Posted: November 18, 2009 02:15 PM

A friend of mine who works in an office of only women confessed she still hides her tampon in her sleeve on her way to the bathroom. “You’re embarrassed someone will know you’re menstruating?” I asked, incredulous. “But they’re all female!” She laughed, self-consciously. “Yeah, I know,” she agreed, “it’s weird. Why should they care? In fact, why do I?”

So why is menstruation still such a taboo subject?

You might not think it is, considering all the TV commercials for menstrual suppression, the tampon and pad ads in magazines, even the occasional menstrual reference in shows like The Family Guy and Saturday Night Live and movies like Superbad. Yet let’s face it … none of those exactly contribute to what you’d call a real discussion or actual dialogue. At best, they’re pitches and jokes that basically use our poor ol’, much-maligned bodily process to get an easy laugh and/or earn a buck.