What unites women of ancient Greece, today, from Brazil, or Tokyo across centuries, cultures, and continents? Not the societal norms and standards – those are cultural constructs — shaped by time, place, and ideas. At the core of womanhood lies something deeper, timeless, and universal: the menstrual cycle. Always present, in plain sight, it was consistently overlooked, stigmatized, hidden, and silenced.
For generations, the transcendent meaning of the menstrual cycle for women was undermined by a dominant male perception of the world. The flow as women have it – physical, mental, and social was ignored or dismissed as inconvenient or irrational. As a result, many young women today know as little about their cycles’ flow as their grandmothers did.
The menstrual cycle was given its reputation not by women who lived it, but by male medicine practitioners who did not, and stigma became a byproduct of the gender empathy gap.
Women’s cyclical nature was mislabeled and mocked: Women are too much, yet never enough. Shame was imposed, and silence demanded, causing damage in healthcare, self-care, and in how women perceive themselves – too much, yet not enough.
But silence cracks eventually.
Today, after generations of quiet compliance with testosterone-driven, linear expectations of how to live, work, and behave, women reclaim their rhythm. One truth is undeniable: the estrogen cycle has never been less meaningful than the testosterone one. We finally get to explore, honor, and celebrate estrogen-driven cycles — from menarche to menopause — without diminishing our worth. Recognizing and respecting women’s cyclical rhythms should no longer feel weird — it must become a priority. For every woman, bleeding or not, and every partner who honors her life.