Musician runs marathon during her period without tampon
I can clearly remember the days of creeping around the supermarket with a bright box of tampons hidden at the bottom of my shopping basket.
Once I had made it to the counter then the task of getting the siren from the basket quickly into a packet before being detected.
The worst form of adolescent embarrassment was bumping into someone you knew while gripping the box and it would be worse if it was a boy.
Such a strange reaction to such a vital and natural process hey?
Kiran Gandhi drummer for M.I.A took the message to a whole new level with her blood-soaked decision to run the London marathon during her period without a tampon.
Why you ask? Unhygienic or an example of refreshing liberation?
Kiran sent the world a message against period-shaming and to take a stand for women around the globe who don't have access to menstruation products or who have to "hide [their period] away like it doesn’t exist.”
The reaction on social media as always has been mixed.
Kiran Gandhi...what a disgusting way to spread awareness! Why couldn't you raise funds to send tampons or pads to places that lacked access!
— Sug@r Gyal AJ (@Sugarchic189) August 8, 2015
Cannot believe a woman ran London marathon on her period with no tampon in with blood stains, trying to 'raise awareness' 😷😷
— em (@amazemilyx) August 9, 2015
How is a woman running a marathon with out a tampon and her period blood all over her legs "female empowerment" ? It's disgusting✋🏼😷
— alh⭐️ (@amy_hayde) August 9, 2015
Kiran has been backed by thousands on social media, including high-profile women such as Karen Danczuk.
@MadameGandhi Absolute hats off to you for raising awareness the way you have for such an important issue. KD
— Karen Danczuk (@KarenDanczuk) August 10, 2015
Journalist and commentator Caitlin Moran, also took to twitter to comment.
AWESOME - M.I.A's drummer runs a marathon during her period, without a tampon. Punk rock: http://t.co/LV065Mxdhg
— Caitlin Moran (@caitlinmoran) August 9, 2015