This week, Buzzfeed released a video about men discovering what having a period feels like. Predictably, they struggled with the discomfort of wearing a pad, leakages, running to the bathroom and the embarrassment of realizing that you’ve stained your pants. The video was hilarious, but on a deeper note, it was nice to see men committing to understanding what people with periods experience. Especially in light of issues like the tampon tax, accusations of being ‘over-emotional’ and thus unqualified (looking at you, politicians,) misdiagnosis of endometriosis and the general taboo of talking about periods. Periods (and the people who have them) are not dirty or inferior. Getting your period can signal an arrival into adulthood, but it is not something to be ashamed of.

Anticipation

Okay, so my period tracker says that it's coming tomorrow. Should I wear a pad today just in case? What if I don't and it does come early? Shit, that's why they invented pantyliners. What if it never comes and I'm pregnant? It doesn't matter if I haven't had sex this month, what if I'm the next immaculate conception?

Confusion

What was that weird feeling in my vagina region? Was that you, Aunt Flo? I can literally feel my uterine lining shedding, so why hasn't my period started?

Acceptance

Okay, not pregnant. Let's do this. It's not fun but I've got a period routine down, I can handle this.

Pain

I can't handle this. My pad leaked, I woke up in a pool of my own blood and my uterus is punishing me. I'll be under the blankets with a heating pad if you need me. Unless I'm a student or I have a job that I can't call out of for a week. So I have to go about my daily life pretending that I'm not basically wearing a diaper and living on Motrin.

Eating

All the carbs. Cake, pizza, brownies, mac and cheese...all on the same plate, thank you very much. I'm going to be bloated anyway, the least I can do is eat what I want.

Dealing with weird period myths

You think I can't pee with a tampon in? #MisunderstandingFemaleAnatomy

We pee out of our urethra... Google it.

Relief

It's over. The day you wake up with no blood is a day for celebration. You made it! Bye bye, period panties. Hello, world.

And the whole process starts over again in 18 days. Woohoo.

There is a wide range of menstruation experiences, but I hope this helped you laugh about a subject that for so long we’ve been told to keep to ourselves.