How did we come up with our topic? We are Olha and Lien and we met during our master’s degree studies and immediately became close friends. From time to time,
Read More
Menstrual, Menopause, and Maternity Leave: Why Sex-Based Policies Don’t Work for Women…
Menopause leave is back in the UK news. It’s so great that we are having public conversations about menstrual and menopausal health, but I must admit I’m getting very tired
Read More
Period poverty is political!
[Guest blog by Dr Sara De Benedictis, Brunel University London] Over the past few years, the term ‘period poverty’ has been in the news a lot. It refers to how
Read More
Why do humans menstruate?
Mega myth #1- To 'cleanse' your body! Sexist societal taboos wrongly position periods as 'dirty' and sadly, this is what many people continue to be taught to believe [1]. For
Read More
Anatomy, No pain, No shame and The basics.
Reframing the endometriosis ‘diagnostic problem’…
Note: Endometriosis (pronounced en-doh–mee–tree–oh–sis) is the name given to the condition where cells like the ones in the lining of the womb (uterus) are found elsewhere in the body. Each
Read More
Premenstrual mood changes… What’s normal?
Here is our myth-busting guide to help you know the difference between ‘normal’ and problematic mood changes. Trigger warning– mention of suicidal thinking For all these facts and more- check
Read More
Managing your periods when you have autism
We spoke to Robyn Steward, author of ‘The Autism-Friendly Guide to Periods’, to ask her about the specific challenges of, and top tips for, managing a period when you have
Read More
Menstrual blood loss… What’s normal?
Here is our myth-busting guide to help you know the difference between ‘normal’ and problematic ‘heavy’ menstrual flow, estimate your own fluid/ blood loss, and find out which underlying conditions
Read More
Managing periods when you have a visual impairment
We conducted a small survey, in collaboration with VI Talk, a fantastic social support network for anyone with a visual impairment. We asked respondents if they had any top tips
Read More
Washing your vagina and vulva… The facts.
The menstrual taboo, plus the sexualisation of the female body, means that most children, parents, and even some doctors, do not know enough about how to keep the vagina and
Read More
Anatomy, No pain, No shame, Period products and The basics.
Menstrual Maths # 1: Why we say ‘people who menstruate’…
In December 2018, there was a twitter storm after a menstrual health activist referred to people who menstruate as ‘bleeders’ in a lighthearted tweet raising awareness of period poverty. Some
Read More
Period pain… What’s normal?
Is your period pain ‘normal’… or a sign of PMS, endometriosis, or fibroids? Yet again, the silence created by the menstrual taboo has led to unnecessary suffering, and confusion. Let’s bust
Read More
Top 10 Menstruation Myths!
I have spent the past six years researching menstrual cycle-related health. The most striking aspect for me is how the menstruation taboo persists, despite all the progress made in global
Read More
The ‘virginity’ myth…
Image: 'Virgo' in Urania's Mirror, a set of constellation cards published in London c.1825 This week we tackle another reproductive health myth, and perhaps the most dangerous one of all...
Read More
Menstrual cycle length… What’s normal?
Image credit: Pastorius on Wikimedia- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Plastic_tape_measure.jpg Many people are concerned because they think that their cycle is too short, too long, or just not ‘regular’ enough... Sometimes, there is a health
Read More
Not all women; understanding biological variation
This month’s blog tries to unpick a major myth about the female body, and how it affects the way in which clinical research is understood by the public, media, and
Read More
Period product comparison…
Headline News- menstrual cups are number 1! Want to know which period product comes out on top? For those of you too busy to read the whole article, just know
Read More
No pain, Period products and The basics.
Know thyself! The importance of tracking the menstrual cycle.
The phrase “Know thyself” is at least as old as Ancient Egypt, since it is inscribed on the walls of the temple at Luxor. One inscription reads “The body is
Read More
No pain, The basics and What's normal?.
Gender, depression and suicide; sorting fact from fiction.
Trigger warning: This post includes content on suicide; including statistics, methods, and contributing factors. It was also difficult to avoid using gender normative language e.g. ‘men’ and ‘women’ since it
Read More
FY 2022 Annual Report
Menstrual Matters annual report for FY2022
Read More
Period Photography: Making the concealed visible
Guest blog by Britta Wiebe, co-founder of Vulvani Many of us internalise damaging menstrual/ gender myths to the point that we prefer not to touch, talk about, or even look
Read More
