Our Periods, Ourselves

An Empowered Teen's Guide

Mathangi Subramanian

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Year: 2026
• eBook ISBN:
  9798216201922
• Edition: 1

An inclusive guide to menstruation and what makes everyone's experience unique

Despite what you might have been taught, periods do not happen in a vacuum. While it's important to know the facts of menstruation, it's just as important to take a holistic, inclusive, and deeper look into the ways in which everything around us--from our genetics and culture to religion and society--influences how we each experience our periods.

In Our Periods, Ourselves, Mathangi Subramanian covers how society shapes our monthly cycles just as much as science. She discusses how neurodiversity, disability, gender, adoption status, and immigration status can impact our periods while offering healthy, concrete recommendations for coping with these realities. Subramanian additionally examines how important issues such as reproductive rights, culture and religion, capitalism, and climate change affect access to the information and resources menstruators need to manage their physical and mental health.

Our Periods, Ourselves is an empowering resource for every body. It provides the information, encouragement, and support menstruators need to make informed decisions about their periods, and reminds us that our bodies and our identities are sources of power and strength.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Contents
• Introduction
• 1 The Menstrual Cycle
• 2 Menstrual Products and the Environment
• 3 Menstruation and Gender
• 4 Menstruation and Neurodiversity
• 5 Menstruation and Disability
• 6 Menstruation and Body Size
• 7 Menstruation and Culture
• 8 Menstruation and Immigration
• 9 Menstruation and Reproductive Rights
• 10 Menstruation and Capitalism
• 11 Menstruation and You
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index