Women in Ireland are tweeting the details of their menstrual cycles to Taoiseach Enda Kenny. The tweets arose in response to the head of State’s casual dismissal of abortion law reform, or repealing the eight amendment to the Irish constitution, Article 40.3.3, which equates the “life of the unborn” to the “life of the mother”. The #repealtheeighth campaign has now garnered international attention. The tweets detail different stages of different women’s menstrual cycles- heavy flows, occasional spotting, sore breasts.
Why is it that these women think the minutiae of their menstrual cycles is of any concern to the Taoiseach? Indeed, why is it any of the Irish state’s business as to what goes on in an average woman’s uterus? Irish women live-tweeting their periods to the head of State follow the government’s current stance on abortion to it’s logical conclusion: If the state is going to remain in control of Irish women’s bodies, then the head of government should know all about the everyday grind of having a vagina. As Grainne Maguire argues, since the Irish state feels so entitled to get involved in what goes on inside women’s reproductive parts, the least Irish women can do is provide the Taoiseach with all the details.
By the same token, to those who counter-argue that many Irish women wouldn’t talk about their periods to their partners (let alone the head of the Irish state!) – they have flagged part of the wider problem. Women in Ireland are made feel shame about their bodies. This is evidenced in the everyday of Irish society. Breastfeeding in public is frowned upon. Talking frankly about our menstrual cycle is out of the question – using weird and secretive synonyms is more culturally acceptable: ‘on the rag’, ‘on the blob’, ‘in the red’, ‘riding the crimson wave’, ‘time of the month’, ‘tom’s visiting’, ‘aunty flo’s arrived’. If we can't speak plainly about our periods, then how are we ever going to have a proper discussion about reproductive rights? This twitter campaign highlights that women speaking frankly about their bodies, and moreover, their bodily rights, is taboo in Irish society.
