Periods things

You know, we talk a lot about the painful side of periods on Tumblr and it’s a big part of it, but I don’t think we talk enough about how much it can take over our lives tbh. For example, here’s a sample of questions I never ask myself except in the 3-8 days a month I get to bleed from the vagina:

• Am I going to be in pain all day, and how much?
• Do I have the right kind of underwear?
  • Is it dark enough to conceal unwashable stains?
  • Is it comfortable enough?
  • Is it easy to wash/will it survive the washing machine?
• Which pair of pants will be the best to conceal a potential leak and come out of the washing machine as clean as possible?
• Supposing I run out of pads during the day, do I know where I can et more (colleague, pharmacy, classmate, etc)?
• Can I actually afford to go to work/school/uni without taking a bathroom break?
  • If the answer is no, do I know where I can find a usable bathroom?
  • Where do I actually find out about said usable bathroom?
  • If said bathroom happens to be unusable for whatever reason, do I have any option besides sitting tight and crossing my fingers?
• In the event of a leak during the night, do I have salt on hand?
• Can I even laugh or do I need a bathroom break first?

And that’s the experience of a cis woman, meaning that I don’t have to worry about whether or not there’s a risk factor in using a public restroom–at least not beyond the usual hygienic considerations.

I mean I realize not everyone thinks or acts like me (also that I’m lucky because it’s actually pretty rare for me to be in intense/definite pain during periods, it’s more of a dull ache in the lower back area) and those questions aren’t at the forefront of my mind 24/7, but to me it’s sometimes mind-boggling how much of my life revolves around the bleeding when I have my periods–I don’t know if it’s universal or if it’s due to social conditionning or my own weird brand of odd anxieties, or a combination of all those things, but whenever I look at it in slightly more critical way I realize it’s really taking over my life and it’s pretty much exhausting tbh :/