When I was 12, I got my period one morning right before I left for school. I told my mom, she handed me a pad, and then we never really talked about it again. I was confused, scared and had a million questions but I understood this topic was not to be openly discussed to avoid making the men in my family uncomfortable. Pilsen native and president of the nonprofit Chicago Period Project Ashley Novoa has a similar story and says her introduction to her period was also scary and deemed an off-limits topic by her mother.
Aside from creating and distributing period kits to shelters like La Casa Norte or UI Health Pilsen Food Pantry, Novoa says Chicago Period Project seeks to end the taboo around menstruation by having open discussions about periods with different organizations and people. “It’s very unfortunate there’s still a taboo and stigma behind menstruation,” she says. “This stigma leads into other things like people being insecure about their bodies and people being unfamiliar with their bodies. Also, the fact that people don’t want to talk about periods means they’re unwilling to address the reality of period poverty.”
