As a proud, straight-talking medical ambassador for The Eve Appeal, I feel very strongly that using the correct language around gynaecological health is critical. As part of a women’s health for active women initiative that I have co-founded, called The Well HQ, we have launched a campaign featuring 50 elite UK and world athletes sharing the message to ‘call it what it is’ around gynae and reproductive health.
The campaign is a plea to standardise the language of our bodies, starting with periods. No more euphemisms, no more stigma. #sayperiod
It’s a change anyone can make. It’s a change we can all impart to friends, peers and crucially, the next generation. If we can hand over a functional vocabulary that lends itself to cohesion and change we can evolve past a social compromise that continues to limit her time in school, into life, into sport and beyond.
Euphemisms for ‘period’ are centuries old, designed to spare peoples embarrassment but they maintain a taboo and mystery around the female body and what it does. These euphemisms create a barrier and put a distance between perception and reality. If we can’t say the word…… how can we change attitudes?
We need your support – this is a step we can all take. Language has power. The wrong language hurts. The right language will be a stepping stone to her future, better.
To find out more and to pledge your support go to Period – The Well HQ