Brooks Nader’s Wimbledon Period Stain Went Viral – Here's Why It Struck A Nerve

Brooks Nader at WimbledonModel and influencer Brooks Nader went through an experience many women can relate to at this year’s Wimbledon games. “Tries to be chic... starts [a red drop emoji signifying a period],” she wrote in her viral TikTok video’s caption.Then, she showed her friends lowering their sunglasses as they spotted a red mark on the back of her skirt. Comments praised the TikToker for including the “real” image of the mark. “You’re so real for this,” one app user wrote, while another said: “Thanks for normalising this ’cause it happens to us all.” Still, some felt the inclusion was unnecessary. “Couldn’t waterboard this out of me,” a TikToker replied to the clip. “Just fkn gross,” another wrote. But I’m certainly with the former camp – here’s why.@brooksnaderOf course 🎾 #wimbledon♬ Cartoon Eye Blinking Sound - AnnaThe “blue liquid” approach to period is outdated and harmful Bodyform’s 2017 advert was the first I saw that showed periods, which are, after all, partly made up of blood, as being red on screen. Until then, it was all strange blue liquid.Speaking to the BBC, Nadia Mendoza, co-founder of The Self-Esteem Team, said: “The use of blue liquid to represent period blood not only suggests that period blood is shameful, it also paints a wholly unrealistic picture for young girls who are yet to start their periods.” But the lack of realistic period portrayal doesn’t stop there. Doctors only began using real blood to test the absorbency of pads in 2023, for instance.A review study published in Obstetrics and Gynaecology found that the subject is so “understudied” that we may not have even grown up understanding what “heavy bleeding” really looks like.No wonder research by YouGov and ActionAid found that one in four women in the UK don’t understand how their menstrual cycle works.Shame and “ongoing taboos” around the process have made it harder to discuss and learn about periods, they added.No wonder the comments were so often positiveIf something as simple as an influencer’s (tiny) period stain can make the many commenters who were pleased to see the representation less ashamed of the natural, stigmatised cycle, then great, I say. As period underwear company WUKA wrote on their site, we see “blood and guts on TV and in movies all the time.” Why not see a realistic show of period blood on social media, then? It’s about time the issue became “normalised” enough to discuss openly. It’s hard to see how already-disappointing healthcare gaps will stand a chance of closing unless we all get a whole lot more comfortable with the reality of our cycles. Related...Does Brown Period Blood Signal Hormonal Issues? I Asked A GPYou Need To Talk To Your Autistic Child About Periods – But When?Locked Loos And Leaks At School: Students Are Facing Too Many Barriers On Their Periods

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Brooks Nader’s Wimbledon Period Stain Went Viral – Here's Why It Struck A Nerve

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