Period by Emma Barnett

An honest, funny, brave look at periods, aimed at encouraging people to stop hiding this completely normal part of life.

I've noticed more books recently aimed at teens and adults, trying to demystify and degross the topic of periods. This is an excellent one. Chatty, funny and very very honest, it's a wonderful starting off point for conversations that are increasingly important for people to have. 

 The only thing I didn't like was the author's continual insistence that all women prefer tampons over pads. I know plenty who prefer pads. Maybe I was reading it wrong, but I saw it in several places and I found it surprising in a book that otherwise champions the fact that women are different and they feel and experience things differently. 

 This is a great read for everyone, male and female, to read. Let's help make sure the next generation doesn't suffer the shame we have.






Emma loathes her period. Really, she does. But there’s something she loathes even more: not being able to talk about it. Freely, funnily and honestly. Without men and women wrinkling their noses as if she’s pulled her tampon out and offered it as an hors d'oeuvre.

 
But somehow, despite women having had periods since the dawn of time, we’ve totally clammed up on anything to do with menstruation. Why, oh why, would we rather say ‘Auntie Flo’ than ‘period’? Why, in the 21st century, are periods still seen as icky? Why are we still so ignorant about such a fundamental bodily process?
 
Now, in Period., Emma draws on female experiences that will make you laugh, weep (and, most probably, squirm), in a fierce and funny rallying cry to smash this ridiculous taboo once and for all.
 
Because it’s about bloody time.
Period.