Why do people rave about what a miracle pregnancy is while they try to push menstruation deep under the covers of shame? Isn’t it ironic that both are absolutely natural phenomena in a woman’s body but one gets glorified while the other is shunned? This is what provoked yoga instructor Steph Gongora to takes matters into her own hands and put a stop to period shame.
1. Creating Waves That Knock Down Beliefs
Gongora posted a video clip of her dressed fully in white, practicing various yoga poses on a mat, revealing a red period stain. The post was uploaded on Instagram and now this gutsy yoga instructor has over 258,800 followers. Through her post, she urged people to open up more about menstruation, to be comfortable with the fact that it’s okay to bleed, to not feel or spread the shame.
She said, “I am a woman, therefore, I bleed,” she wrote. “It’s messy, it’s painful, it’s terrible, & it’s beautiful. And yet, you wouldn’t know. Because I hide it. I bury things at the bottom of the trash. I breathe, ragged and awkward through the cramps, all the while holding onto this tight lipped, painted on smile.”
2. A Shout Out To Stop Period Shame
Gongora further talks about how everyone should start talking about periods so as to educate the world about how it’s completely natural and normal. Her post is a shout out to all those girls and women who are conditioned to believe that it’s dirty and shameful to bleed. Gongora wants all genders to join hands together to stop propagating the circle of shame that surrounds menstruation. She encouraged people to teach girls to be proud that they bleed and boys to not feel uncomfortable when they hear the word “tampon”.
3. Holding Up A Greater Cause
Gongora has been in gaining popularity recently as she started discussing important causes and NGOs with her followers. This post too has a greater cause behind it as it highlights an organic tampon company named Cora that donates sanitary napkins and tampons to over 100 million girls all over the world who have limited access to menstrual products.
It looks like Gongora has achieved what she wanted to do as the post has already got over 350 thousand views and six thousand comments- both positive and negative. “That’s the kind of stuff I can galvanize behind, no money or even product needed,” She wrote. “Just a mission I support on a topic we should ALL be talking about.”
