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[Briony]

Just read about the lady who ran a marathon without a tampon to raise awareness about period taboos:

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/08/10/mia-drummer-kiran-gandhi-runs-london-marathon-without-tampon_n_7964072.html?1439198471&ncid=tweetlnkushpmg00000067

It got me thinking what we'd have to do whilst running a marathon to raise awareness of meno issues?!

[Hurdity]

What a bloody amazing woman!!!!!!!!!!!! Respect to her!

I am constantly amazed too at what we women manage to achieve while having to endure this monthly discomfort, pain, mood changes, embarrassment etc - especially those in high profile positions - rock/popstars, politicians - to everyday folk like us having to cope with jobs. lives, children...

Hurdity x

[Taz2]

I'm not sure how I feel about it. It seems as if she was worried about what a tampon would do rather than to try to destigmatise periods. This is a good article http://www.cosmopolitan.com/health-fitness/q-and-a/a44392/free-bleeding-marathoner-kiran-gandhi/.  Of course we can't all go around free-bleeding - imagine the state of restaurant and public transport seats - although you can get special underwear apparently.

As for what we could do for menopause... how about strapping on some sandpaper? 

Taz x

[honeybun]

Yuk and why.

Even women who have no access to sanitary products use a towel of some description. My mother has told me of having to wash makeshift towels.

What exactly did this achieve apart from making people in general go ewwwww.

It does women no favours at all.....did she think she was the only woman to take part that was having a period.....publicity stunt in my opinion.


Honeyb
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[Briony]

I genuinely didn't know what to think. She's brave ...but, yuck.  I'm not convinced people would have even realised it was deliberate and why she was doing it.

Taz, like your sand paper idea 

[Taz2]

This part from the Cosmopolitan link seems to explain it

"People go to the bathroom while they're running — why should bleeding freely be any different?"

" It's more about owning your own comfort level and being confident in your own skin to do what you need to do to accomplish something. Really making it about yourself instead of about other people. For me, it was a bit of a metaphor. I was like, Running a marathon is a very, very big stretch for me. I need to do whatever it takes to get myself to the end of that line. We were running for a greater cause, we were running for breast cancer. When you have that much support, you want to do a good job. That was really part of it — I'm with two of the best, most important women in my life. They stayed with me the whole time. I just wanted it to not matter. But it does matter in our society, right? If it didn't, everyone would be bleeding freely all the time, but instead we have to cover it up."

Surely we have to cover it up? She also says that the reason she decided to bleed freely during the race was because she was scared at what a tampon would do to her while running. Her friend had run a marathon expecting to begin her period while running and had tucked a tampon into her bra. The tampon chafed the skin and left a scar which she didn't want to happen to her if she used a tampon inside. Lots of misconceptions maybe about her reason for running tampon-free.

Taz x

[CLKD]

Brave  - attention seeking.  How did anyone know she was bleeding?  Most cultures have a pad of some kind or the girls sit over a pit until the bleed stops.  The pit is in a hut away from the men or cooking areas (another taboo).  How did it achieve anything  .  I still believe that periods are personal and only talked about if necessary on a 'need to know' basis.

'people go to the bathroom while they're running' ……. apart from Paula Radcliffe who had to stop in London on the road side, most people use the public facilities around the course.  Or as in the Tour de France last year, someones motor home 

[Dulciana]

Really, why?   Disgusting, messy and revolting for other people to see.     

[Taz2]

CLKD - haven't you looked at the pictures in the links? You could tell she was bleeding because the blood had seeped down her leggings.

Taz x

[honeybun]

Just publicity for her. Some will do anything for five minutes of fame but this is bizarre. How do you explain that to a young child except to say the woman is nuts.

We do have to cope with periods and every thing that goes with them for a large part of our lives. But we do it with dignity a d not blood running into our shoes.


Honeyb
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[Limpy]

The woman just seems like a self obsessed, attention seeking, idiot.

She was concerned about tampons because a friend of hers put a tampon in a bra and it chafed her causing a scar. Of course it would chafe, had she never heard of joggers nipple? Things get abraded when running, nothing to do with tampons.

[oldsheep]

if her actions get VAT removed off tampons, then good. Ridiculous that they aren't seen as essential (I suppose you could argue her  actions might have the opposite effect though).  Otherwise, well enjoy your 15 mins of fame!
Personally I'm not fond of eyeballing/smelling other people's sweat, let alone blood.
She better not try freebleeding in my local public pool or she'll get an earful from me   
I don't know how she could stand it; I used to hate the feeling of 'leaking' with a period and am old enough to remember the pre tampon age of awful sanitary towels held on by a sort of harness!

[Briony]

I'm with you on the VAT issue. Seems so unfair.

I'm cynical of her actions as she made no attempt to explain her actions to others as she ran - no sign, t shirt slogan etc.

Sadly  there are people for whom periods are still a taboo. I know of someone whose husband won't share a bed with her when she has her period (she uses tampons) and I've also come across teenaged girls who suffer in silence as they are too embarrassed to tell their parents they're suffering from period related issues. My mum wasn't allowed to wash her hair when she was on as it would apparently go curly(!) - but we're now in 2015 for goodness sake; we should have come further than this.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-29727875

[CLKD]

I didn't bother reading it >yawn< ………

Raising awareness of what exactly: had she brought the issue of toxic shock syndrome to the attention of the public then it would be different but she didn't need to run whilst bleeding!

[honeybun]

Or....shock horror....she could have worn a sanitary product like most sane people would do.

Hope this story dies a natural death and people see her for what she is....an exibitionist.



Honeybun
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