Series: Cycle Stories | Period Leave

“It’s easy to live in an echo chamber when it comes to period leave. We imagine that most people are okay with giving menstruators time off work or school, but it’s actually the opposite. These largely male-run institutions simply don’t believe that periods are worthy of leave, despite statistically being as painful as a heart attack for some.

For me, I’ve always been prone to fainting/nausea/vomiting if I don’t take specially prescribed pain meds in the immediate hours after coming on. Hardly an ‘inconvenience’. And yet, over the years, I’ve only ever had one boss (a gay man, which I actually think made all the difference!) understanding enough to let me take days off or go home without a fuss.

Sure, period pain won’t affect everyone in the same way. For some people, it’s a breeze. For others, agony. So perhaps, rather than scoffing at the whole lot of us, you can take our experiences and our pain at face value.”

Alanna Duffield, Poet & Writer

@alannaduffield

@the_waiting_room