Amy Schumer on Removing the Stigma Around Menstruation

Amy Schumer is getting candid about period “shame” and the stigma surrounding menstruation.

In an interview with People, the comedian opened up about partnering with TAMPAX to “normalize women having their periods and take away the stigma.”

“We want to … just take the shame away from this thing that is really strange that it’s still so secretive and that we’re made to feel bad about it,” she said. “And just to get rid of some of the myths.”

Schumer, 39, explained how there is so much “misinformation” about menstruation and expressed how she hopes to be an “older sister” to teach young girls about periods.

“[Women and girls] have all these misconceptions and fears, and there really isn’t that much education out there,” she told the publication. “Only 24 states have any sort of required sex education and only 13 of those states require any sort of upkeep of actual medical studies.”

“So if you don’t have an older sister, or if your mom isn’t super up to date, you really have no one to rely on,” she continued. “So I’m hopefully gonna be people’s older sister, explaining the things that I’ve learned to them.”

While the “I Feel Pretty” star said her mom made her feel “informed” when she first started her period, she didn’t teach her how to use a tampon.

“I didn’t find out how to put a Tampax in for probably a couple of years,” Schumer said. “People don’t understand — I didn’t understand that your flow changes and you need different sizes so I think I was probably just using whatever tampon my mom had. If it hurts when you put it in, you go a size down.”

“I didn’t know that. And I didn’t know how far to push it in,” she continued. “Some women don’t even know — they’re not pushing it in far enough, so they can feel it. You shouldn’t feel your tampon. And those are things I didn’t learn for far too long.”

Despite this, the “Trainwreck” actress said she “didn’t have period shame” and menstruation “was very normalized” for her.

“Women have periods — that’s how we’re all alive, is that we get our periods,” Schumer explained. “And then we don’t. We have to continue the human race, but we don’t talk about it.”

“I didn’t even know to be ashamed of it, so I would raise my hand and say, ‘Can I go to the bathroom?’ And if my teacher said no, I would say, ‘I have to change my tampon or my pad. I have my period.'” she recalled. “Then everyone would giggle and the teacher would be so embarrassed, and that’s kind of how I learned, ‘Oh, you’re supposed to be ashamed of this.'”

“But I would say, ‘I have my period’ like I would ask someone what time it is; it was very normalized to me,” Schumer concluded. “And I hope that’s what we’re working toward.”

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