Conversation event talks about periods

Facilitated meaningful conversations can be healing. Perhaps even more so when done in groups. One local initiative works towards bringing people together via fruitful conversation and the breaking down of taboos by addressing hard-to-talk-about topics. The Conversation Café Cyprus, though based in Nicosia, has held events all over the country and its upcoming February gathering is a collaborative effort that will highlight one more important subject – periods.

As normal as periods are and the emotions they come with, they are not talked about openly. Hoping to provide a judge-free, safe space, Conversation Café Cyprus and Let’s Talk Period Cyp are collaborating to host a special dialogue event, open to women and men. Held at Home for Cooperation on February 18 at 4pm, the event invites participants to join an intimate talk about periods and their social dimensions.

“Like many other places around the world,” write the organisers, “talking about periods in Cyprus, whether you are a menstruator or not, is not the easiest thing to do. The pressure to avoid open conversations about periods significantly impacts all of us and has led many people to repeatedly feel ashamed, uncomfortable, or embarrassed about an entirely normal, biological process.

“Misogynist-cultural taboos,” they add, “have successfully conditioned so many to perceive menstrual cycles and representations as something to be hidden, shameful and deplorable. Which, we believe, is absolutely unacceptable. Therefore we – Let’s Talk Period Cyp – are collaborating with Conversation Cafe Cyprus to host a special, thematic, edition of their meaningful facilitated dialogue process.”

Conversations on Periods

By Conversation Café Cyprus and Let’s Talk Period Cyp. February 18. Home for Cooperation, Nicosia. 4-7pm. Free. Register via form on Facebook event (Conversations on Periods)