WILD THINGS

Adverts and media show images of white sanitary towels lightly soaked in cool-toned, blue-dye liquids, surrounded by flowers and smiling women on roller-skates. But what about the bright-red reality of periods? Many are still embarrassed by it. Avoiding that inevitable moment when someone tells us periods are disgusting - as if we didn't figure that one out the first time we bled through our leggings on the bus. ‘Natural’ and ‘beautiful’ are not synonymous. ‘Natural’ can be beastly and sticky, and we don’t need to sugar coat our monthly cycles into pretty, yoga-doing, yoghurt-eating versions of themselves for it to be accepted and discussed in society.