Period. A Full Stop.

When was the last time a social media post stopped your mindless scrolling? I mean stopped you in your tracks — took over your mind, body and heart — not just to like and share that cute video of a dog getting a little brother as a surprise (one of my firm favourites) — but to stop and think.

I was scrolling through my Instagram feed on my commute home, catching up with #puppiesofinstagram, when a post stopped me in my tracks. A full stop. Screeching tyres, marks on the asphalt — I came to a halt.

As I was taking in the true meaning behind the post and engaged with the caption, my heart began to ache.

“More than 137,700 10 to 18-year-olds in the UK missed out on their education last year because of period poverty”, and then my heart broke.

I could not let go. It deeply affected me, bothered me and made me feel uncomfortable. Here’s why:

Anger, frustration and sadness — all in one: That many clever, strong and brave girls should not be forced to miss school because of something that is ENTIRELY out of their hands.

Not in 2018, not in a country so wealthy as the UK.

Here’s what we can do about it (note: we, it takes a village, people! Men: If you have a mother, a sister, a female friend, a daughter or a wife, then you too, should be involved.):

When I was younger, he stocked up on panty liners and sanitary towels during his weekly shop. He made sure I never went without, proudly parading his most recent bargain in front of the family, calculating the saving he had made (note: I do that too. I am so much like my dad, it’s scary.) He never bought the cheapest brand, but ensured quality and usability (and did not refrain to ask for consumer feedback).

I did not have to stand in line at the check-out, trying to casually slip the hygiene product I so desparately needed under a magazine I bought as a cover-up.* Until now I hadn’t fully appreciated how much he championed me in such a small, seemingly insignificant way. Thanks, dad, you’re awesome.

Start conversations. Ask questions, offer support (chocolate is always welcome) and make sure a hot water bottle is near to ease discomfort when ‘Aunt Irma is visiting’ (let’s also stop using that .

Remember that our uterus has a temper tantrum once a month and rips itself apart, because we didn’t get pregnant, again (yes, just like that two-year-old, kicking and screaming on the supermarket floor embarrassed parents standing helplessly by).

Be kind, buy chocolate and DO NOT accuse us of being unreasonable and irritable. Unless you have a death wish — in which case: carry on and carry tissues, one of us will need them.

Answering my earlier question: What kind of content grabs us and provides a momentary anchor to ground us? Content that resonates with our experience, challenges or reinforces our values and entices us to act on it.

*Which is why I also did not learn until my late twenties that sanitary towels do not magically appear in the bathroom cabinet and the scene at the supermarket check-out became a sobering reality more than once.

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