If you have never experienced period pain, congratulations! This is the time I say go ahead and enjoy your chicken! And if you have had mild discomfort perhaps it’s time to whip up a nice meal and count yourself lucky.
But if you are one of those women who endure the intense, soul crushing pain month after month, let’s take a moment to salute you. You my friend, are the unsung hero they speak of.
It’s not just the pain! It’s the strength you gather to keep a straight face, to answer your curious toddler when they ask, “Mum, Are you sick?” Wait, isn’t this sickness? What else could explain this indescribable agony?
Menstrual pain, the month battle, commonly known as dysmenorrhea which comes with no warning label strong enough to prepare a girl for what’s ahead. You might hear the word “cramps,” but that word barely scratches the surface of what some ladies endure. For those who experience it, it’s not just pain. It’s an all consuming, tearless agony that feels like the world inside your body is turning against you.
Then talk about the baffling part! Ladies are expected to act normal. Go to work, attend meetings, be the happy and jolly spouse, smile at strangers and answer emails as though our lower abdomen isn’t waging a war we didn’t sign up for.
Is it the infamous punishment for Eve’s apple escapade in the Bible? Maybe. Or perhaps it’s some mysterious algorithm of biology. This makes you think maybe it’s the chemistry and physics plus it’s cousin history that don’t or didn’t sit well you back in school. Or is it their father math?
Because let’s face it some women sail through their periods like it’s a spa retreat while others lie curled up on their beds, begging the gods of all those things above and below the earth for mercy.
Why the inequality? Is it DNA, diet, lifestyle or some cosmic lottery we didn’t know that we foolishly entered into? The wrong turn kind of life. If pain were a currency, some of us would be millionaires, billionaires! Others? Barely a scratch on their accounts.
How do you describe pain that feels like your insides are being squeezed out like a wet towel? It’s the kind of pain that makes you want to cry but you can’t because somehow the society assume you’ve learnt to endure. The same society doesn’t leave much room for menstrual breakdowns, so you have to soldier on silently and painfully.
It’s not a weakness nor exaggeration. It’s resilience. The kind of resilience that allows you to answer your toddler’s questions, attend to your daily chores and somehow find time to laugh in between the waves of the mega agony.
Here is to the women who feel this pain and carry on. You are closer to Eve than anyone else. You are the warriors who fight battles silently and strong. You are the unsung heroes who carry the world on your shoulders while your body protests with every fiber of its being.
And to those who feel nothing during their periods, you might be farther from Eve, (Maybe this can make you a little guilty and sad for a moment.😅) but count your blessings. Celebrate your pain free days and support your sisters who fight through theirs.
Lastly, to the women who endure. Let this piece be your moment of recognition. You are not weak! You are resilient. You are not overreacting! You are surviving. And when the pain subsides, know that you have conquered yet another round of the monthly battle.
Until the world finds a way to understand, treat and appreciate the strength it takes to live through menstrual pain, we salute you our unsung heroes.
TUHAME ❤️