Mid-pandemic, amazing things were happening. It suddenly became so much easier to be an activist. Movements like Me Too and Black Lives Matter thrived during COVID, in part thanks to the availability of social media, and since many of us were isolated at home, we had extra time. Time spent, largely, on platforms like Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and Twitter.
But the digital world can be daunting. And like real life, women often experience sexism and misogyny on these platforms. Despite these challenges, social media can be a powerful tool in the fight against period poverty, shame, and taboo.
Tell Your Menstruation Story
For many women growing up, talking about our periods was a taboo subject. We often used code language to refer to the trials and troubles of “our monthly visitor”. There was always the fear of a possible “accident” that would cause embarrassment at school or in front of our peers.
Period culture leads to confusion and unanswered questions for girls, prolonging the taboo.
Sharing your menstruation story on social media can help other girls and women. Whether you have a funny story that still makes you laugh or a cringe-worthy tale that still embarrasses you, share it with social media. Talking about it normalizes it, and that’s how we can end the stigma.
Tools like social media create a smaller world, making it easier to connect with people on the other side of the world. Start today by creating or sharing a simple post that truly makes a difference even if it is just one person. You can change the conversation around periods.
I was looking for volunteer work and happened upon the GNWL site. I was impressed by their mission to support girls in Burkina Faso by addressing issues such as child marriage, period shaming, and gender inequality in education. These barriers speak to my heart as I think of my own two daughters. My wish is for all girls across the world to have the basic rights to live a life of dignity and self-direction, free of shaming and full of opportunity.
Hashtag Your Way Like-Minded People
Since anyone with access to a smart device and internet service can open a social media account and tell their story, it’s so easy to find others who care about this issue. This is a huge change from the way many of us grew up. Before social media, it was much harder to create awareness of social issues, and being an activist often meant physically attending consciousness-raising groups, protests, and marches, and hoping word about your cause would get picked up by TV news, or that someone powerful and influential would use their platform to light it up.
Now, you can open any social app and search for a hashtag that links to a topic you care about. Within seconds you’ll find countless people discussing it. Some of our favorites: #periodstories, #periodpoverty, #periodproblems, #periodpower, #menstrualcycle
Organize and Fight Period Poverty With Social Media
There are so many ways to get involved.
- Organize a fundraiser with your friends on social media and donate the proceeds
- Plan a period product drive with your community group
- Become an ambassador and help raise awareness of period poverty in Burkina Faso and around the world.
