I bet that when you read the article about the girl who ran a marathon without a tampon you thought the same thing as me: "EW!" I thought it was something truly disgusting, and not at all feminist. I know she had a point to race like that in honor of the women in the world without access to female hygiene products, but to be honest, I don’t believe this is an act of feminism.
If you know me, and you kind of do through my articles, you know that if there is one thing I believe in is the power women have. I am an advocate of empowering women and I believe that we can kick ass in anything we set our minds to. BUT, running without a pad or tampon is completely unsanitary and vulgar.
I am the kind of girl that would admit when I have my period. I’d get mad as hell if you blame my eating or mood on PMS, but I’ll admit if Mother Nature knocked the door. I will not hide my pads as if I’m hiding a secret from the government, but I won’t broadcast it either. I believe periods are not something to be ashamed of; they are something completely natural.
Now, I do believe that what Kiran Gandi did was extremely brave, but I don’t believe that is feminism or something to be applauded. I believe that running the marathon itself shows how we women, can do anything. She trained for a whole year and challenged herself to do this. That's a bigger act of feminism than running while being completely unsanitary. People agree that the idea behind her running while bleeding is great, but the way she conveyed it was not the best one. Most people found it terribly disgusting, disrespectful and tacky.
Me? I believe that there are ways of making your case, and running without a pad isn’t one. I am still a feminist, but not a bleed free-ist. By all means, if you want to free the nipple go ahead, but please I beg you, do not free the pad.
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