If you menstruate, I'm sure you will relate when I say that getting your period can actually look like this scene from The Shining:
So when I saw that a woman had recently confided in the r/AmItheAsshole subreddit about whether she was weird for owning a pair of "period panties" after her boyfriend shamed her for them, you could say I was angry for her — and so were many commenters.
Here's what happened, as told by the woman, u/Competitive-Dot4612:
"Hey, all, my boyfriend is 27 and I'm 24. We've been together for almost two years.
"My boyfriend is EXTREMELY hygienic in all ways — like, showers twice a day, washes his clothes after every single wear, doesn’t leave a single dish in the sink dirty. If you ask me, he's a little over the top on how clean he and everything around the house needs to be 24/7.
"Yesterday night, we were doing laundry. We always air-dry our clothes to save money and to reduce fading and shrinking. Usually, I am the laundry person, but on a one-off, he happened to be the one to take the clothes out of the washer and lay them out to dry.
"He came across one of my pairs of panties that I specifically wear only during that time of the month. I’m certain ladies will understand that we keep separate panties for periods. I have my ugly or maybe bloodstained pairs for my period, and my cute and kempt ones for when I'm not on my period.
"Anyways, upon seeing these, he told me that I need to throw that pair away and that it's disgusting and unhygienic. He made quite a few comments about how gross they are, even though they're CLEAN but just bloodstained from a previous period/spotting situation.
"I attempted to explain that I keep those pairs solely for when I am bleeding and that it's a common thing girls do, but quickly stopped because I could tell he just disagreed with me, and he told me that he's pretty sure other girls do not do this.
"It made me feel really...I don't know, gross? Ugly? Alienated? I'm not really sure, but it definitely made me upset and feel some type of way about something I felt was natural, I guess.
"I snapped at him and said to forget my explanation because he's just making me feel as if I'm gross. And a small argument ensued because of this. We ended up going to bed kind of frustrated with each other, but I don't think I'm in the wrong. Am I the asshole?"
Reading that was infuriating. Consider me unimpressed with the boyfriend.
Many redditors were also annoyed and quickly came to the woman's defense.
One person who goes by u/Passing_Throu expressed their anger:
"Absolutely, period panties are a thing. What makes this man think he knows better than someone who actually menstruates?"
Another person, who goes by u/icecreamorlipo, offered an excellent point about the normality of period panties:
"Let’s not forget, companies like Thinx have created an entire business around the fact that women have period underwear."
Someone else, who goes by u/C00KIE_M0NSTER_808, gave the woman some advice:
"Not the asshole. Menstruation is a natural function for half the population.
"And for the future: Cold water works best to remove bloodstains, so try to rinse or soak with cold water as soon as possible. I'd be more likely to ditch the bf than the panties, though."
And finally, someone with the username u/StrongBat7365 reassured the woman that no guilt should be felt over this:
"Not the asshole. Not sure how good a comparison this is, but it’s like having old clothes to wear to paint the house. Yes, they look all messy and have stains, but that's their purpose.
"It's not as if that pair has never been washed. Don't have any guilt or bad feelings over this."
What do you think? Let me know in the comments.
Note: Some submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.