Internet Backs Dad Who Lets Daughter Keep Pads in the Bathroom

The internet has come to the defense of a father who said in a now-viral post that he allows his 11-year-old daughter to store her pads in the bathroom.

His sister, however, argued that keeping pads in the bathroom is "not appropriate" because "other people could see them."

The now-viral story was posted to Reddit's "Am I The A**hole" forum on Sunday by u/saidtomysis and has so far amassed more than 11,800 upvotes. It has also received thousands of comments from Redditors who said that women shouldn't be made to feel ashamed of their periods.

Unfortunately, a study commissioned by THINX in 2018 revealed that 58 percent of women do feel a sense of shame and/or embarrassment about their periods, the New York Post reported.

"Forty-two percent of women have experienced period-shaming, with one in five being made to have these feelings because of comments made by a male friend," the paper said. "Additionally, twelve percent of women have been shamed by a family member and one in ten by a classmate."

As a result, a majority of women said that they've felt pressured to conceal their periods, either by hiding tampons and pads from view on their way to the bathroom or by canceling plans that could expose the fact that they are menstruating.

"The culture surrounding menstruation must be changed, and it takes both women and men to make that happen," a spokesperson for THINX told the New York Post. "It starts with open, honest conversation, and continues with education that empowers women to feel aware of and comfortable with their bodies and flows."

At the beginning of his post, the father explained that his sister, Julie, recently moved in with him and his daughter because she was caught having an extramarital affair. She now shares a bathroom with her 11-year-old niece, and apparently doesn't like that her niece keeps pads in the bathroom.

"When she first saw them she gave the pads to my daughter and told her, 'those stay in your room, honey, everyone else uses the bathroom too,'" the father wrote.

When he eventually confronted Julie about her comments, Julie maintained that keeping the products in the bathroom was inappropriate because "everyone will know she's on her period."

"And I said there's also toilet paper in the bathroom so everyone 'knows' people take a s**t in this house, what does it matter if they know someone in the house is also having periods? It's not exactly this secret thing nobody knows about," the father said.

Eventually, Julie said her brother wasn't being a "good father." Angry, he replied: "I'm not the one who imploded their children's lives [by] f***ing another man so she has no right telling me what kind of parent I am."

The argument ended with Julie calling her brother "a bunch of names" and then walking away to cry in the guest room.

The father worried that he'd been too harsh with his sister, but commenters were quick to defend what he said about Julie's marriage and praise his parenting.

"NTA [not the a**hole] at all...Periods are completely natural...You are doing an amazing job with your daughter and [Julie] has no right to come in and try to do that parenting for you," wrote LegitimateBottle2343.

"She called you a bad father. You pointed out she's a bad mom. She shouldn't judge others' parenting if she can't handle the judgment back. She did negatively affect her kids by having an affair," said u/PotatoLover-3000. "Good job for standing up for your daughter. Tell her to put the pads back in the bathroom where they belong."

u/Emmiburr added: "Thank you for supporting your daughter and teaching her that periods are normal and nothing to be ashamed about.