Raising awareness of periods in sporting communities

After reading an article by The Independent, it got me thinking how those on campus felt about their periods coinciding with sporting activities. Due to the nature of my curiosity, I set forward an anonymous survey – you might even have taken part in it.

I'll start with the numerical results of the survey as I asked two very important questions, the first being "Do you struggle to do sporting activities whilst on your period?" 64% of those who menstruate answered "yes".

The other important question was “Do you ever not go to a sporting activity due to your period?" I wish I could say 'surprisingly' but I will unfortunately have to go with... unsurprisingly 70% responded with "yes" whilst the other 30% said "no". I feel as though this won't come as a shock, especially because I am within that 70% who skive off.

Now... I said "skive off". I don't actually believe that if you miss an activity due to your period that you are skiving. Some of us have periods where our bodies and brains are in a lot of pain or just decide they don't like us at all. One person wrote: "Because my pain is so bad, it’s often difficult to move. Just walking is a horrible experience so running about or swimming is even more of a challenge." Taking time off sports and feeling like this definitely isn't skiving! It's a common occurrence for those with periods to feel like they are skiving; however, especially since this answer continues, this should not be the case: "The stigma definitely does exist and we are usually expected to power through the pain when for some people it’s hard to function with it."

I do think it is society's opinion that plays in our minds as, for those who menstruate, there seems to be a lot of shame. Periods are seen as "gross" and "icky", yet they are one of the most naturally occurring things our bodies do. There shouldn't be a stigma surrounding them!

But, briefly, going back to these percentages - though these percentages are very similar for both questions, personally, hats off to those who said "yes" then "no", respectively, how do you do it? How do you struggle through your pain? Seriously, well done!

Going back to the stigma we all feel... some questions within the survey were very personal and it's amazing to see how detailed and forward those who took part in the survey were (as seen in the above comment). Another person commented "[they] often feel wary and embarrassed in case [they] leak when wearing shorts and also when getting changed in the changing rooms." This signifies there is even a stigma around ourselves, around those who have a period, as we are scared to be in front of one another like our bleeding is a crime - and for some reason, we don't talk about these issues. No one should feel left out, scared or worried about being on their period.

During my research, I approached many Newcastle University sporting societies to pass my survey around, as well as placing the link on social media. The President of Newcastle University's Women's Football Club made my day when replying to my email as she said:

I didn't realise how much I needed to hear this sentence. As a community, we have to spread awareness and information about our struggles.

With the thought of spreading awareness, I thought I would collate a few answers below, so those of you out there do not feel like you are on your own, and so there is an understanding of our different struggles:

With these answers come not only the physical struggles our bodies take on, but how we deal with them. As a menstruating sporting community, being aware of others' suffering can help us as much as we can help them. Some of the people who took the survey are terrified to leak, and when asked what sanitary products they use, they use tampons and pads at the same time for maximum protection whilst playing sports. This could be a useful tip for those who haven't thought about this before, or allow someone to feel as though they are not the only one who does this neat trick.

Everyone sees menstruation as a taboo subject and due to this, no one talks about it. Yet when researching on campus about our sufferings and whether we shun sporting activities whilst on our periods - we all come together. We all have the same thoughts and feelings, even if we don't experience periods in the same way.

Not all is bad though. Our physical pain definitely is! - but menstruation awareness is on the rise. For instance, in 2020, Scotland became the first country to make sanitary products free. And within the sporting world itself, football stadiums are working with the On the Ball campaign (a scheme which aims to ensure sanitary products for female supporters are provided free of charge across football grounds) - Newcastle United FC is among the many football teams working with them.

Though this doesn't help with suffering from period symptoms or making us more active in sports, it can be seen as a start for conversing about menstruation. The more we talk about our body's natural occurrences, the less stigma there will be around these subjects.

It does not matter how many times one person can tell another that "menstruation is not a taboo subject" because until society changes its ideals - even if it is increasingly getting better at a slow rate - neither will those who menstruate.

Making others feel comfortable during their periods can be simple. One person "[...] found that many more people are supportive about [periods] and are willing to help out and look out for [them]." This shows that society is healing itself around anxious, stressful, and (often described as) "gruesome" subjects. Everyone within the sporting community is slowly coming together to help. Everyone is changing their ideologies, so they don't discriminate against those with menstruation. And no one will be left out.

Newcastle University Student Union is also helping us battle our day to day lives with periods as they give out free sanitary products on campus.