First Period Stories

I believe a collective healing happens when people from that collective share their stories out loud, when the story no longer remains untold, hushed, and forgotten.
For many of the women I interviewed, no one had asked them about the story of their first period, it was a forgotten story one not to be brought up…
I was honoured to hear them tell their stories for the first time.
This collection of first period stories, I see it as a healing circle, but also as an archive of stories for those who have not yet stepped into their cycle. There is a power and beauty in sharing our stories….

Sharing connects us to each other, and has the power to bind us and heal us.
You can either send me a video of around 2-3 min, looking straight into the camera and sharing your first period story.
Or you can send me a picture of you around the time you got your first period along with your written story.

Want to share your 1st period story?

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Jessie (U.K.)

“My periods were never good. I lost jobs because of them.
They basically shaped my life”

Roaa (Saudi Arabia)

“I thought something was wrong with me, that I am sick,
I told her don’t tell dad this is our secret, don’t tell anyone”

Daniela (U.K. / Lebanon)

“It seems very mystical and perfect”

Suzanne (U.S.A.)

“It’s something shameful, something we can’t speak about”

Jihad (Tunisia)

“She gave me a pad and told me to just wear it.
She didn’t even tell me how to wear it”

Fatima (United Arab Emirates)

“It’s something shameful, something we can’t speak about”

Sukaina (Lebanon)

” I really didn’t know what to feel, because usually
when we have blood coming out, we need to
do something about it”

Andrea (South Africa)

“I had been waiting for this moment for a very long time,
and I showed my mom and she said
‘oh is that the first time you’re having your period?'”

Aliya (India)

“At first I thought that I pooped myself so I was freaking out”

Injaru (South Africa)

“When I came home it was just radio silence, all I really got was the pads”

Caroline (Romania/Lebanon)

“It was weird having to hide this part of my life and to be embarrassed”

Mirey (Russia)

“She explained to me that a woman grows up that she has bleeding
that it comes every month and that it is not pleasant”

Layan (Lebanon)

“I actually felt that I grew up, and I was finally part of all the girls”

Anita (South Africa)

“If I had found out in school and it would have messed on my school dress
I would have been devastated, all the boys would have seen”

Ayukta (Japan/India)

“I remember I screamed I thought
I had some kind of cut or something”

Makosi (Zimbabwe)

“With my periods I had officially become a second class citizen”

Yasmina (United States)

“I was definitely afraid, I was confused,
I don’t know I mean I was excited because
my mom was excited and I thought I should be excited too”

Shahana (India)

“I used to hear my mother and my sister talking about periods,
sometimes we even used to have baths together
so I knew the physicality of it all and
I used to treat them like they were some untouchables”

Deena (United States/Pakistan)

“My dad gave me an envelope with money in it,
and it was like a congratulation, like you’re a woman now”

Noha (Lebanon)

“I went to the bathroom and didn’t recognise it the same way
I thought because it wasn’t bright red blood”

Zeina (Lebanon)

“She told me” A girl is like a sheet of glass,
from now you need to be super careful,
because if that sheet breaks it can’t be repaired”

Anne (United Kingdom)

“I thought I was dying! I honestly thought I was dying.
What would you think, nothing but urine
had come out of that area before”

Dima (Lebanon)

“For me it was weird, I wasn’t prepared for it,
no one told me about it”

Farah (Pakistan/USA)

“I remember my abdomen it felt like it was being ripped out of me,
I was like great thanks, thanks nature”

Leanna (Georgia)

“I wasn’t informed about it beforehand no-one told me
oh you’re going to get the period”

Nancy (Lebanon)

“Thank god I was lucky my first period wasn’t traumatic”