HQ
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
First published in Great Britain by HQ,
an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2019
Copyright © Emma Barnett 2019
Emma Barnett asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.
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Source ISBN: 9780008308070
Ebook Edition © 2019 ISBN: 9780008308094
Version: 2019-08-23
For my two boys –
the best team I could wish for
Contents
Copyright
Dedication
Introduction:
Chapter One:
Chapter Two:
Chapter Three:
Chapter Four:
Chapter Five:
Chapter Six:
Chapter Seven:
Chapter Eight:
Chapter Nine:
Chapter Ten:
Chapter Eleven:
Chapter Twelve:
Conclusion:
PERIOD PRIDE MANIFESTO
RIDING THE COTTON UNICORN:
a handy appendix of period euphemisms
A LONG OVERDUE LETTER TO MY PERIOD
Acknowledgements
About the Author
About the Publisher
‘Women have been trained to speak softly and carry a lipstick. Those days are over.’
Bella Abzug better known as ‘Battling Bella’, lawyer, activist and a leader of the US Women’s Movement
I loathe my period. Really, I do. I cannot wait for the day it buggers off. For good. But shall I tell you what I loathe even more? Not being able to talk about it. Freely, funnily and honestly. Without women and men wrinkling their noses in disgust as if I’d just pulled my tampon out, swung it in their face and offered it as an hors d’oeuvre.
Don’t get me wrong – I am grateful to my period too. A functioning menstrual cycle is, after all, one half of the reason we are all here in the first place and able to procreate, should we wish to. I may loathe the physical experience of my period but that doesn’t mean I can’t and won’t fight for the right to converse about it without fear of embarrassed sniggers.
Periods really do lay serious claim to the label ‘final taboo’. But why, in the twenty-first century, are they still seen as disgusting and something a woman should endure peacefully, without fuss? This is despite most other ‘off-limits topics’ losing their stigmas and coming into the light, helpfully driven by Generation Overshare. But the sight or sound of blood in pants? Don’t be daft.
Most women don’t even