{"id":21457,"date":"2022-12-06T07:58:08","date_gmt":"2022-12-06T06:58:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.intimina.com\/blog\/?p=21457"},"modified":"2025-03-06T07:59:32","modified_gmt":"2025-03-06T06:59:32","slug":"period-euphemisms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.intimina.com\/blog\/period-euphemisms\/","title":{"rendered":"Menstrual Euphemisms&#8230; Just Say &#8220;Period&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Real painter-decorator, shark scientist, an aunt named Flo and a strawberry farmer are just some of the \u2018human period euphemisms\u2019 joining forces to end harmful menstrual slang\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Globally there are over 5,000 period euphemisms including \u2018got the painters in\u2019, \u2018Aunt Flo is in town\u2019, \u2018shark week\u2019 and \u2018surfing the crimson wave\u2019<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>But period euphemisms are offensive, problematic and contribute to the ongoing stigma around menstruation<\/b><b>1<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>Now, enabled by intimate wellbeing brand, <\/b><b>INTIMINA<\/b><b>,<\/b><b> a very unlikely group of people have come together across the planet to urge people to just say period\u2026 and they are all \u2018human period euphemisms\u2019<\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>The collection of \u2018human period euphemisms\u2019 includes a real painter-decorator, shark experts, an aunt named Flo, a surfer, a naval military historian, a lingonberry jam maker and a strawberry farmer\u00a0<\/b><\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><b>The collective of walking, talking menstrual slang terms star in a striking short film, saying the euphemism they represent before calling for change. View the film <\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=UCFL6y5o83s\"><b>here<\/b><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">What do a painter-decorator, a strawberry farmer, a shark scientist, an aunt named Flo, a lingonberry jam producer, a surfer and a military historian have in common? They\u2019re all \u2018human period euphemisms\u2019. And now, in partnership with <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">INTIMINA<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">,<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> this unlikely group of embodied menstrual slang have come together across the world to call for an end to harmful period euphemisms.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While they may seem harmless, using euphemisms to describe menstruation discourages open conversation and perpetuates the stigma and taboo surrounding periods. Many of the euphemisms used around the world have negative connotations that associate menstruation with shame, leaving generations of women feeling like they need to hide their periods and avoid discussing their menstrual health.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">As part of its ongoing mission to normalise periods, wellbeing brand <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">INTIMINA<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> felt that the best people to fight period euphemisms were period euphemisms. That\u2019s right, a collection of real people that embody menstrual euphemisms are the faces of a global movement urging everyone to call periods, periods.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The unusual ensemble of embodied euphemisms, and the slang they symbolise, are as follows (full biographies in the notes to editors):\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"list-style-type: none;\">\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Justin Bowen, a British painter-decorator, is<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u201cGot the painters in\u201d <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(popular in the UK)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Florence Deniau, an American aunt, is <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cAunt Flo is in town\u201d <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">euphemism (popular in the USA)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Liv Palmblad, a Swedish lingonberry jam producer, is <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cLingonberry week\u201d <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(popular in Sweden)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nate Sutton, an Australian surfer, is <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cSurfing the crimson wave\u201d <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(popular in English-speaking countries)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Iris Pupella-Nogu\u00e8s a French historian, is <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThe English have landed\u201d<\/span><\/i> <i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">euphemism<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (popular in France and a reference to the Battle of Waterloo and the colour of British military uniforms)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sophumelela Qoma and Nico Booyens, South African shark scientists, are \u201c<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Shark week\u201d<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (popular in English-speaking countries)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Alessandro Sesini, an Italian collector with a passion for fine wines, is <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI have my things\u201d<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (popular in Italy)<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Phil Boddington, a strawberry farmer, is <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cStrawberry week\u201d <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">(popular in Germany)<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This global group have starred in a striking short film<\/span> <b>seen here<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, where each human period euphemism can be seen engaging in an activity related to the euphemism they represent, before saying the slang in their language. The film ends with a powerful call to arms, as INTIMINA\u2019s cast urges all other human period euphemisms as well as the entire global population to call time on damaging slang terms and instead call a period a period.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Human period euphemism<\/b> <b>Justin Bowen, a painter-decorator at Justincredible Plastering, comments: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2018In my industry, people don\u2019t talk about periods. It wasn\u2019t until my partner passed away and I was left caring for a young daughter that I realised the importance of open conversation around menstruation. Now, as a husband and father, I feel a responsibility to help break down the stigma. I\u2019m proud to be a part of this campaign for INTIMINA \u2013 it\u2019s a cause close to my heart. I\u2019m a period man now!\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Dunja Kokotovi\u0107,<\/b> <b>INTIMINA Global Brand Manager, comments:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u201cPeriods are normal, but with over 5,000 euphemisms used around the world, we still have a long way to go when it comes to normalising open conversation about menstruation. INTIMINA has created <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Just Say Period <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">to shine a light on this issue and make steps towards eradicating the stigma by stimulating open dialogue about menstruation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Gynaecologist for INTIMINA, Dr Unsworth, comments:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2018I am delighted that INTIMINA is taking a stance on such an important topic. Using euphemisms to describe periods perpetuates the longstanding stigma around menstruation, and many euphemisms have very negative connotations stemming from patriarchal ideology that associates menstruation with shame. Continued use of such euphemisms results in new generations of women feeling unable to talk openly about their periods, which can often cause delays in them seeking help when they are having difficulties. There should be no shame in using the term \u2018menstruation\u2019 or \u2018period\u2019, as over 50% of the population will experience them, and the remaining 50% would not be here without them!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">INTIMINA has created <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Just Say Period <\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">as part of its ongoing Seen + Heard period positivity campaign. Seen + Heard aims to increase the visibility of menstrual wellbeing across the world, normalise conversations about menstrual health, tackle stigma and bias and raise awareness of intimate health conditions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Real painter-decorator, shark scientist, an aunt named Flo and a strawberry farmer are just some of the \u2018human period euphemisms\u2019 joining forces to end harmful menstrual slang\u00a0 Globally there are&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":20996,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false},"categories":[2],"tags":[47,195],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.12 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Menstrual Euphemisms... Just Say &quot;Period&quot; - Intimina<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.intimina.com\/blog\/period-euphemisms\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"INTIMINA\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intimina.com\/blog\/period-euphemisms\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intimina.com\/blog\/period-euphemisms\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"INTIMINA\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intimina.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f50537a97d16dabefc697e8585013e87\"},\"headline\":\"Menstrual Euphemisms&#8230; Just Say &#8220;Period&#8221;\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-12-06T06:58:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-03-06T06:59:32+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intimina.com\/blog\/period-euphemisms\/\"},\"wordCount\":859,\"commentCount\":1,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intimina.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"menstruation\",\"period\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Menstruation\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.intimina.com\/blog\/period-euphemisms\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intimina.com\/blog\/period-euphemisms\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.intimina.com\/blog\/period-euphemisms\/\",\"name\":\"Menstrual Euphemisms... Just Say \\\"Period\\\" - Intimina\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intimina.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-12-06T06:58:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-03-06T06:59:32+00:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.intimina.com\/blog\/period-euphemisms\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intimina.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.intimina.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Intimina\",\"description\":\"A Health and Wellness Resource for Women\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intimina.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.intimina.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intimina.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Intimina\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.intimina.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intimina.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.intimina.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/INTIMINA_logo-02.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.intimina.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/INTIMINA_logo-02.png\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":543,\"caption\":\"Intimina\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intimina.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/intimina\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intimina\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/intimina\/\",\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/intimina\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCR_3_GPO6pkhDiFU9TZRdYA\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intimina.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f50537a97d16dabefc697e8585013e87\",\"name\":\"INTIMINA\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.intimina.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d41ce57083541d7ecfdc50159a46958f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d41ce57083541d7ecfdc50159a46958f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"INTIMINA\"},\"description\":\"A collective group of \\\"lady experts\\\" at Intimina who love sharing our personal experiences, even when they are a little\u00a0too\u00a0personal. We believe it's time to start breaking down the taboos around menstruation, motherhood, and menopause, and start owning our female health.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.intimina.com\/blog\/author\/intimina\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Menstrual Euphemisms... Just Say \"Period\" - Intimina","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.intimina.com\/blog\/period-euphemisms\/","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"INTIMINA","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.intimina.com\/blog\/period-euphemisms\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intimina.com\/blog\/period-euphemisms\/"},"author":{"name":"INTIMINA","@id":"https:\/\/www.intimina.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f50537a97d16dabefc697e8585013e87"},"headline":"Menstrual Euphemisms&#8230; Just Say &#8220;Period&#8221;","datePublished":"2022-12-06T06:58:08+00:00","dateModified":"2025-03-06T06:59:32+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intimina.com\/blog\/period-euphemisms\/"},"wordCount":859,"commentCount":1,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intimina.com\/blog\/#organization"},"keywords":["menstruation","period"],"articleSection":["Menstruation"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.intimina.com\/blog\/period-euphemisms\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.intimina.com\/blog\/period-euphemisms\/","url":"https:\/\/www.intimina.com\/blog\/period-euphemisms\/","name":"Menstrual Euphemisms... Just Say \"Period\" - Intimina","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intimina.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2022-12-06T06:58:08+00:00","dateModified":"2025-03-06T06:59:32+00:00","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.intimina.com\/blog\/period-euphemisms\/"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.intimina.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.intimina.com\/blog\/","name":"Intimina","description":"A Health and Wellness Resource for Women","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intimina.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.intimina.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.intimina.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Intimina","url":"https:\/\/www.intimina.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.intimina.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.intimina.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/INTIMINA_logo-02.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.intimina.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/INTIMINA_logo-02.png","width":1000,"height":543,"caption":"Intimina"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.intimina.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/intimina","https:\/\/twitter.com\/intimina","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/intimina\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/intimina\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCR_3_GPO6pkhDiFU9TZRdYA"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.intimina.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/f50537a97d16dabefc697e8585013e87","name":"INTIMINA","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.intimina.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d41ce57083541d7ecfdc50159a46958f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/d41ce57083541d7ecfdc50159a46958f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"INTIMINA"},"description":"A collective group of \"lady experts\" at Intimina who love sharing our personal experiences, even when they are a little\u00a0too\u00a0personal. We believe it's time to start breaking down the taboos around menstruation, motherhood, and menopause, and start owning our female health.","url":"https:\/\/www.intimina.com\/blog\/author\/intimina\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intimina.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21457"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intimina.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intimina.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intimina.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intimina.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21457"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.intimina.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21457\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22248,"href":"https:\/\/www.intimina.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21457\/revisions\/22248"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intimina.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20996"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.intimina.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intimina.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.intimina.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}