(upbeat music)
- We are going to be freebleeding.
- That means we're not going to be
using any period products at all.
- We're just gonna let it all out,
and everyone's gonna be there for it.
- If I couldn't have any period products,
I know that my period would be so messy.
- Whenever you're caught in a situation
without a period product,
it's always just, like, a feeling of panic.
- Getting a period is hard enough
even with all the tools I have at my disposal.
- We're gonna be kind of exploring what that means,
to not have period products.
- My period lasts for seven full days.
- It's usually the first three days are, like, what's up!
- Lately, I've just been using a Diva Cup.
- I'm a tampon girl.
- I use extra super absorbent tampons,
extra super absorbent pads.
- I also have decently bad cramps,
so I'm oftentimes popping ibuprofen of some kind or another.
- I don't know if I'm more nervous
for the questions people are gonna ask,
or the questions that people are not gonna ask.
Like, what are they gonna think?
- So many people have, like,
a visceral disgusted reaction when it comes to periods.
- They're much cuter when they're, you know,
actually being used for an adorable little puppy,
rather than my personal external diaper.
- You know how when, like, pad commercials
they use blue liquid instead of red blood?
It's not gonna be blue!
- It's just 'cause they know it came from of vaginas.
They don't like that.
- I'm Annie Lascoe.
- And I'm Margo Lang.
- And we're the co-founders of Conscious Period.
At Conscious Period, for every box
of organic tampons we sell,
we give back to women who are living
in homelessness right here in the United States.
(upbeat rock music)
26.4 million women of menstruating age
depend on food stamps in the United States,
and because government assistance programs,
like food stamps, don't cover period products,
about 26 and a half million women
have a hard time affording these essential items.
- Tampons are taxed as non-necessary or luxury goods
in 38 states out of the 50 states in the United States,
and then there's also, sort of,
extra tax on tampons in other countries as well.
Obviously, these products are necessary,
and they are absolutely not a luxury.
Honestly, I think that you
will get a really positive response.
I think that people will definitely be, maybe,
a little weirded out and curious, for sure.
- All of those things, like,
are a little bit uncomfortable for a lot of people,
but when you start highlighting it,
it creates so much room for
increased understanding and awareness,
and it's just, like, we think it's so fucking cool!
- So it's about 10 p.m. on a Thursday,
and I just got my period.
Surprise!
And that means that tomorrow, Friday morning,
slash the rest of Friday, I'll be freebleeding.
I'm mostly just nervous,
and I'm mostly just feeling that, kind of,
pit of dread in my stomach, like, oh God!
You actually have to do this now!
- Okay, so it's morning one of freebleeding.
Today is gonna be fucking weird.
- [Saf] I chose something more
full coverage just for the heck of it.
It's kind of like choosing the soldiers
that will go with you to defend Sparta against the Persians.
They're sure to die, but you need your best men.
- Every time I'm ever leaked through my pants,
or anything like that, I have
spent the rest of the day incredibly embarrassed.
So I'm trying to know that I can do this,
and I won't want to crawl into a hole.
- [Saf] Here we arrived at work.
I've put down my puppy pad.
Ready to get some blood going, here.
- If your period is anything like mine,
day two is the absolute worst.
It's gonna be a day.
It's also raining today,
but I assure you that water
will not be the only thing that's flowing.
- Okay, so I'm at the office.
Got my leggings on.
Got my freebleeding going.
I took a shower this morning, and it kind of stopped,
so we gotta wait for it to kick back in.
- And the trickle has started.
We haven't hit pad yet, but I feel it coming.
- It's about 11:30.
I've been checking.
There's still nothing on the pad.
- I just went to the bathroom,
and my underwear is putting up it's most valiant effort.
My underwear is absolutely stained.
- [Chantel] There's a lot happening!
- Devon synced up with me, she's also on he period.
- It's Nicki!
Nicki, are you excited that I'm freebleeding today?
- It's really weirding me out a little bit, actually!
- That's actually why she came over.
It draws women to me.
- It's been two hours and 10 minutes,
and we already made it through.
This is what day two of my period looks like.
(laughter)
- I just rode in two Ubers on my way
to check out apartments, and, luckily,
I did not stain the seats.
The Ubers were driving, and I was just, like,
oh my God, please, no, no, no, no!
- So we're at a meeting right now.
I haven't bled through my pants yet,
but I brought the pad just in case.
Just to be sanitary, because these are very nice chairs.
- Yeah, you can see a ring.
Honestly it's, like, with every step
I just feel it all in there.
- Okay, so it's about three p.m.,
and I have officially hit the pad.
There she is, all her glory.
I would say the worst part is the smell.
- I decided to go for a little walk,
because the stench was sort of appearing,
is what I'd say, so I just needed
to walk around to see if I could air it out.
The only problem about that is, uh,
standing up is actually activated
the bleeding a little bit more.
- About to do post interviews.
I will bleed through, as I already have,
so we're just taking preemptive measures.
Nice and settled in!
- [ Coworkers] Oh, yay!
- It is a lot like a Rorschach test.
- [Coworker] Yeah!
- What do you guys see in it?
Well, I'm glad that we made it!
There's three things I bled on so far,
my underwear, the chair, and the dress,
and my thighs, of course.
My thighs are very sticky right now.
- [Chantel] It's crazy to see how much blood
I'm just producing whilst sitting!
- Just the fact that you've been next to me all day,
I've just been, like, aware of it,
but not paying attention.
- I have to leave work now,
and then go meet with a realtor,
and I'm just hoping that there's nothing weird,
there's no visible smells, and that everything's okay,
but we'll see.
- So I'm heading home.
Weirdly, walking is, like,
way more comfortable than sitting,
for me, for some reason.
Walking, I'm like, oh, I can move around.
I'm kind of getting some air.
Sitting, I'm like, it is incubating!
- I lucked out, my roommate ran in,
talked to the realtor, so I didn't have to do anything.
I'm really, I don't,
I don't feel good.
I feel really embarrassed talking to people.
I was in this car, and it, I could smell my period,
and I know that it's a small car,
and it was just seeping,
and it's cold, so I couldn't have the windows down.
- Okay, so we just went to dinner.
We sat outside, so we could sit on the metal chairs.
So when shown the metal chairs, it was like,
you know, you're not going to ruin it,
'cause I didn't really wanna lay
a puppy pad out when we were at the restaurant.
- Draw attention to it.
- Yeah, exactly!
- Also, 'cause they would have been,
like, what are you doing?
You're like, oh, I am, uh--
- I'm freebleeding!
- I'm on my period!
- [Chantel] This is the aftermath of my freebleeding.
I'm glad that this was just a pair of cheap underwear
that I bought to bleed in,
but it makes me wonder if it was,
you know, stuff you cared about.
- Usually I don't shower at night,
but with the whole bleeding thing,
there's, like, blood all over my upper thighs,
so I'm gonna shower, 'cause I feel pretty gross.
- This is the dog test to see if
the dogs notice anything different.
There's something down there!
It's my endometrium lining!
- Rest in peace young boy shorts.
You did good work today.
- I freebled for a day, and it was--
- Squishy!
- A little smelly.
- Revealing.
- It was pretty rank.
- For sure!
- I guess I'm just so used to taking care of it,
and just, sort of like, sweeping it under the rug.
I haven't really, like,
looked my period in the face for, like, eight years.
Articles of clothing donated to the freebleeding cause.
- This thing, I've been taught to, kind of,
keep under wraps, and to not talk about
and to not even acknowledge,
was now just so clear and so present.
And that's the weirdest stigma around to me,
because it's something that happens so naturally.
that you can't control it, you can't stop it no matter what.
- People were more compassionate about it than I expected.
People were like, I feel you, it's okay!
You know, because I would apologize,
and be, like, I'm sorry if I smell,
I'm just perioding everywhere.
And people were, generally, pretty understanding.
I mean, this is an odd thing to do at a workplace,
you know, we know this.
There's some blood in my shorts!
There's blood in my shorts!
- The funny thing is, I was talking
to Chantel about her freebleeding day,
and I realize that we both skipped lunch that day.
I'm just gonna keep to myself and wait
until I get home to figure out something to eat.
It was just, like, little changes like that,
where I was just feeling, like,
a little bit more self conscious,
just a little bit less likely to say hello
or talk to someone, a little bit less of myself.
I also realized I never put on makeup today,
and I feel like I thought there was no use.
I'm already freebleeding,
so I might as well not put on makeup!
- I think I, kind of, spent the day
trying to change my frame of mind from,
like, oh, this is blood and that's gross,
to, oh, this is something that is
the most natural thing for my body to be doing.
That was from my vagina, I did that!
- Would I freebleed again?
Probably not just to do it.
- I don't think I would do it again if I had a choice,
but I'm glad I did it.
I think it gave me a lot to think about.
- It is hard, it makes it hard
to live life, to go certain places.
- As uncomfortable as it was for me to do this for one day,
the other side of that is, okay, yeah, but the day's over,
so now what am I going to do,
because this is the reality for a lot of people.
- Thank you so much for watching Ladylike.
- If you'd like to see more of us,
click there and subscribe to our channel.
- We'll take off these covers,
because none of us are wearing pants!
- Ay!
(laughing)