The book was included in the long list of the BBC Book of the Year 2022.
“Red Days Book” (Creative Women Publishing, 2022) pulls back the curtain on the topic of menstrual stigma. From childhood, girls are taught that menstruation is shame and dirt. They don’t talk about “this”, they keep silent about “this”, especially when men are walking around. Don’t wear white, don’t swim in the sea, don’t go to church, don’t complain, don’t whine, hide pads from your dad, brother, boyfriend, husband, don’t ask for a pill, be patient, be quiet, you’re a woman, you have to be patient, that’s your fate! Does it hurt? Everyone is in pain, but only you complain!.. And there is no greater shame in the world than to find a red spot of menstrual blood on your skirt!
Menstruation is a taboo and silenced topic, and therefore a mark of shame for their own bodies, women carry from the first drops of menstrual blood on their underwear until… Until they dare to say out loud: “I am a woman, and being me is wonderful, interesting, inspiring, cool, sometimes fun, sometimes so-so, but – absolutely normal!” Having periods, talking about them, not being ashamed is perfectly normal.
Calling “these days” periods or menstruation is natural and not at all shameful. The stigma of menstruation, lack of knowledge and excess of shame and superstitions poison women’s lives, harm their health, increase fears and insecurities. But it’s time to get rid of the shame that a woman is a woman, and blood is blood. Menstruation is not a disease. Menstruation is not a shame. Menstruation is normal!
And the “cross” is just a mark in the personal calendar of “months”, and not a lifelong cross placed on the shoulders of global femininity.
Creative Women Publishing, 2022
