Most women of a certain age have a period. It’s totally normal and natural, nothing to be ashamed of.
But still, even though it’s just a regular old bodily function, some shame persists.
To combat that monthly stigma, a yoga instructor named Steph Gongora has shared a video of herself in which she’s wearing white pants and doing a routine on her period — but without wearing anything to stop the bleeding.
"I am a woman, therefore, I bleed," she explains in the caption of the video. "It’s messy, it’s painful, it’s terrible, & it’s beautiful."
She writes that while it’s normal, it’s still something that women try to hide. But unfortunately, many women don’t have the privilege to hide it as well as others.
"Over 100 million young women around the globe miss school or work for lack of adequate menstrual supplies, & fear of what might hapen if the world witnesses A NATURAL BODILY FUNCTION," she says.
She urged women to "stop pretending," to stop using cutesy names for a period "because you’re too afraid to say ‘I’m bleeding’ or ‘vagina.’"
"Educate your daughters," she goes on. "Make them understand that it can be both an inconvenience and a gift, but NEVER something to be ashamed about."
"Educate your sons so they don’t recoil from the word tampon. So when a girl bleeds through her khaki shorts in third period (pun intended), the don’t perpetuate the cycle of shame and intolerance."
Watch Steph in action in the video below: