Submit a Story

Essays must be typed, double-spaced, and paginated, and they should be no longer than 3000 words. There is no minimum length. Please include your full name, address, phone number, email address, and a short biography on the last page. The required personal information does not count toward the word count.

Stories should be saved in either Microsoft Word format (97, 2000, XP, or 2003) or Rich Text Format and attached to an email sent to the following e-mail address:

All submissions must be received by September 15, 2008. It may not be possible to respond to every submission. If you have not received a response by December 1, 2008, please assume that your essay has not been selected.

Payment terms TBD.

We’re looking for humorous, heartwarming, and poignant submissions reflecting on how you felt and what happened when you got your period. We want to hear from women who suffered through it and women who celebrated it. We want to hear from those who look back on the experience with tears of laughter or just plain tears. Sharing these stories may remove some of the stigma around “the curse.” If you have a good story about your first period or any other menstrual debacle, you are invited to submit it.

Below please find some possible topics. This is not an exhaustive list, so you are encouraged to make a submission whether or not it fits under one, several, or none of these topics.

• Being the first, last or just plain in the middle of your class or family to get your period
• Who you told (and who they told) that you got your period
• How people responded to your first period
• How you learned how to put in a tampon or use a pad
• Your feminine product conundrum
• Getting your period in an embarrassing place
• Figuring out all of your “holes”
• Buying (or shoplifting) pads or tampons
• Cheesy or heartwarming gifts or celebrations for your first period
• Religious implications
• Other physical symptoms (diarrhea, gas, cramps, etc.)
• Any impact on participation in sports, gym classes, or other activities
• How you carried your supplies around
• Getting a tampon stuck or forgetting that you put one in
• Tampons and virginity
• Not menstruating at all

While men generally do not have the opportunity to menstruate themselves, they are welcome to submit stories about their experiences as fathers, brothers, uncles, family friends, etc.