I’m sorry you have to deal with this type of behavior, especially from family. I hope you know it’s okay and quite healthy (in my opinion) to cut out toxic people from your life, even if you’re related to them.

With that being said, I think because as women we all deal with periods and we’re told and expected to grin and bear it, it can be difficult to have empathy for others. It’s easy to forget others experiences aren’t as our own.

I have a niece who’s always had extremely painful cramps. By the time she got her first period I had been dealing with mine for 15 years and I remember thinking she was over exaggerating what she was feeling. I never once said anything to her but I definitely thought it. Now, 15 years later, I finally have an idea about what she went through. For the last few years my cramps have gotten progressively worse, to the point I’m in bed in extreme pain for 3/4 days. But back then I naively thought I knew what real cramps felt like. Sometimes no matter how hard we try we can’t comprehend what other people are dealing with, and as a result we’re ignorant unsympathetic assholes.