AITA for telling my aunt that she needs to suck it up?

A Redditor (17F) shared her experience while on vacation with her family, where her aunt (65) confronted her about tampon wrappers in the trash. The aunt was upset because her younger cousin had seen them, despite the Redditor carefully wrapping and concealing the tampons.

After trying to calmly explain, the Redditor became frustrated and told her aunt to “suck it up,” leading to her aunt getting mad and refusing to speak to her. The Redditor is now questioning if she was wrong for her response. Read the full story below and share your thoughts.

‘ AITA for telling my aunt that she needs to suck it up?’

I (17f) got my period this week. We are currently in obx for a family vacation with my moms side of the family. me and my mom drove down together and are sharing a house with my aunt, uncle, and younger cousin (he is 10 i’m pretty sure).

Anyways, i got my period this week, (lucky me on vacation 🙄) and have to share a bathroom with my cousin. he is pretty quiet and doesn’t talk much, which is fine, and i don’t push his boundaries.

However, out of the blue yesterday, my aunt came storming up to me demanding i tell her why i have dirty tampons in the trash can. i was confused and told her that i’m on my period, why else would they be in the trash can (btw, i don’t just throw them away. i make sure to wrap them in toilet paper and tuck them at the bottom of the trash) and she got all pissy at me!

I was so confused and asked her what this was about, and she told me that my cousin was asking about the tampon wrappers in the trash (which are also under the rest of the trash)

I told her that him digging in the trash was none of business, and calmly explained that i wrap up my tampons carefully to make sure he doesn’t see them. again, i was so calm.

But she kept on yelling at me, telling me that his “precious innocent eyes” don’t need to see that. after about 10 minutes of me trying to calmly talk to her, i finally just yelled at her to s**k it up and stop being such a b**ch. she got really mad at me and is now not talking to me.

Idk, was i wrong for having my tampon wrappers in the trash???? idk where else to put them.
AITA??????

EDIT: i completely forgot to mention that my aunt is my cousins grandma! she’s like 65 i think.

Let’s dive into the reactions from Reddit:

Forsaken_Dig1277 −  NTA Your aunt harangued you over a normal bodily function. Maybe cursing wasn’t the best, but her carrying on about it was wildly out of order.

Cute-Sheepherder3540 −  she got really mad at me and is now not talking to me. It seems like you achieved the needed outcome.. NTA.

lunarteamagic −  NTA: Periods happen. You are being responsible. Now, if she brings it up again… might I suggest you offer to free bleed rather than continue to traumatize precious boy with tampon wrappers.

Unusual-Hat-6819 −  NTA. Maybe your aunt needs to have “the talk” with her son and give him a quick biology lesson, as a plus she can teach him to be kind to girls when they are going through that time of the month.

WhosMimi −  NTA. Not all elders deserve respect. There. I said it.

Jagfan27-0 −  NTA and your aunt is definitely an AH. She should be more worried about why a 10 year old is digging through the bathroom trash can which is pretty disgusting. Hell go get some chocolate frosting put that in some toilet paper and put that in the trash that might stop him when he thinks he finds s**t in the trash can.You did the right things by wrapping up the tampons and by going off on your aunt. Good for you.

[Reddit User] −  NTA. His precious eyes need to get used to it if he ends up being straight or any other sexuality where dating a ciswoman is possible. Teaching males and females young what periods are is how we get adults who don’t freak out over a wrapper or if they have to buy any for a loved one.

cg1308 −  NTA. It’s not great swearing at your aunt, but she sounds unhinged and probably deserved it. Aren’t women meant to be a bit more supportive of each other and the trials and tribulations of your menstrual cycles?

Wtf is cousin doing rooting through the bin anyway? I assumed that is what toilet bins are for based on my wife and old female flatmates 🤷🏻‍♂️

WestLow880 −  You can always put them in her room on top of the dresser. Then her son would not see them.

MrsWeasley9 −  NTA. You handled your used products in a totally normal way, and boys need to know about periods eventually. 10 is definitely not too young because some of his classmates already have periods. Your aunt has issues.

Was the Redditor wrong for standing up to her aunt, or should she have handled the situation differently? What do you think? Share your thoughts in the comments!