Period.. Emma Barnett

      

      

       Copyright

      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.

      Droplet image © Shutterstock.com

      All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins

      Source ISBN: 9780008308070

      Ebook Edition © 2019 ISBN: 9780008308094

      Version: 2019-08-23

       Dedication

       For my two boys –

       the best team I could wish for

      Contents

       Cover

       Title Page

      Copyright

      Dedication

      Introduction:

       FRESH BLOOD

      Chapter One:

       FIRST BLOOD

      Chapter Two:

       HOLY BLOOD

Chapter Three:

       BAD BLOOD

       Chapter Four:

       MAN BLOOD

       Chapter Five:

       OFFICE BLOOD

       Chapter Six:

       CLASSROOM BLOOD

       Chapter Seven:

       POLITICAL BLOOD

       Chapter Eight:

       POOR BLOOD

       Chapter Nine:

       RICH BLOOD

       Chapter Ten:

       SEX BLOOD

       Chapter Eleven:

       WANTED AND UNWANTED BLOOD

       Chapter Twelve:

       NO BLOOD

       Conclusion:

       LAST BLOOD

       PERIOD PRIDE MANIFESTO

       RIDING THE COTTON UNICORN:

       a handy appendix of period euphemisms

       A LONG OVERDUE LETTER TO MY PERIOD

       Acknowledgements

       Praise for Period.

       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 want to talk about them with each other – because there is a deeply rooted idea they are a silent cross