The Women of Gaza Are Bleeding
While white “feminists” in America look away
I started my period today. I woke up in the early hours of the morning soaked in blood, cramps throbbing in my abdomen and running down my legs. So what did I do? I cleaned myself up, changed into a fresh pair of underwear, put in a tampon, popped a few Midol, and went back to bed.
Periods for me are unpleasant, verging on unbearable, but I have no shortage of modern amenities that get me through those miserable few days that I spend shedding my uterine lining – tampons and pads, painkillers, hot water bottles, ice cream.
The women of Gaza don’t have these luxuries. They don’t have feminine hygiene products or ibuprofen or multiple changes of clothes or running water. The women of Gaza are using tent scraps to keep themselves clean. The stress of living through a genocide has taken its toll on many of their bodies, causing them to menstruate more frequently. Many of them have resorted to taking norethisterone tablets to delay their periods, which is a drug that typically requires the consult of a doctor before taking due to the potential serious side effects.
(Doctors, if you weren’t aware, are in short supply in Gaza because they’ve been murdered by the IOF. The rest are busy trying to save as many lives as possible.)
