Why aren't there more periods on Aussie TV?
By the Team at See Red Australia
One of those age-old tales is that riding a horse will break your hymen. Isn’t it ironic that the person who played the villain of our hearts, Veronica, Helli Simpson is now a gynecologist?
How did periods work with Cleo (No, Cleeeuuooo… the conden-say-shon) and the other mermaid gals on ‘H2O, Just add water’? For real, did periods trigger them to become mermaids? Did cramping hold them back from anything?
The Saddle Club could never. Actually no, they would NEVER talk about periods.
How many shows have been made in Australia in the last 30 years? If this Wikipedia article is to be trusted, it’s freaking heaps. Literally, thousands. Of these, let's say, for argument's sake, half are fictional and reality shows, compared to news and sports-type programs.
Of that half, how many have talked about menstruation at all? It’s few and far between honestly. Let’s not even start on if they meet the Bechdel test! But that’s for another time.
We want to celebrate the shows that HAVE talked periods and encourage more to include the topic. Take a look at these iconic Aussie TV moments below!
Image: A still of Gabrielle, one of the main cast of The Secret Life of Us, at her desk.
Secret Life of Us
Season 1, Episode 1 - Telemovie
Where to watch: Netflix
About the show: Airing on 10 from 2001 to 2005, the classic The Secret Life of Us follows the lives of a group of young adults who live in the same apartment block.
About the episode: What a way to start a show. Within the first ten minutes of the first episode, Gabrielle, played by Sybilla Budd asks Alex, played by Claudia Caravan “Have you got any tampons?” as her very first line in the show. What an entrance!
Bump
Season 1, Episode 1 - Sorpresa!
Image: Oly, the main protagonist of Bump, is in her school uniform hands on knees in pain from what we now know is labour pains.
Where to watch: Stan
About the show: This Stan original, streaming since 2020 has become a bit of a cult classic already. Centered around an ambitious teenage girl, a surprise baby and the complications that ensue for two families. Bump is set in and around an inner-city high school, exploring unwanted motherhood, unwelcome relatives, and unintended consequences.
About the episode: Queen Claudia again splashes menstruation on our screens within the first episode. When protagonist Oly, is in the school toilets starting her contractions, the girl in the cubicle next door is having a real moment with a full menstrual cup.]
Why are you like this?
Season 1, Episode 2 - The Pressure of Late Capitalism
Image: Mia and her ‘very long vagina’ in Why Are You Like This
Where to watch: Netflix and ABC iView
About the show: An ABC gem that aired in 2021, Why Are You Like This is a show about three Aussie best friends navigating life in their early 20s, including; work, fun, identity politics, hookups, and wild nights -- and leave a path of destruction in their wake.
About the episode: Mia’s menstrual cup gets stuck in her self-described “very tall vagina” and she has to enlist Austin’s help to try to remove it. Austin is absolutely not down to help and suggests going to a “woman-y doctor” instead. Mia tells him that some old doctor will just write “haunted cervix in his little notebook and tell me to fuck off.”
Neighbours
Episodes 7769 (but there were heaps more)
Where to watch: Neighboursepisodes.com or Daily Motion
Image: Xanthe shows a very embarrassed Krishna a pad in the infamous halls of Erinsborough High.
About the show: The-ended/revived classic Aussie soap revolving around the lives, loves and challenges of the residents in Ramsay Street, from their business relationships through to their deep pasts, in a cul-de-sac in the town of Erinsborough in Australia.
About the episode: In Episode 7769, aired on 1 February 2018, Erinsborough High student Kirsha has a period stain on her dress at school and is teased about it by current-storyline bully Tia and her gang of bitches. Xanthe walks past and shows Kirsha a pad from her school bag to let her in on what’s going on.
Mortified, Kirsha dashes into the bathroom while Xanthe gives it to Tia and her cronies and later, is dobbed on to teacher Elly, the one who jumped ship from Home and Away to neighbours. As you’d expect, the arc then moves to Xanthe being accused of selling alcohol at school and finishes in the next episode. It’s quintessential Neighbours and a great watch to be honest.
Big Brother
Season 11, Episode 45
Where to watch: YouTube
Image: Penny in the Diary Room discussing periods.
About the show: A group of housemates live together under the same roof, isolated from the outside world and filmed around the clock, to compete for a cash prize.
About the Episode: Housemate Penny enters the diary room (24 minutes into the episode) and gives the most epic monologue and we absolutely stan it.
“Yeah, I've had a weird day. I'm going to talk about something. And I don't know why, like, this doesn't get spoken about, really ever. And I want people to hear this.
Like, don't be like, don't be like, 'Ooh, no we shouldn't do that'.But my ovaries are on fire today. Like nobody talks about period pain.
I just have to say, right, for a quarter of the year, a woman will have her period. A quarter of the year. Now, this is a fact of life, right?
No one talks about it, but just think about this, right? When you walk around to the shops, and you go to the shops, and someone's serving you, or you go order your coffee, or you go to the bank and a woman serves you, you know what? You didn't even know, that woman might actually be in excruciating pain. Like, fully, like so much pain. But they just get on with their day, no one would know.
But sometimes, when I have this kind of period pain, which it doesn't get spoken about because I had to tell one of the boys [fellow housemates], they said 'What do you need painkillers for?' And I said, and they were all like 'Oh, oh,' [and] like it got all a bit weird.
And I said 'Period, period, period! Period!' It's just a fact of life. So, like, hats off to women, they just walk around like everything's OK.”
Married At First Sight (MAFS)
Season 9, Episode 8
Where to watch: Channel 9
Image: Jack and Dom discussing period sex in bed.
About the show: MAFS follows Australian couples in a “ground-breaking” experiment as they meet for the first time at their wedding, then honeymoon, meet the in-laws and set up home, all the while getting to know one another more deeply.
About the episode: In a refreshing twist from the usual hellhole that is MAFS, Domenica raised the subject of period sex with her husband Jack shortly after they'd moved in together. As the couple discussed the previous night, Jack said he "genuinely had no idea" that Domenica was "trying to get a little bit naughty last night". Domenica said she thought having her period was an obstacle to their intimacy, and Jack admitted it was a "new ball game" for him.
Im A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here!
Season 6, Episode aired 26 July 2020
Where to watch: YouTube
Image: Erin Barnett discussing her experience with endometriosis and the impact it has on her life.
About the show: Celebrity campers spend up to three weeks taking on the harsh surroundings of the jungle, with a whole host of brand new nasty surprises created just for them as they battle for the title of King or Queen of the Jungle.
About the episode: Erin Barnett, former Love Island contestant and current bae of all things Endometriosis, opens up about her experiences with the disease and the severe impact it has had on her life.
Special Mention: Libra Invisibles ad
Wonderman TVC ad
About the ad: By Clemenger BBDO for SCA Hygiene and Libra’s Invisible pads, this ad was THE ad. There wasn't anyone who wasn't doing impressions of it, talking about it or dressing up as it for costume parties in 2010. What a time to be alive honestly.
On the plus side, it contributed to a lot of conversation about men and periods, gave periods a bit more of a fun angle and really did a lot for smashing that stigma around periods. Bravo Wonderman!
About See Red
See Red Australia is a registered Australian charity working towards a holistic, longer-term, healthcare approach to the management of menstruation and associated issues by working with healthcare providers and community services. Their initiatives include The Red Pages, a database of Australian people and organisations working within the space, and much more.
Disclaimer: Content on www.letstalkperiod.com.au is produced for educational purposes only, and the information, recommendations and topics discussed throughout does not constitute medical advice, nor does it take into consideration your personal circumstances or medical history. This content should not be used in place of tailored advice and treatment from your personal medical team, nor is it designed to treat or diagnose any medical condition/s. Let’s Talk, Period. and all contributors for www.letstalkperiod.com.au accept no responsibility or liability for any expenses, damages, losses or costs you or any other party may incur as a result of the content shared across any platform.