Things You Didn’t Know About Periods

Source: LaylaBird / Getty

Our silence is painful

Okamoto noted one of the things that inspired her to move August along was group calls the team did during the exploration period. Women would ask questions about their periods and be shocked to find out how many others experienced the same things they thought they were alone in. Fainting was one such experience, but overall, women tend to remain silent about period pain and discomfort, assuming it’s inevitable. Ruby Moon, an education leader at August says, “We tend to normalize period pain because menstruation is yet another thing that the majority of the population experience and just have to push through.” If we opened up more about our experiences, we might come to find some symptoms should be reported to a doctor. But we may be shy to discuss this in general. August’s team tells us, “Only 32 percent of women in the U.S. stated they are comfortable talking to female classmates or colleagues about their periods.”