By Sydney Peregoy
This past summer was the first time I ever started wearing tampons - cool, right? It all came down to a day at the pool that would have been ruined by my untimely time of the month. I really hadn’t run into the kind of opportunities that could be ruined by my pad-only mentality since middle school (awkward pool parties sort of start and end there, yes?).
Finals week was incredibly busy, and normally if I had my period around this time I’d have to change my pad an incredible amount of times because my flow is so heavy at times, but Super tampons are fantastic. I found myself almost forgetting that I had my period at times, although I am paranoid about toxic shock syndrome so I can never really forget.
One thing that I always struggled with was the constant reminder that most other girls did wear tampons, and that I was kind of strange for being too scared to try them. My first year at UNC I even felt comfortable enough to share my fear of tampons with some of my friends, something that I hadn’t been able to discuss with anyone else besides my mom, and they were confused. They could not understand why I wouldn’t wear tampons, and basically invalidated my feelings surrounding tampons.
My ability to finally use tampons felt at first like a victory, but honestly it’s easy to forget that it’s not anyone else’s choice to tell me whether or not I have to wear pads or tampons. I felt a bit embarrassed for not being brave enough to try tampons, but being embarrassed just discounts the fact that I am valid in my feelings about my own body and comfort. This is just a reminder that judging others for their fears and questions surrounding their own health is petty, and it’s a waste of time. I may have been able to get over whatever was stopping me from shoving that tampon in, but I was perfectly valid in not wanting to wear them.
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