On Period Pay and Period Leave.

I wrote this piece before. Twice.
Both times, I wrote (what I thought was) a very beautiful, emotional piece that emerged not only from the heart but also from the troubles of our wombs.
Both times, the page ‘refreshed' and all was gone before anybody else saw it. As if it wasn’t ever worth the effort. How ironical I thought.

But much like a recurring period, this written piece is back.

This time round, the piece retains the same tenderness and rage with which it was first written. But it also weighs heavy with exhaustion.

The message is still stands intact:

Menstruators* need to be compensated for their period. And we simply cannot welcome another generation where individuals are disadvantaged from the start for the sole reason that they menstruate.

*I say menstruators because I am aware of the diversity of the period and I’m already sure that I underrepresent in this piece.

Regardless, let me try and help you see what the period is like on the body. Perhaps for some individuals, this might be “graphic”. But I promise you, this will be nothing short of educational and is very real for some of us.

• The morning of the period, it’s quite common to experience “period poo”- a case of short-lived diarrhoea. Your hormones are sending prostaglandin to the intestine that makes poo soft. A few hours to a day before it’s also quite common to experience being a little constipated. Its finicky like that.

• The period itself. Is bloody uncomfortable.

• While your uterus is generally shedding itself, it makes it known to the rest of the body that it’s dealing with some thing quite consequential. The rest of the body-stomach, breasts, thighs, shoulders, (I’ve also heard of knees) ache for a time period that is again unknown.

• Hell if you’re in your menopause, even your skin, the largest organ of your body changes!

• The brain/mind might be at the opposite pole of the body to the uterus - Oh, but you’d be fooled to think it’s left alone!
  Periods can make you quite nauseus. I spend many a period with my head stuck in a toilet bowl and I respect my period enough to never dare discount this. I also know of people who completely blackout on their periods.
  Your body’s thermoregulator seems to be in overdrive, giving you the sweats and shivers as it wills.

• Emotions. Well emotions. One can be quite touchy and tender, depressed and hysterical and god knows what else the other kind of emotions are called.
  

This is by no means is an exhaustive list. I’m sure there’s more variations.
But see it with a sense of urgency, like researchers finally do these days- Periods are like cardiac arrests. The pain and emotion can be quite different for different people.
But it is a consequential occurrence. One that is consequential not just to the individual but humankind.
One that demands (not expects) kindness.

Hence,
The case for 12 days paid period leave and period compensation.

12 days paid period leave

Look, if you’re on your period, you do not need to be white-knuckling your way into work. I know for a fact people do. Because millions of women and other menstruators show up at work every day, every month, every year without having access to necessity that is paid period leave or compensation.

At the moment, they show up to working pain and discomfort to earn money. And then spend money in the hundreds that their counterparts would probably invest in their growth or upgrades annually. The trough of inequity deepens.

You might gather the opinion that those who menstruate might be “feeling sick” and therefore need to be encouraged to avail sick leave.
To that I want to remind us all- Menstrual leave is not sick leave!
Menstruation is not an illness. Sick leave is for when we fall ill.

If you are taking a day off from your sick leave for your period. Stop. Drop. Roll . You can and should ask for more.

Period compensation

Periods are political and the giants- institutions that hold society together with rules and policies (which I have no problem with) should shoulder the change.
Let me spell out an example:
Imagine a family with 3 female kids and one breadwinner (male or female).
An average female spends approximately 10,000AUD over a lifetime for her periods. If you care about the planet, and want to have a sustainable menstruation, costs add up. You can see how the burden of the period becomes very palpable.
If one can’t avail paid period leave in the workplace, there needs to be compensation/full rebate for period costs.

If you want your nation to grow…
Cover the damn cost. Free the period.