Lionesses and women’s football legends Beth Mead and Leah Williamson have come together with Arsenal team mates Katie McCabe and Kim Little to call out period stigma in sport and the wider world. And not a moment too soon.
A recent survey found that three quarters (78%) of teenage girls have stopped playing sports because of their periods, with 6 in 10 doing so due to fears around period stains and leaks.
And the shame doesn’t stop there. Not only do young women feel uncomfortable playing sports while on their period, talking about them is also a source of anxiety. The research found that over a quarter (26%) admitted that they do not feel comfortable talking openly about their periods, with over half of them (56%) saying it feels too personal a topic.
Almost 80% also admitted that playing sports on their period affects their confidence, and a quarter felt that they didn’t receive enough guidance from coaches and sports leaders.
So the need to fight back against period stigma, and the way it stops conversations normalising them, is real. We know that younger generations want these attitudes to shift, though, with 45% saying they believed that period stains should be accepted as part of sport.
And that’s where Beth and her team have stepped in, calling for the normalisation of periods for women playing sports and beyond – once and for all.
In a media Q&A at the Emirates Stadium, Beth Mead told GLAMOUR that fighting period stigma within football and women’s sport is “the plan for the next generation”. “We’re trying to make it normal,” she says simply. “It happens. It’s not to be made fun of. It’s something we want girls to be comfortable with.”
Courtesy of Every Stain
Beth added that she hopes that the very act of herself and her teammates shouting loud about periods and fighting against any anxiety around playing sport while menstruating will create a better environment for future and younger generations to have these conversations. “Hopefully by us speaking out – in a good role model situation – saying ‘this is normal’ that [younger generations] grow up thinking the exact same. That is the plan.”
When asked if she hopes to empower young women with this messaging, Beth points out that both men and women need to be educated about the issue of period stigmatisation and education. “Even for the likes of men and boys in the room – we’ve got to make it normal for both men and women.”
She added that no human being – even men – would be here if women didn’t have periods, underlining the importance of everybody feeling able to talk about them and fighting against shame.
Say it louder, girl!