Most jokes targeted against women don’t offend me. Most jokes in general don’t offend me. You want me to go back to the kitchen and make you a sandwich? Sure, as long as you make some drinks. I have an extremely laid back personality and can take just about every single joke thrown towards me. However, there is one phrase, one single phrase that makes my blood boil.

“It’s somebody’s time of the month.”

No, chances are, it’s not my time of the month. Most likely, that is just how I feel in the moment. Most women only have their period for one week out of the month. Meaning there is a ¾ chance that a woman’s emotions are NOT due to her menstrual cycle. And even if they are, who are you to pipe up about it? Most women during their times of the month already feel weak - emotionally and physically - there is no need to add on to that.

This comment has been directed towards me time and time again when I get angry over something. I’m very outspoken. I’m unafraid to say what’s on my mind and take a stand for what I believe in. These characteristics are deemed ‘unfeminine’ and many women who possess such characteristics are called bitchy, bossy, or worse. This has never bothered me, I’ve always been a firm believer in that you should be who you are and the right people will gravitate towards you. If you have something to say, you should say it without the fear of being called names. Unfortunately, the fact that I have a vagina makes it so that, “I can only be angry if I’m on my period.”

Even in the chance that I am, in fact, on my period, I’m allowed be emotional. My feelings are not ‘irrational’ or ‘wrong’ or ‘misplaced’ simply because I am on my period. Menstrual cycles do not prevent a woman from acting and thinking rationally. To assume that a woman is on her period because she is angry or upset is wrong. Everyone should feel free to express their emotions without fear of scrutiny. An argument should not shift from one topic to whether or not it’s a woman’s time of the month.

The thing about life is that you are allowed to have emotions. At the end of a bad day, or even during one, you are allowed to cry. If something makes you upset, you are allowed to get angry over it. We were placed on this earth for a reason. That reason is not to contain our emotions into a little box and never express them. What fun would life be?

Whether angry, or anxious, or yelling, or irritable, feelings are not to be dismissed as being hormonal. Your feelings are perfectly valid and deserve to stand alone without being blamed on a menstrual cycle. No woman should have her feelings and emotions belittled simply because she has a vagina.