Cheer up, girls! Period leave will take us back decades, says JENNI MURRAY

I’m afraid my reaction to the suggestion that British women should follow their contemporaries in Spain, Indonesia, South Korea, Zambia, Taiwan and Japan and be entitled to paid menstrual leave was far from sisterly.

I found myself yelling rather loudly, “For God’s sake, girls, man up!” It’s a slightly inappropriate comment from a lifelong feminist, I know, but all biological women suffer from what has been referred to as “the curse.”

Biological males don’t have to bleed every month to ensure their reproductive potential, they don’t suffer from the frequent menstrual cramps most of us have experienced, and they’ve never worn white pants with the fear of an unsightly stain spreading down their buttocks. spreads.

My generation, on the other hand, has all been there and, oh dear, we’ve had to fight all the nonsense that has characterized us as only fit for the home – where we could curl up with a hot water bottle on our bellies, dose ourselves with painkillers and not risk getting the embarrassing male colleagues who might faint at the sight of blood.

Germaine Greer was the one who gave me my determination to be brave and challenge the assumptions that haunted the aspirations of every working woman who valued her talent and intelligence, only to find, after a slight lack of concentration, male colleagues whispering to friends: There you go, see – on the rag.’

Germaine’s advice was to take pride in our oft-mocked bodily function. I never followed her challenge to “taste your menstrual blood,” but I was no longer ashamed of what men would use as a weapon to undermine me. In her groundbreaking book The Female Eunuch, Germaine told us never to hide the few days a month when we had our periods.

It is, as she said, a natural feature with no shame. We should never hide our tampons under a sleeve or in a handbag. Show them, she said, show them on the way to the toilet.

The more open I became about it, the less rude and spiteful the guys became. They realized that I was just as capable of doing a good job when I was on my period as I was when I wasn’t.

Generally much better than they were on the frequent occasions when they stumbled in with a roaring hangover and suffered from a brain fog the likes of which no bleeding woman had ever seen.

My generation of second-wave feminists have worked so hard to dispel the myths surrounding menstruation. Some of us had PMT, but it didn’t make us any less capable at work.

Sometimes we lost patience with unsympathetic male colleagues. It was rarely PMT that caused it, but perfectly justified anger at being treated as if we had an illness or serious disability.

Some of us were in agonizing pain and battling through what would much later be diagnosed as endometriosis.

We fought for better medical research to help diagnose serious uterine problems, but we all worked to make things better for the next generation who would never suffer the prejudices we endured.

Now I feel abandoned. Perhaps companies in Spain and those in this country who think employers should offer paid time off are trying to be nice and considerate. They’re wrong. They play on the same old stereotypes we fought against and young women seem to think they should be thankful. Call me a cynic, but to me this looks like major misogyny.

Which company thinks it’s a good idea to promise to pay a short period of leave month after month? What is the economic point of paying wages for work that is not done regularly? What conversations will be going on in boardrooms as the costs of these “nice and thoughtful” policies become apparent?

“God, these women, they cost us so much. They want menstrual leave. They are on maternity leave. Now they’re talking about being pampered during menopause. Perhaps a better financial plan would be to just let them all go home and employ men. They’re no problem.’

Maternity leave was never an unreasonable demand, nor were childcare requests at work. That is not the case when it comes to menstruation or menopause.

Younger generations wreak havoc on women’s workforce by complaining about their periods and their hot flashes.

They risk destroying all the hard work of feminists to prove that women do not suffer from a universal disability.

Being a woman is different from being a man. The stages of our reproductive lives can and often do cause pain, which a good employer will recognize.

They will make sure no one takes the mickey out of a cramped stomach or hot sweat and will never have a truckload of ideas that female biology is less valuable than a male’s. Truly equal pay must be a given.

Meanwhile, all young and middle-aged women, please stop complaining. Menopause and menstruation are not disabilities.

Yes, I say it without shame: ‘Man up and get on with the job!’

I am in awe of Camilla and her jumpsuit. In the 80s I loved to wear overalls, but oh, the pain of undressing for the toilet. Not much of a problem in my 30s. For now? After two kids and early 70s, it’s a different game.

Jungle kids are an inspiration

So often we underestimate the abilities of children, but no longer after surviving the four who were lost and found in the Colombian jungle last week.

They survived the plane crash that killed their mother and used the skills they learned in the jungle to take care of themselves and each other.

Their endurance was not luck, but courage, training and extraordinary management. A lesson for all of us.

Congratulations to Parliamentary hairdresser, Kelly Jo Dodge, for keeping her place on Boris’ roll of honor. She earns that MBE for work beyond her call of duty. Who wants to be responsible for Johnson’s mop?

Do you smear yourself ten times a day? As if…

Liz Hurley, actress and mother of one, shows off the perfect skin of a six-year-old on her 58th birthday.

No wrinkle, no stretch marks to be seen. And how does she do it without the help of a surgeon?

Moisturize up to ten times a day, she says. Face and hands, morning and evening, seems to do – but up to ten times?

Where does she find the time?

I can’t wait for Rob to come back to Archers

Can’t wait for the horrible Rob Titchener to return in tomorrow’s Archers. Seven years ago, I was gripped by the story of his violence and coercive control over Helen, never missing an episode and screaming at the radio.

My listening was a little disappointing when he left, but I come back to Am-ridge every day to see them continue such an important, brilliantly researched, written and acted exposé of the terror and damage of domestic violence. Be brave and strong, Helen.