Kate Hackett
I watched Turning Red the other day and realized: I have no clue what my “first period” story is. I don’t remember it. It was not a big deal. It just was what it was. Nobody cared.
And that’s fine for me! I like that. But other women, and girls, do have stories and those stories should not be considered foreign or taboo. Recently the BuzzFeed Community shared their period stories and some of the best are below.
1. Sleepaway camp
“I got my first period at my first ever sleep-away camp. On the first night. They wouldn’t let me call my mom, so I was distraught the whole time. It got worse when I got home from the sleep-away week because I was being baptized that weekend. We did full immersion in my church, and I had chosen that Saturday to do it. I’d never used tampons before and found it way too painful. I got into the little pool where they dunk you — I was wearing a pad — and when I got out after being dunked, I saw little clots of blood floating all around the little pool. It was the most embarrassing week of my whole life up until that point.” —Anonymous
2. No wonder you’ve been such a bitch
“I was at home and had tucked away hygiene supplies the school had given me. I took care of myself, and then I went and informed my mother. I was hesitant to talk to her about it, but I thought it could be a moment for closeness. ‘No wonder you’ve been such a little bitch lately,’ was her response. I was devastated. I hadn’t noticed a change in my behavior, nor was I accustomed to being spoken like that. It was humiliatingly embarrassing. I, to this day, strongly doubt that my behavior at the time was mentionably different.” —Anonymous
3. Oh no!
“I was at my cousin’s house when I got my period. She was way older and cooler than me, and when I told her, she just handed me a tampon. I didn’t want to make it seem like I didn’t know what it was, so I took it and went into the bathroom. I inserted the entire thing, cardboard tube and all. At least I had the presence of mind to take off the outer wrapper! About an hour later, my aunt asked why I looked so miserable, and I told her. She told me to sit on the toilet and pull it all out. Then she gave me a pad to use instead. It took me awhile before I ever used one again.” —Anonymous
4. In church
“I got my first period in church while wearing a pale-yellow dress. We were sitting in the front pew. In the middle of the service, I noticed a high school senior was staring at me. Turns out, he was staring at the stain and whispered it to me during the ‘peace’ portion. Instead of saying, ‘Peace be with you,’ he whispered, ‘Your butt is bleeding.’ Mortified!” —lizzyg8
5. Called her teacher
“I got my first period during summer classes before starting high school. I was bleeding through and left as class was just starting. After telling my mom what happened, she picked up the phone and called my male teacher and told him all about my first period and that I bled through so I had to leave. I could’ve died right there. I crawled back into bed mortified only to hear her go wake up my brother and tell him the same story so he ‘knew why I was home and in bed.’ I cried myself to sleep, and I didn’t look my teacher or brother in the eye for quite a while. Thanks, Mom…” —savorytree93
6. Leaking
“In the 7th grade, I would often go to the bathroom to discover my period had leaked through my pad and my pants. My teacher came to find me after finding blood all over my seat. I was brought to the school nurse but she didn’t have any pads or a change of pants. So she called my mom, but my mom can’t drive, so she had to call around the neighborhood to find someone to bring me pads and clean pants. Of course, the loudest, most gossipy neighbor on the block was the one who was available. I’m a trans man and recently had a hysterectomy, but I still, every so often, still check to make sure I haven’t bled through my pants and typically, still have pads shoved in bags just in case.”— Anonymous
7. Not chill at all
“Thinking about the time I ‘became a woman’ and hoping that my Korean mother would be chill about it — yeah, I was so wrong. The following Sunday at church, all of my mom’s friends came up to me with bouquets of flowers congratulating me on it. I begged her not to say anything but word got around. Even though we went to a bilingual church, people who didn’t speak Korean kept asking why I was getting flowers, and my mother wasn’t shy about saying why. Which is why I don’t like getting flowers now, it reminds me of the time I had a swarm of 10 Korean aunties around me with an arm full of flowers, my face as red as a firetruck. God forbid I be rude and run away.” —Anonymous
8. Bled through her pants
“In 8th grade, I didn’t have very many friends. Most people didn’t notice me at school. One day, I had to present something to my Spanish class. After the presentation, the entire class cheered and clapped for me. I was shocked that people were paying attention to me. I left class feeling good about myself. It wasn’t until I got home about an hour later that I noticed there was dried blood from front to back on the crotch area of my light purple shorts. I’m not talking about a spot or two — like my pants were basically now two-toned. I had gotten my period in the middle of the presentation and had no idea. That’s why everyone was clapping. The worst part was, I was walked around for the rest of the afternoon not knowing anything and not one person (i.e. teacher, friend, etc…) stopped to help me out. I was mortified and now always make sure I have some back-up clothes to change into!” —Anonymous
9. Super intense
“In middle school, I had a lot of problems with my periods. They would only come a couple of times a year, but were extra intense, to the point where I had to stay home from school because I was bleeding too much. After one of this absences, my math teacher accused me in front of my whole class of faking sick the previous day, and I felt like I couldn’t defend myself without getting teased by other students, so I just sat there and cried. My mom emailed him after school and told him exactly what happened and how much of an asshole he was. He couldn’t look me in the eyes for the rest of the year, the coward.” —Anonymous
10. Camping with her dad
“It was the summer before or after 5th grade, I was at a campground with my dad. While I was sleeping, I was getting really bad stomach cramps, and I got out of bed to walk to the bathrooms when something warm gushed down my legs — so I found the first thing I found to wipe it up, which was a bra and went to the bathroom. When I got there, I discovered that I had gotten my first period. I was too embarrassed to confide in any females I knew up there or my dad, so I spent the rest of the weekend just trying to wad up toilet paper hoping I wasn’t leaking everywhere and had one of my friends comment that something was stinky (which was my blood). I just pretended I didn’t smell it. I went home, called my mom, and told her that I got my period. She brought a bunch of supplies home.” —Anonymous
11. Mom told all the relatives
“I was held back a year in elementary school, so my period began before most of my classmates and before the topic was covered in health class. I didn’t know what to do, so I attempted to use a tampon by removing the cotton from the applicator. Dumbfounded, I reluctantly told my mom who helped me with pads but then proceeded to call every aunt, great-aunt, and grandmother to tell them! I was mortified! To make matters worse, the next day, I bled through the pad at school and the other girls noticed in the locker room. They wanted to know what the stain was, why my underwear sounded crinkly, and what was going on by crowding around me and looking down at my crotch. I just wanted to disappear.” —Anonymous
12. Mom told all her FRIENDS
“When I got my period for the first time when I was 12, I told my mom and she told ALL her female friends. I was mortified. Also, when I was about 13 or14, I started getting really heavy periods. I was only given light pads by my mom because that’s mainly what we had in the house (since my mom used tampons). I didn’t know I would bleed through really quickly with a light pad and ended up bleeding through my pants. Not only was my mom not happy with me, but I also had to endure chants of ‘bird lady laid an egg’ on the bus. (I had some really nasty kids who were my age or younger who used to call me bird lady for no good reason. The bus driver encouraged this).” —Anonymous
13. Forgot to flush!
“I was spending the weekend at my dad’s place (my parents were divorced). I was maybe 12. I’d used the bathroom and apparently I’d forgotten to flush the toilet. My dad comes racing down the stairs, freaking out about blood in the toilet, thinking I’d hurt myself or something. I WAS MORTIFIED that I had to tell him I got my period, forgot to flush, that I was so sorry, etc. My dad, bless his heart, gave me a hug and said, ‘My baby is a woman!’ I (now) appreciate his acceptance, but in that moment, I just wanted to disappear. My mom never really ‘had the talk’ with me, and I got my period early (I was 11), so, to me, anything remotely ‘period-related’ was weird and never to be discussed.” —Anonymous
14. Tampons forever
“I used to spend the summers with my grandparents. One summer, when I was 11, I woke up with my period. This day just happened to be the day my aunt was supposed to take my cousins and I to a local water park. Instead of giving me tampons to use, I was given the pad equivalent of heavy duty Depends. I spent all day at the water park using these pads that might as well have been diapers, making excuses to my cousins as to why I couldn’t go on any of the slides or in the pools. The only thing I got to do that day was ride the paddle boats. Lamest. Day. Ever. I’ve been a tampon girl ever since — and to this day, I still hate pads with a passion.” — Anonymous
15. Fancy dinner
“I was 12 and on vacation with my friend and her family. We were all supposed to go out to a fancy dinner that night, and I needed to use the bathroom right before we left. In the bathroom, I realized that I had gotten my period, and it was HEAVY. I didn’t know what to do, so I called out to my friend’s mom (who, to be honest, didn’t like me a whole lot because she said I was ‘annoying’) and asked her what to do. She told me to use toilet paper; just bunch it up and shove it in my underwear (which was soaked with blood, btw…). I started crying because I knew that wouldn’t work and begged her to take me to the Kmart across the street from our hotel, but she wouldn’t because we’d be late for the reservation. I had a total meltdown because I was so embarrassed and angry.” “Luckily, my friend’s cousin was with us and told my friend and her family to go ahead to the restaurant. She took me to Kmart, bought me new underwear and pads. She was my hero for the whole rest of the trip.” —catspizzasleep
16. Acne got terrible
“When I first got my period at age 12, my acne got really bad. Dermatologist tried everything with no success, so they recommended I see a gynecologist for birth control to help with the acne. I was super shy, so my mom came with me. (It was her gynecologist for when she was pregnant with me.) Anyway, we get to the exam portion, which I was terrified and tense for. He noticed, so he decided to do ‘this little piggy’ on my toes DURING MY EXAM!! My mom thought it was hilarious, but I was absolutely mortified. It was the worst first gynecologist appointment ever!” —manodancer4281
17. Covered in blood
“I was 14, my BF was 16. My period started a couple of days before a weekend date (that I was too young to go out on). I wasn’t familiar enough with my cycle to know how my flow would be. Plus, I wanted to please BF. Suffice it to say, we were both covered in blood by the end of the date. There was no penetration, it was just heavy petting and some oral. But there were lessons learned all around.” —Anonymous
18. Scout camp!
“I got my first period during a scout camp. It was all good though because it was like the second to last day, and my sister had pads on her. But around a year later, it was my time of the month, and I had never had cramps before but they started to come during school. It just wasn’t enough pain to make me want to take a Panadol — but what I didn’t realize was I was getting very aggravated because of the camps. So at snack time, one of my friends tried to take my food like they always do, and I just went off at them. Half way through, I was totally roasting them. I stop and was like: ‘Shit, I should go home, shouldn’t I?’ Luckily, they understood and walked me to the nurses.” —jimmybobby240
19. One other pair of pants
“When I was 11 or 12, I went to a performing arts summer camp. One evening, the campers got to perform in this big semi-outdoor concert hall. At the beginning of the concert, I got my period but I didn’t notice until two-plus hours later when I stood up afterward and felt a cool breeze on my thoroughly damp jeans.I had soaked through the ENTIRE SEAT of my pants (my favorite jeans!). Luckily, I had a long sweater with me, and even more, I’d hung it on the back of my chair instead of sitting on it. So I tied the sweater around my waist to walk back to the buses. Then, once we got back to camp from the buses to the cabins. And worse, I had to overcome my considerable mortification to tell a female counselor what had happened so I could get some menstrual supplies.”
“Once I got to my cabin, I had to basically hide in a bathroom until the counselor retrieved a pad before I could change into clean underwear and the ONLY OTHER PAIR of pants I’d brought for this week-long trip. But bless her heart, she took my blood-soaked jeans and undies and somehow located a washing machine — so, within a day, I had them back. And we managed to hide it all from the other campers.” —etconner
20. Tampons are terrifying
“I got my period in 7th grade, and that summer, I still hadn’t worked up the courage to ask how to use a tampon. I decided to not swim the whole week at summer camp to avoid using a tampon, and my best friend wasn’t having any of that. She refused to let me leave the cabin until she explained how to put in a tampon in elaborate detail in front of my friends. I was mortified at the time but I got to go tubing and she’s still my best friend yearrrrrs later.” —katherinebrown2024
