Chinese celeb Angelababy tells fans: I was on my period

World
Europe

From Olympian to cine star, Chinese women are boldly taking a stand on periods.

In a recent incident, actress Angelababy facing criticism for ‘special treatment’ during a variety show told fans on social media: I was on my period.

Accused of unfair treatment on Chinese variety show “Keep Running,” people took to Chinese social media to criticize Angelababy for her “princess behavior.”

While other contestants were doused with water multiple times, Angelababy only suffered the water attack once. Chiding her for getting “special treatment,” others also made fun of her facial expressions.

Surprising many, the actress responded with a confession: "This was the first day of my period, and I was really uncomfortable.”

"But I never said that I couldn't go in the water, it really wasn't fun sitting in that chair.” "I felt cold and frightened because you do not know what words or actions will trigger the water to spray," wrote the actress on Weibo, China's largest social media platform.

The post had almost 100,000 comments and been shared over 160,000 times.

The actress isn’t the first Chinese star to capture widespread attention for talking about her period. In 2016, during the Rio Olympics, swimmer Fu Yuanhui candidly told a reporter that she was on her period after the commentator guessed that she was grimacing out of stomach pain.

"We should probably also reflect why women celebrities are constantly scrutinized for their appearances and behaviors in ways that men are not," Nancy Tang, a Chinese feminist told CGTN.

In 2015, Kiran Gandhi ran London Marathon without a tampon, letting her blood flow freely during the entire race. “I ran with blood dripping down my legs for sisters who don’t have access to tampons and sisters who, despite cramping and pain, hide it away and pretend like it doesn’t exist,” she wrote on her website.

Recently, Bollywood made a movie based on Arunachalam Muruganantham, a local innovator, who made menstrual pads cost-effective for rural women in India. The film sold more than 2.2 billion tickets worldwide.

Experts feel a lack of understanding and complex cultural and religious factors, female menstruation has long been a taboo topic in many parts of the world. Photo-sharing platform Instagram caused outrage in 2015 when it censored a photo of a woman lying on a bed next to a patch of period blood.

Social media posts by celebrities have been a critical driver in spurring candid discussions about female menstruation.

[Top Image: Angelababy participating in a show. /VCG Photo]