Woman Receives Backlash For Protesting Period Shaming With Bloody Photo

Temple University student Louelle Denor is following in the footsteps of marathon runner Kiran Gandhi and taking a stand on period shaming.

The Pennsylvania resident posted a photo to Instagram of her hand covered in blood, grasping her menstrual cup.

Denor captioned the photo,

It's come to my attention that women are having their accounts banned for showing menstrual blood (and no nudity). This is very seriously f*cked up. If this was a picture of blood from a finger laceration, there'd be no issue. Yes, this blood is from my #vagina . It happens every month. The thing I'm holding in my hand is a #softcup #menstrualcup and it's awesome but messy to remove.

She apparently received death threats since posting the photo, and was cyber-assaulted with a wide range of insults including, but certainly not limited to, "sick bitch" and "f*cking feminist."

In response to her critics, Denor commented,

Let's treat each other with respect. You don't have to agree with me, nor [like] the image. That's okay. I won't call you names or belittle you for it. I think it's time we usher in a new wave of kindness toward each other, regardless of our differences.

The idea behind Denor's post is menstruation is an unavoidable fact of life, and while some may be grossed out by it, Instagram should not maintain the authority to censor depictions of it.

I don't know how I'd feel with an Insta feed full of photos like Denor's, but the odds of that happening, even in a world where menstruation is unstigmatized and uncensored, is unlikely.

Women are merely tired of being made to feel shameful for the naturally occurring phenomena of their bodies.

Citations: Woman receives death threats for sharing menstrual blood selfie protesting period shaming (Metro)