For over 200,000 years, women have been bleeding uncontrollably for the sake of humanity. Every female experiences this phenomenon differently; one girl could feel a tiny pinch and a bit bloated while another would want to curl up into a little ball and scream at the top of her lungs.
For eons, women’s periods have been seen as taboo, with phrases like “raging ball of hormones” and “hysterical” being coined left and right. We decided to put that theory to the test and give boys a chance to feel what women have gone through for many millennia by hooking them up to a period simulator.
We conducted this experiment on random boys who saw this as an opportunity to try something new. With feelings of excitement and nerves filling the air, they were ready to strap on the simulator and experience what many of their female peers go through on a monthly basis. As it was activated, they were surprised by the sudden intensity of the mechanism and quickly realized that cramps were far different than they originally thought. “My respect has grown tremendously for women because that pain for a week straight is genuinely crazy,” says junior Michael Camarillo. “I don’t know how y’all do it.”
As we know, school is one of the hardest forms of stress to be under while on your period. Some of our male educators may not be aware of how hard it is to have to pay attention in class while feeling like you’re being stretched from the inside. In order to bring it to their attention, we had our lovely Mr. Ian McCaughey and Mr. Christian Bearup try our wonderful simulator.
Although Mr. McCaughey tapped out at three minutes, Mr. Bearup set the record of everyone who tried it at 16 minutes. “I understand why listening to me is annoying now,” Mr. McCaughey observed. Whereas Mr. Bearup, on the other hand, stated, “Sounds like a sensory nightmare! I suppose I’d like to say, glad it’s you and not me–I kid.”
For juniors Daniel Barrera and Yamato Caddeo, the two were able to push through the pain at a level ten for over 12 minutes straight. “It felt like someone was ripping my abdomen out,” echoed Caddeo. “We know your pain, ladies.” Others learned to appreciate what their female peers go through on a monthly basis. “Women do not get credit while doing this. They must go through so much pain while being in a headache, nauseous and feeling sick, and I can’t imagine being punched in the stomach all day long,” said junior Lane Miller. However, there is more to a period than just pain; the bloating, nausea, sweating, cravings, acne, and worst of all—actually throwing up. After surveying over 20 girls on how they feel on their cycles, we learned that not everyone gets the same warm welcome from Aunt Flo. “When I’m on my period, every little thing irritates me or makes me sad,” said junior Lauryn Dupree.
“It’s like a trigger button for a lot of things. Mood swings are a big thing before, during, and after my period.” Periods have never been more shocking than after this experiment; even us girls learned a bit or two. But we believe that talking about periods should be normalized and not overshadowed, especially since this is a major part of human anatomy and the spark of human life. “I told my mom thank you for giving birth to me,” said Hadi Nassiri.
In the end, the period simulator experiment turned out to be not only informative but also a lot of fun. This experiment reminded everyone that whether you’re a boy or a girl, understanding each other is extremely important.
