AITA for showing my pad to men?

A Redditor shares an experience from their automobile engineering course, where they are one of the few women in a male-dominated field. After a humorous incident involving menstrual pads, they find themselves facing criticism from a cousin who thinks they were inappropriate for being open about their period. Was it really that far out of line to show their pads in a light-hearted way? Read the original story below to see how this student navigates period stigma in a unique environment.

‘ AITA for showing my pad to men?’

I know the title sounds weird… And I’m sorry about that.. **Background:** I(19F) am an Automobile Engineering (diploma) student. Most of my lecturers and classmates are men. Also since it’s a diploma course, there are students with age ranging from 16-25(or more, idk). I am one of the only two girls in the entire department.

I always get really bad cramps around two weeks before my period actually starts. Sometimes, I get the cramps and it starts like the very next day but sometimes, I’m in pain for like 2 weeks before it starts. My cycle is also extremely irregular.. **Context:** So last week, during one of our labs, I shared a KitKat with my classmate.

A little while later, another classmate asked if I had a pencil and it turned out I dropped it somewhere else in the bag. I finally found it in the pocket where I had a pack of 6 pads. My friend heard the rustling and just went: “oh you got more KitKats? Really?” So I just pulled the packet out and showed it to him and went “does this look like f**king KitKats to you?”. Bro was horrified and apologised and I told him he was fine.

Today, while I was in lab, I wanted to go to the toilet, got permission, got there, found out I got my period so I just walked back, got my pad and came out again. My lecturer was surprised and asked if I was alright so I just said “oh I just wanted to get this” and gestures to my pad in my hand. He smiled, said “ok” and I went to the toilet again. End of story.. **The issue:**

I was talking to my cousin and I mentioned both stories and I thought it was funny but my cousin just called me a weirdo and said that it was inappropriate. I don’t like hiding my periods lie it’s some sort of tabboo but it’s not like I stood on a desk and waved my pads around. But my cousin told me that this was too far.. So AITA?.

Here’s the input from the Reddit crowd:

curly_lox −  NTA. Periods are normal and so are period products.

MillennialTrashPanda −  NTA. Men need to sack up and stop being weird about periods. You showed them a piece of paper, any discomfort they have from being reminded that periods exist is their problem, not yours.

Allaboutbird −  NTA. A clean pad shouldn’t be any more embarrassing or inappropriate than a bandaid or a pack of Kleenex.

Amareldys −  NTA. I thought from the title it was gonna be a bloody one

Lunar-Eclipse0204 −  NTA!! it’s part of life, men need to learn this. If men are embarrassed then they need to figure out life before they get married.

emotional_lemon8 −  NTA. Unless you showed them a used pad, you’re good.

Owlflight317 −  NTA, and not to far. It normalizes it. A woman having a period SHOULD be normal, and not the “ick” factor so many make it out to be. Men are not the babies TV makes them out to be, and most genuinely WANT to learn and be helpful. You handled it in a candid “this is just how it is” manner, and in doing so are teaching them how to handle it as well. Also, kudos to your teacher for the recognition and then going on with their day. Your cousin needs to get over their archaic thinking.. You are awesome!

Content_Dog_8645 −  As long as you’re not waving a used pad around, then I don’t see how you could possibly be the AH in this scenario lol

AdAccomplished6870 −  It sounds like your lecturer and classmates are acting like adults. Not sure what your cousin’s problem is. NTA, not even close. Not sure that there is any world where you would be the AH here.

LowerMine815 −  Honestly, I think men should know more about pads and women’s periods, and I’m a guy myself. NTA.

Was the user wrong to openly discuss and show their menstrual products, or is it a step towards normalizing a natural part of life? How do you handle discussions around periods in a mixed-gender environment? Share your thoughts below!