I always said I would never bring politics to this blog, but quite honestly I don't think periods are political. Just like I don't think freedom of speech or protecting children is political. So I had to write this blog post about a proposed bill that I learned about from Tiktok, just like how I learn about literally everything else going on in this country. 

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I got my period in 5th grade a month after my birthday. This was a semester before our sex education unit in school. Luckily, I have a mom, and not only that, I have a mom who taught me about periods. 

My mom has been my biggest advocate my entire life. She told my 5th-grade teacher for me that I started my period and that I had bad cramps. My teacher let me stay in from recess when I wasn’t feeling good. My mom bought every brand of tampon for me to try when I decided I hated pads. 

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I always knew I would be a woman who openly talked about periods. When I was in 6th grade, myself and one other girl in my class had our periods. During our sex education unit, we asked our teacher if we could host a period Q and A for the other girls in our class. For a whole hour, we answered questions from our peers about periods. It was such a beautiful and powerful experience that I will never forget. 

In college, I came to the realization that a lot of my friends learned about periods from sex education classes. Some learned from their older sisters or cousins, but not many learned from their mothers. I was shocked. 

We cannot take period education away from our youth. We cannot take these experiences away from them. 

More than 50% of the population will experience a period in their lifetime. Most will get their periods between the ages of 8-15 years old, but the Florida bill will ban their teachers from talking about it until they are 11-12 years old. 

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Stand up for what you believe in. Stand up for your rights. Say the word period. Talk about periods. Period is not a dirty word. Periods are not taboo. Periods are natural. Period. Period. Period. Period.