I am an avid fan of Instagram user @SaintHoax and the way he Photoshops iconic characters for the purposes of cultural commentary, but this latest one really takes the cake. He drew Disney princesses with period stains to make an extremely powerful statement about just how ridiculous we are as a society for all the taboo surrounding menstruation. In case all the people freaking out about how ~gross~ periods are missed the memo, it's an entirely natural phenomenon and nothing to be ashamed about. And yet, in 2015, we still live in a society in which women are constantly shamed for the very biological process that is, quite frankly, responsible for the existence of the entire human race.
If you are a menstrual being, then you'll be able to relate to any period-related "horror story." We all have at least one story of that time we had to hide in the high school bathroom while our BFF did damage control on the outside, and if we're unlucky, we have worse tales than that (read: the pop star who recently had her pad fall out onstage). It's a part not just of growing up, but of our whole lives. Even the most diligent, biologically "predictable" person will be claimed by the Embarrassing Period Gods a few times in adulthood.
But that's just the thing — these kinds of stories shouldn't be embarrassing. We shouldn't have to apologize when it happens, or cringe when we look back on it. Where did all this weird shaming even begin?
That's exactly what Saint Hoax explores in his recent Instagram series:
In the comments section, he shares an incredibly relatable and powerful story of a recent friend of his who had a menstrual mishap of her own.
A (girl) friend of mine went on a date 2 weeks ago. Halfway through dinner, she had a period leak that left a bloodstain on her skirt. Her date didn’t handle the situation well; she could tell he was uncomfortable. As the night came to an end, he said he would call her the next day… After not hearing back from him, she was convinced he was revolted by the accident. She sent him an apologetic text message. He replied, “How can I date a girl who doesn’t know what a Tampon is?” These blooded Disney princesses are my reaction to her story. There’s a lot of ignorance and shame surrounding this subject. The fact that she felt the need to apologize for something so natural is more appalling than a period stain. Girls get their period once a month. Sometimes it gets messy. Get over it. #BloodyPrincess
In the photos he shares, the princes are regarding their princesses with the same unjustified horror that his friend experienced on her date. It may be shocking to see a Disney princess presented this way, but that's the whole point of the series: to destigmatize a perfectly natural thing that should never have been made so controversial in the first place.
My number one goal in life today is to get the #BloodyPrincess movement to go viral. It's time to end this nonsense surrounding how we talk about periods once and for all. I'd like to live in a world where I can have kids one day who don't feel this strange, misplaced shame for something that honestly should be celebrated for what it is. We've got to stop this kind of shaming at the source, and if the source is going to be Disney princesses this time around, well, I'm even more behind it. #Bless you, Saint Hoax. This campaign just made my damn day.
Image: Disney
