Imagine asking an employee at a grocery store for help and they make a “barf” face at you. That’s exactly what one woman says happened to her after asking for help locating menstrual products at a grocery store.
In the TikTok video, Maggie Rose (@maggierosereads) is sitting in a car taking out a box of Always pads from a plastic bag.
“Gentlemen, tell me why I was just at the grocery store and a teenage employee comes up to me and is like, ‘Can I help you find anything ma’am?’ and I go, ‘Yeah, do you know what aisle the menstrual pads are on?’”
At this point, Rose says the worker made a retching sound and said, “No, I don’t know anything about that” and walked away.
“It’s 2023,” Rose says in the clip. “Are we still pretending like periods are this gross, disgusting thing that we shouldn’t talk about? Like, be so serious right now.”
The video has over 244,000 views and more than 300 comments as of Friday.
@maggierosereads #thegirlswillunderstand #girltok #feminism ♬ original sound – Maggie Rose
Menstruation stigma (period stigma) is a battle many menstruating people experience and is characterized by verbal challenges like shaming or physical challenges like difficulties accessing menstrual products.
There are many campaigns to help end this stigma. For example, the United Nation’s Women department has a campaign called “End the Stigma. Period” that explores the ways myths, mistreatment, and a lack of accesses to necessary products affects the quality of life for menstruating women and girls worldwide.
Several people in the comments shared their experience with menstrual shaming as well.
“My dad is that way too like we were on a trip and I was on my period and he was like ‘why do you have 2 bags’ and I said ‘one has my pads in it,’ he told me to shut up and never mention that again,” a user recounted. “Like bruh you have 2 daughters and a wife like you really think you’re gonna avoid it?!”
“I had a bad accident where blood was down my leg but I forgot to buy pads. I had spares in my room so I asked one of my brothers to get it for me … 34 yo brother gagged dramatically. 17 yo brother side eyed him before helping me out and buying me snacks,” mentions another.
Others were upset and believed the employee should have been reported to their higher-ups.
“The way i would’ve gone to management and got his a** written up,” suggests one comment.
Maggie captions the video with the following hashtags “#thegirlswillunderstand #girltok #feminism.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to Maggie for comment via TikTok.
