This body of work was created in response to the lack of education I received as a child about menstruation, and the negative stigma that surrounds it. Creating a culture that understands menstruation — and, in turn, women and girls — begins with honest education for both girls and boys.

When you learned about menstruation in sex ed class, were you separated from the boys? I was. Why are they not a part of the conversation? Boys and men alike should be held accountable for the negative stigma that surrounds menstruation.

With more honest education we can build a culture where women are valued, and are not ashamed or forced to hide and whisper about a natural bodily function. Furthermore, a culture where women and girls are not forced to hide and whisper about anything that happens to them and their bodies, because it does matter. All women matter. All girls matter.

This work is dedicated to my daughters.

Standing barefoot on a sandstone ledge in a pale dress marked with rust-colored prints, my daughter seated on the rock below me Mother and Child

The two of us seated together on a ledge beneath a sandstone overhang, in white dresses

Lying alone along the sandstone ledge under the overhang, in the marked dress

Seated on the rock with my daughter leaning back against me, tall trees rising behind us

Three squares of pale cloth pegged to a line outdoors, each marked with a rust-colored stain Spotting