A new survey has revealed that men generally feel more comfortable discussing periods than women - 21% of women would feel comfortable discussing periods with another person, compared with 37% of men.
Research from international charity ActionAid also revealed that a quarter of women in the UK aged 16-39 ‘do not fully understand how their menstrual cycles work, as they don’t track their periods’.
The YouGov poll, commissioned by ActionAid, delved into both men and women’s attitudes towards periods and unearthed an interesting divide, with men feeling more comfortable discussing them than women.
Almost half (47%) of women surveyed said they’d feel uncomfortable discussing periods with their dads. However only 9% of men said they’d feel uncomfortable discussing periods with their daughters.
One in three (37%) women said they would not feel comfortable discussing periods with male friends, yet only 17% of men would find discussing periods with female friends uncomfortable.
What’s more, one in five women (20%) under 40 years old said they would feel uncomfortable discussing their periods with their female friends, mums (21%) and partners (21%).
When asked about buying sanitary products, half of men surveyed said they wouldn’t feel uncomfortable buying sanitary products for women, yet only 16% of women would feel comfortable asking a guy to buy sanitary products for them.
The findings were released ahead of World Menstrual Hygiene Day on 28May, which raises awareness of the millions of women and girls around the world who don’t have access to clean and safe sanitary products.