Let's face it. Despite being located literally within our own bodies most of us still have questions about our own menstrual cycles. You know - the ones that incomprehensibly leave you crying at Andrex adverts and having to count down from ten when dealing with idiots because you can feel a period-rage based felony coming on. But guess what? Dakota Johnson is one of us!
In a candid interview when asked 'what's one unanswered question you have about beauty' the50 Shades Of Greyactor hilariously descended into a fully-blown polemic over her menstrual cycle. She could have spoken about her skin routine, she could have spoken about Jade Roller-ing - but initially in response to the question she said: ‘If I’m honest, my hormonal changes during my menstrual cycle are ruining my life. Every month. It’s unbelievable.’ and we can all relate. She went on to say ‘I can’t get a grip on it, I’m like, “what?” Every time, I’m totally scandilised about what happens to my body and my brain. My boobs are like eight times the size they normally are. It’s really a traumatic thing and it happens every month, I just can’t get used to it.’
Yes! It's official - despite being a multi-million net worth actress in a blockbuster franchise Dakota Johnson doesn't understand her period either! But she didn't stop there, in fact, she went on to address the other thing that sit's in the category of Women's Issues That The Medical Profession Doesn't Seem To Have Much Time For: birth control methods.
'It’s really, really insane. It’s also very tricky to figure out what type of birth control you’re meant to be on, and if it’s even healthy.' Dakota continued, before going on to explain that she's now advocating Global Citizen: Reproductive education which debunks sexual health myths and educates young women about contraception, and sexual and reproductive health. 'How do you not jam chemicals into your brain in order to feel good? It’s a remarkable thing. I really would like to understand and be able to manage things a little better, know what’s happening in my body, and know what I’m putting into it.' Dakota said.
Given a quarter of men have said they definitely wouldn't take a male contraceptive pill while another quarter 'probably' wouldn't based on the same side-effects that women have been suffering for decades, the time is ripe to open up the conversation about why we don't understand more about contraception and reproductive health issues for women. We've also recently seen more research emerging into how hormonal contraception affects women's mental health (spoiler alert: yes, it does).
We have a period emoji arriving soon - but the big question is, when are we going to get a Dakota Johnson emoji?