If you’ve ever talked about your period with someone who doesn’t menstruate, it’s likely you’ve heard a few misconceptions about what happens during that time of the month. Some of those myths are kind of funny (no, sharks aren’t more attracted to people on their periods), but overall, having so much mystery surrounding menstruation is straight-up harmful. Across the world, periods play a part in girls and women missing or dropping out of school and, therefore, missing out on opportunities. Taboos surrounding periods contribute to that and can even put people who have them in potentially dangerous situations — like being exiled from their homes or perpetuating homelessness.
May 28 is Menstrual Hygiene Day, dedicated to helping people who menstruate have access to the products they need and banishing taboos around periods that can hold people back. In honor of that, we’re here to bust some myths about menstruation, from the silly shark type to the more serious ones.
Periods are dirty
The belief that periods are gross, dirty, or impure is one that manifests across the world in many different ways. It could be a passing comment from a friend, saying “ew” if you mention your period, or it could be a more serious cultural situation. In western Nepal, the now-banned practice of Chhaupadi dictates that menstruating people must be banished to a shed outside their homes, because the belief is that people become “impure” during their periods. In the U.S., Maria Sophocles, M.D., told Women’s Health that she often hears her patients talk about menstruation as a monthly “cleanse,” designed to clean out the reproductive system — which implies that it’s a system that needs cleaning to begin with.
Of course, menstruation is neither impure nor dirty — it’s just a natural function of a body that isn’t pregnant. What’s coming out is some blood and extra tissue grown in the uterus to accommodate a pregnancy; once the body realizes it isn’t pregnant, this is no longer necessary. As Healthline points out, periods aren’t comprised of rejected or toxic tissues — instead what comes out is a kind of “evolved vaginal secretion.”
You can’t swim on your period
The weather is warming up, and you should feel free to hit the pool no matter what day of the month it is. While some people have incorrectly said it’s not sanitary to go in a pool during your period (menstrual blood isn’t dirty, as we explained above, but most people don’t want any body fluids in the pool), the truth is that you’re actually less likely to bleed at all when you’re in the water. “The counter pressure of water might stop a menstrual flow from entering water,” Jessica Shepherd, M.D., MBA, previously told ’Teen Vogue’. If you don’t believe her, test it out for yourself in the bathtub. But beyond that, things like tampons and swimwear designed specifically for periods can help you avoid any potential leakage.
And while it’s true that sharks are attracted to blood in the water, there’s no actual evidence that having your period will induce a Jaws-like scenario. In fact, far more men have been attacked by sharks than women have. According to ’Popular Science’, you’re just not losing enough blood to make sharks swarm toward you — and the blood you are losing isn’t all blood. As we mentioned above, periods are made of tissue, along with things like mucus and a little bit of actual blood. One animal you need to be careful around when you’re menstruating? Male iguanas. They apparently don’t react well to it and may be more likely to be aggressive toward menstruating people. Rude!
You can’t get pregnant during your period
Let’s stop this myth right in its tracks. It is absolutely possible to get pregnant if you have unprotected sex during your period.
Now, some caveats: It’s less likely that you’ll get pregnant if you have your period, though Planned Parenthood notes it can happen, particularly if you’re someone with a shorter menstrual cycle. Planned Parenthood notes that it has to do with when you ovulate, which can be harder for young people to track since periods can be somewhat irregular when you first get them. While we’re here, we should also bust the myth that period sex is gross or unhygienic — it’s certainly not, and it’s definitely okay to have sex during your period. But since the point of safer-sex practices like using condoms or other barrier methods during sex isn’t just to avoid pregnancy (and because not all kinds of sex can lead to pregnancy), it’s always important to use these practices to avoid sexually transmitted infections (STIs). In fact, protection should be even more of a priority during period sex, because menstruation could make you a little more susceptible to infection.
Only women get periods
Nope! Plenty of people who don’t identify as women get periods, and plenty of people who do identify as women don’t get them. If you have a uterus, you can get your period regardless of gender identity, and multiple other factors like birth control, stress, and more could cause you to not have a period. But because people of all identities both get and don’t get periods, it’s important that we use gender-neutral language when talking about them, and to have menstrual products that cater to anyone and everyone.
Your friend group will have synced-up periods
This is a cute idea, but it’s unfortunately not true. A few years ago, a study debunked the idea that our periods’ timing can change depending on whom we’re around, finding that varying cycle lengths are most likely the reason we sometimes find ourselves menstruating at the same time as our friends. It doesn’t have anything to do with the moon or something cool like that, which is honestly disappointing. But we’re here for science, so we have to bust even the fun myths.
Shameful and shouldn’t be talked about
The whole point of debunking these period myths is to show that menstruation is actually just a very routine, normal function of the body that, for most people who experience it, is very much a nonevent. It isn’t dirty, it doesn’t prevent someone from engaging in everyday activities like swimming or sex, it’s not a mystery. So, just like any other bodily function, periods don’t need to be kept on the down-low. Maybe you aren’t the kind of person who announces your bodily functions in the first place — that’s totally fine. But the point is that we shouldn’t be made to feel shame because of our periods.