​One night during my freshman year at Middlebury, I went home with two guys. I know some people might call me a “slut” or think that in some way I had it coming. And, you know what, although I really don’t like that word “slut,” I guess by definition, I kind of was. Extremely intoxicated, I went with the guys back to Hadley. When I was in the room with them, I told them I was on my period and had personal reasons for not wanting to have sex. At first, they were fine with that, and they told me to give each of them a blow job. I hadn’t given many before, so I guess I wasn’t very good at it. After some attempts with “too much teeth,” they started to pressure me to have sex. I was a virgin then, and I told them, “I don’t want to lose it like this.” But they continued to pressure me, so I told them again that I was on my period. “You’re lying,” one of them said. I insisted I wasn’t.  I remember his exact words: “You’re not off the hook unless you show us your tampon string.” Desperate to escape the pressure, I pulled down my underwear and showed them. “Oh shit dude, “one said to the other, “she’s not lying.” The way he said Oh shit made me feel dirty and disgusting, like being a woman and having a period made me somehow untouchable. As they gaped at my nakedness, I truly came to understand the meaning of objectification. I felt violated not only as a woman, but as a person. To this day, I have no idea what would have happened if I weren’t actually on my period. It was this ‘dirty and disgusting’ thing that actually saved me that night. Thus, even with all its challenges and occasional annoyances, I thank god to be a woman.

​Author: Anonymous Middlebury College Student

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