On Monday, Chinese tennis player, Zheng Qinwen revealed how her severe period cramps prevented her from winning the major tennis tournament, the French Open, against world number one, Iga Swiatek.
In a media conference, she opened up more about how a biological process for women shattered her dreams.
Tennis player Zheng Qinwen on period cramps ending her French Open win
Credit: Instagram/zhengqinwen_tennis
The 19-year-old player started off with top speed before her competitor took control of the game. In the media interview, she shared what led her to this defeat. “It’s just girl things,” said Zheng, while adding, “The first day is always so tough and then I have to do sport and I always have so much pain in the first day.I couldn’t go against my nature. I wish I can be a man so that I don’t have to suffer from this. It’s tough.”
She was also hurt on her right leg, but she explained that even that pain wasn’t anything compared to the agonising stomach ache she was going through. “But that compared to the stomach was easy. I cannot play my tennis because the stomach was too painful. I really give my best on court, it’s just tough,” she said.
Credit: Instagram/zhengqinwen_tennis
Every woman out there–whether working or not, and irrespective of her work profile– will relate to and understand Zheng’s situation. We all might have faced a similar situation where we couldn’t do something (important) owing to the menstrual pain. It’s unfair for Zheng to lose the match just because of a biological process that’s not in her control.
Our society does little to nothing to accommodate the severe pain of period cramps
Credit: Reuters
Our society, still deeply rooted in sexism, fails to understand the excruciating pain that comes with period cramps. A pain that is often compared to cutting off your finger without anaesthetics, disrupts a woman’s productivity and prevents her from doing or achieving things.
But the sad truth is us women have to get up and show our faces at work even when writhing with menstrual pain, as our society fails to understand its severity and doesn’t consider period pain as real physical pain. A debate on paid menstrual leave is a prime example of this.
For several years now, women have kept demanding paid menstrual leave, but this concept still doesn’t exist in most of the countries, including India. This forces us to choose between our wellness and career.
All across the globe, there are only a handful of companies that offer paid period time off, including India-based brand, Zomato. It’s time more organisations came in support of the idea of granting paid leaves to female employees.
What are your views on the same? Share with us in the comments.
Social and lead image Credit: Instagram/zhengqinwen_tennis
