Caution: Menses at Work

This post is about feminine hygiene and gives away too much information about my personal cycle. You’re forewarned.

I noticed that Always has a new uplifting message for women as they open their sanitary napkins :

What’s funny is how it’s been translated into French. Unless in Canada, “semaine” is the word of choice when referring to menstruation, something’s missing in the version française. I suppose “bonnes règles” would have been going into too much detail for the francophone ladies ?

A provençale friend told me that entre copines she says “j’ai mes ran-yan-ya” instead of “j’ai mes règles”, so perhaps French women simply shy away from discussing their periods in a direct way. My friend’s version, although a bit little-girlish, is certainly a lot more tasteful than “I’m on the rag,” a phrase I’ve never been able to warm up to here in the States.