how they feel while on their periods. Anytime I bring up my period around one of my young adult relatives, he immediately gets grossed out and says, “I don’t want to hear about that.” Boys need to learn from a young age that periods aren’t “gross” but a natural part of puberty.

Period education often begins after young people have already had their first periods. This late start means that when young people do have their periods, it often causes them fear, shame, and embarrassment. Educating all young people about periods early on, therefore, can help give all groups a better understanding of sexual health.

Comments on period simulator videos often express happiness that men acknowledge the hardships that come with experiencing period cramps while working, exercising, or taking care of their families. “Watching this on my period feels so therapeutic,” one commentator wrote. “I’m on my period and I’m kinda dying in pain. So I purposely searched this up so I can see others suffer too lol,” wrote another. The Period Simulator Challenge gives periods more visibility in the media, which is great. Still, conversations about periods will be even more effective if they start earlier, with boys and girls, face to face.