Chico State’s Gender and Sexuality Equity Coalition wants to hold open a conversation between vagina-owning members of society and those who don’t know what a period is like through Period Week, from March 6-10. It’s a series of events meant to empower and inform.

Cramps, tears, anger, sadness, discomfort, headaches, sore breasts, acne and exhaustion are all common experiences for those who have periods. Every person’s menstrual experience, every one of the 1.8 billion period-experiencing people worldwide, is individual, valid and should be talked about, not hushed.

In a document shared with The Orion by GSEC Program Coordinator Sarah Bruno, a quote from the book “Her Blood is Gold: Awakening to the Wisdom of Menstruation,” written by Lara Owen, who has a doctorate in menstrual organization and is an expert on menstruation and menopause on the political, cultural and organizational level, was included:

“Ignoring or despising menstruation is one of the ways that misogyny manifests itself.”

It’s a sentiment present throughout the week.

Monday

GSEC will be hosting a poetry slam in the Bell Memorial Union, room 210, from 11 a.m. to noon.

The entry application deadline ended March 1, but poem final drafts are due on March 3.

Tuesday

In BMU 210, a film discussion will take place. “Period. End of Sentence” is a Netflix documentary that follows women from a rural village outside of Delhi, India, who learned to “manufacture and market their own pads” after spending years without such necessities.

Wednesday

At The Well there will be a yoga-for-cramps session. Nationwide Children’s Hospital states that yoga and breathing exercises can help reduce period-cramp pain.

Thursday

GSEC will have a whiteboard available near their office, MLIB 171, at the Trinity Commons for people to write out what their period means to them in an effort to “break the stigma-taboos surrounding periods,” according to Bruno.

Friday

Period Week’s culmination rests during a period product drive, as part of GSEC’s recurring Feminist Friday series. They are accepting unopened products in their office.

Donations will be given to a women’s center in Chico, according to a GSEC Instagram post. GSEC wants to bring attention to period poverty.

The organization will also be selling period-themed pins, and playing “pin the tampon, or preferred product, on the uterus.”

If you have any questions regarding the event, you can email GSEC at [email protected], or call them at 530-898-5724.

Ariana Powell can be reached at [email protected].