Our First Period Stories: Why Talking About Them Still Matters

Most of us remember the moment we first realised we were bleeding — sometimes vividly, sometimes in fragments, sometimes with laughter, sometimes with fear. Those first few drops of blood arrive like a secret: unexpected, confusing, and strangely defining.

For me, I was 14. Old enough to understand what it meant, too young to really grasp the magnitude of it. Part of me was astonished — because, honestly, blood coming out of your body is a wild concept when you’ve never experienced it. Another part of me was scared. And if I’m being completely honest, another tiny part of me was… excited? Because I thought this meant I would finally grow boobs. (Life had another time line in mind.)

And that’s the thing, isn’t it?
We each have a story of our own.

Some joyful.
Some mortifying.
Some wrapped in confusion or cultural taboo.
Some held quietly because no one ever created space to share them.

But however it happened for you, one truth remains: menstruation is still surrounded by stigma. Even today. Even among grown, confident, brilliant women.

There’s this lingering whisper of disgust.
This outdated notion of impurity.
This hush that falls over the word period, as if it’s something to hide.

Yet menstruation is the opposite of shame.
It is creation, continuity, and biology working in perfect rhythm.
It is the body saying, I am capable of extraordinary things.

Period blood is not dirty — it is the foundation of human life.
Literally. Without cycles, there is no conception. Without women, there is no “us.” Full stop.

It’s time to celebrate that.
To reclaim the story.
To talk, openly and honestly, about the moments we were never encouraged to voice.

So today, I want to spark that conversation.

Tell us your story.
How old were you?
How did you feel?
Who did you tell?
What surprised you?
What scared you?
What made you laugh, or cry, or freeze in place?

Your experiences — awkward, beautiful, confusing, empowering — are part of a much bigger tapestry of womanhood. When we share them, we unlink ourselves from shame and reconnect to something far more powerful:

Community. Understanding. Sisterhood.

Let’s rewrite the narrative together.
Let’s talk about bleeding without flinching.
Let’s celebrate the messy, miraculous, unapologetic truth of being a woman.

Belle Rébellion was created for this exact moment — a rebellion not only against boring period underwear, but against the silence that has lived around menstruation for centuries.

This is your space.
Your voice.
Your story.

Tell us — how did your period journey begin?