Only 37% of Men Feel at Ease When Talking About Menstruation

While menstrual periods are a natural part of being female, many women appear to have discomfort talking about them.

A YouGov poll, commissioned by the international charity ActionAid, dug into both women’s and men’s attitudes toward menstrual cycles, yielding an interesting divide in that men felt more at ease talking about them than women.

The inquiry involved was how comfortable someone was talking about periods with another person and 21% of women felt ok with such a discussion whereas 37% of the men were at ease discussing menstruation.

ActionAid also reported that a quarter of women in the United Kingdom (UK) between the ages of 16 and 39 “do not fully understand how their menstrual cycles work, as they don’t track their periods.”

Interestingly, almost half (47%) of women respondents indicated they would feel uncomfortable talking about periods with their fathers. However, only nine percent of men surveyed said they would feel discomfort about talking to daughters about their periods.

The divide continued into discussions with friends with one in three (37%) women indicating they would be uncomfortable talking about menstruation with male friends, with only 17% of men saying they would find a discussion about periods with their women friends awkward.

In surveying women under age 40, 20% or one in five women said they would feel discomfort when discussing their periods with their women friends, with talking to partners and mums coming in at 21% each.

When it comes to purchasing sanitary products, while only 16% of females said they would like asking a guy to buy them on their behalf, half the men polled said they would be fine with a woman asking them to do so.

The results were released in conjunction with  World Menstrual Hygiene Day on 28 May, 2017,  which works to highlight awareness of the millions of women and girls worldwide who have no ability to obtain clean and safe sanitary products.