To truly give you the Jamaican perspective I have the experience of four Jamaican women from almost four different generations. I interviewed my mother-in-law, my sister-in-law, and my niece as well as my own experience. It is interesting seeing the changes from generation to generation. Based on all the interviews I think the Swedish perspective was like my perspective, I think the differences were between generations and not the country.

My mother-in-law, age 60

"Having your period was not exactly taboo but it was not discussed when girls got their period, they were given a pad from their mother or their closest female relative and they would get the basic information about menstruation. For me, my mother would not discuss it with me at all. I had to go to my cousins’ mother who showed me how to use it. There was no education at school and if you had an accident you had to go to the principal to get the okay to go home. There were not a lot of options as there are today."

My sister- in-law, age 52

"I did not learn about it at school, I learned what to do from my mother who did not go into so much detail about what to do but went into more detail on how to dispose of your pad.  I was told to wrap it up in newspaper then put it in a plastic bag and tie the bag and throw it away outside. I went to a public school and once a year a nurse would come and give check-ups and tell you where you could go to get contraceptives and could talk to the nurse but there was still a lot of embarrassment and shame around the topic. It was not until I had my first job with a female boss, I knew it was normal and I could talk about it." Continue reading!