Our pain is not ‘part of being a woman’

I’m the mindset that it is normal for women to suffer immense pain every month and through different phases of our lives. Our pain is not ‘part of being a woman’ and we need to stop this societal trope that it is.

I am a teacher of young women between the ages of 14 – 16 years old. It is a HUGE battle to convince these young women that  it is not normal to feel so sick and in pain from their periods that they have to miss school. I am in the UK so access to care is not an issue like it can be in other countries, but the reluctance to go to the doctors and discuss their personal issues is massive.

What makes things even harder is that when I speak to their mothers, their aunts or grandmothers, the attitude is mainly ‘well it’s just part of being a woman, they have to learn to deal with it like we did’.  I even find this with some health professionals attached to our school who provide care.

Obviously some pain should be expected, but some of the kids I teach have their lives thrown off course for a week every month with pain and illness. This is not normal, and really needs to be addressed.

MA, United Kingdom

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