Periods in play: How Women’s Football is Tackling Period Taboos
In 2023, Nuffield Health conducted a crucial study around sport and menstruation. Their inquiry revealed that 84% of teenage girls say their interest in sport and fitness diminished after starting their period. One in three reported that they were uncomfortable in taking part in physical activity altogether whilst menstruating. The tragedy here is that there are already far fewer opportunities and far less encouragement for young girls to get into sport – periods are just another problem to add to the equation. This statistic is also disheartening because it feels contradictory to the remarkable growth of women’s sport in this country in recent years, in participation and fan support. Yet it is true that overall, there has been very little public discourse over this specific issue – until now. With recent campaigns in women’s football, that narrative is beginning to change. The sport is forever reaching new heights, not just with the development of the game itself but in its drive to combat broader feminist issues. This year Arsenal and Manchester City women have expanded their advocacy, and sparked a long-overdue conversation about women’s health in sport.
Last week Manchester City women announced a partnership with period underwear brand ‘snuggs’. The company was founded in 2019 and manufactures absorbent underwear that serve as “a replacement for pads and tampons”, with the goal of maximising comfort and minimising leaks and the inconvenience of period management. Now their collaboration with Manchester City intends to help women play football without limitations and without fear. According to the campaign, snuggs and ManCity aim “to engage, educate and empower the next generation of Girls’ Academy players.” They hope to provide a sense of “freedom” for women and girls playing on their periods; that they may focus their attention solely on the game. The football club declared on their Instagram “Together we’ll empower the first team and Girls’ Academy to perform without compromise”.
This comes less than a month after Arsenal partnered with Persil in a campaign against period taboos. This collaboration is the first of its kind. The team wrote on their announcement: “No blood stain should be a source of shame or a reason to fear playing. Blood is blood, whether it comes from your nose, your knees or your uterus.” Their message focuses on normalising periods and making light of conversation around women’s health. The Arsenal and England captain served as a spokesperson for this campaign, where she proudly stated: “I’m Leah Williamson and I won the European Championships with England and I was on my period.” Here something so simple becomes so powerful. This statement of fact, the words “I was on my period” are rarely declared yet so commonly experienced. And the message is that women truly can do anything bleeding. And as Williamson reminds us, “it’s just blood.”
Though this sense of normalcy around periods is relatively new. Historically sports journalism has seldom found space for discourse on women’s health, especially when it comes to menstruation. In April 2023 the Lionesses made headlines when they released a new kit that featured blue shorts instead of white ones. This occurred after players expressed discomfort and stress to Nike over playing in white shorts during the 2022 European Championship. Within a year, they had responded: “Professional footballers play two 45-minute halves without breaks and time-outs. Many told us they can spend several minutes on-pitch concerned that they may experience leakage from their period.” This generated a lot of press for being a unique occasion where a women’s sports team had publicly spoken about menstruation. Women all over the world will know that there seems to be a collective sense of shame or embarrassment surrounding periods: the attempts to avoid conversation, the concealing a tampon up your sleeve, the disaster of your pad showing through your clothes. It’s evidenced simply in the language we use – how many euphemisms do we have to talk about those dreaded ‘monthlies’, ‘shark week’, the visit from ‘Auntie Flo’? This is problematic in any case, but especially when it comes to sport, because it imposes even more barriers upon women and girls. Female athletes already suffer from lack of funding, support, and opportunity – period taboos should not stand in the way too.
Campaigns from clubs like Arsenal and Manchester City are so pivotal in destigmatizing this very normal experience. Periods are unextraordinary - so why do they feel extraordinary when addressed in the media? Women’s sports journalism must make room for more discourse like this, for topics specific to the female experience. Press around women’s football doesn’t have to mirror that of the men’s – there are so many elements of the women’s game that are nuanced, incomparable and simply different to the male experience that should be explored in their own right. The journalistic narrative needs to evolve. It’s essential to the encouragement of women and girls’ involvement in sport – periods are a part of the game, and therefore should be dealt with effectively rather than dismissed. As Manchester City declared about their deal with snuggs, “This partnership goes beyond the kit. We will collaborate on a programme to engage, empower and educate the next generation of Girls’ Academy players.”
Brand deals like these are so important because they set the stage for discussion and action. 6/10 young girls fear playing sport due to period leaks, so representation of this kind is powerful. It keeps girls in the game. At a critical time in history, where women’s sport is soaring but still so often belittled or dismissed, coverage of iconic figures playing and winning on their period is essential. It is the proof needed that women can play sport and play it well, whatever the time of the month.
