Euphemisms

For the past 15 years I've been on birth control methods that meant I didn't have a period. Recently I've started having a periods again (which is a whole other subject lol). And trying to explain to my current partner why I'm not comfortable having sex has been awkward to say the least (since it's been many years since this discussion had been needed).

It's made me aware of the many many many euphemisms that are employed to reference the natural bodily function that is the female period. Even the willow feeder directions refer to it as "shark week" etc. WHY? Do we refer to female bleeding as something with euphanisms because men or women are uncomfortable with the direct wording?

I dont know and I dont use them, maybe its just something that has not changed with time. Who actually perpetuates it?

To me, this is something you need to discuss with your doctor not on a public forum ...

Erika House wrote:It's made me aware of the many many many euphemisms that are employed to reference the natural bodily function that is the female period. Even the willow feeder directions refer to it as "shark week" etc. WHY? Do we refer to female bleeding as something with euphanisms because men or women are uncomfortable with the direct wording?

I'm guessing it's because it's something we avoid talking about or dealing with in front of young children. And then it gradually extends to being something girls talk about but aren't comfortable talking about with boys of their own age. And by the time they are young adults the habit is set, and it's still a bit awkward talking to your youngish male partner who hasn't had the same number of years to grow comfortable with the concepts. And then over the next few years you do get used to it.

Only in your case you've missed out on those years as you've not had any periods to deal with, so you've been launched back a few years and still have to go through that awkward 'what words am I supposed to use?' phase.

And I think whatever age we are, we tend to default to euphemisms with anybody we don't know very well, just in case they get offended. And let's face it, some people don't like it. And there's people like me who if prompted will happily start discussing losing a pint of blood every couple of weeks and the way it sets in the bottom of the pee-bucket and makes 'jelly-blood-castles' when you try to tip it out.

See, I bet I grossed quite a few of you out there! And this is why sensible people default to euphemisms...

I usually just roll my eyes at these euphemisms. I've never used them, and with the exception of my son (because we were living with my rather easily offended inlaws, at the time), I taught my kids the "correct" words for their body parts. My thought was always that I didn't want them to sound or *feel* stupid, when they needed to talk to their doctors, so I wanted them to be comfortable with adult terminology.

Anne Miller wrote:To me, this is something you need to discuss with your doctor not on a public forum ...

I should be taking with a doctor about why people use euphemisms to talk about periods?

I'm rather glad this is one thing that menopause means I no longer have to worry about. I think I used to tell my husband I had started leaking and he knew what I meant but it could have meant a number of things. If talking to someone else I would have referred to my periods, but I know there are lots of euphemisms like the decorators or auntie flo visiting. It is not something generally brought up in general conversation for me though, personal issues to be kept private I guess rather than a subject openly discussed, maybe because most of my adult friends are men....

Nancy Reading wrote:I'm rather glad this is one thing that menopause means I no longer have to worry about. I think I used to tell my husband I had started leaking and he knew what I meant but it could have meant a number of things. If talking to someone else I would have referred to my periods, but I know there are lots of euphemisms like the decorators or auntie flo visiting. It is not something generally brought up in general conversation for me though, personal issues to be kept private I guess rather than a subject openly discussed, maybe because most of my adult friends are men....

I agree that it's not something that usually comes up in general conversation, and I also have almost exclusively male friends.
That's kind of where my thoughts were going with this, why we often  feel the need to hedge around the subject using euphemisms (and why is that one of those words that never looks like it's spelled correctly lol) when talking with someone (husband/partner) that we have an intimate relationship with.  It makes me feel more uncomfortable to talk about it like that than to just use straightforward language, but it feels like I should in order to make the other person not feel uncomfortable.

Thanks everybody for indulging my need to get my thoughts out in a space like this that is so non-judgemental. I love this site and this community!

I had never heard the term "shark week" until I joined permies.

In casual conversation, we always said, "It's that time of the month." Still sort of a euphemism, but not as far off as attributing it to sharks!

It would also get referred to as "your period" - short for calling it your, "menstrual period."

Fifty years ago, it was definitely in taboo territory, to the point that one of my sisters thought she might be dyeing when she suddenly started bleeding. Some cultures may have evolved since then, but I get the impression, others have either not grown up, or have actually back-slid. This is very sad to me, considering that if a female *doesn't* start a menstrual cycle at an appropriate age, it's a very bad thing, so a little heads up in advance seems like the polite thing to do!

Erika House wrote:

Anne Miller wrote:To me, this is something you need to discuss with your doctor not on a public forum ...

I should be taking with a doctor about why people use euphemisms to talk about periods?

Sorry! I shouldn't respond to comments when I'm still half asleep.
When I said I'm not comfortable having sex I meant mentally
not physically.

I call it my period or Lani, that's what my best friend and I named it in high school, way before everyone else was naming their period, clearly we were ahead of the curve!  We even got other friends calling it that too  At any rate I have no compunctions about talking openly about my period, because its just a bodily function and I talk about the others too, way more than people would likely want, I guess I'm a bit like Burra that way.  

Another perspective about euphomisms, they can be fun and creative and showcase oen's cleverness if done well.  I know that's not why most people use them, but that's why I use them.  And when I don't feel clever I'll just say the generic reality word haha.  Sometimes I like to call my period blood my "lifeforce" because that's what it is, theoretically meant to nourish the creation of life.  My everyday speech is a currated mixture of TMI realism, and romanticized verbage.