Angel Reese vividly remembers the first time she got her period in the eighth grade.
Due to the lack of education and conversation around period health, the then-13-year-old Reese did not feel overly comfortable in her own skin when mother nature first hit.
"Everything is weird in eighth grade," Reese exclusively told NBCU Local. "I just wanted to understand that periods are normal."
That's why Reese and fellow LSU women's basketball star Flau'jae Johnson have decided it's time to use their high-traffic platforms in partnership with Tampax to open up discussion about period health and encourage conversation.
"It's honestly a hard conversation to have," Reese said. "There are a lot of myths and misinformation about tampons. Me and Flau'je are in a great spot to educate, shut down those myths and understand that it is normal to use tampons."
A recent study found that 68% of young women say they have received little or no period education before their period, according to a 2023 Tampax Period Education Survey. A sample of 1,440 women and girls from the continental U.S., Alaska, and Hawaii were interviewed online in English, with 910 women ages 18-26 and 530 girls ages 11-17 recruited through their parents.
The study also finds that 83% of Gen Z women and girls say they received little or no education about tampons before their period began -- with proof that females of multicultural backgrounds (Black and Hispanic) receive negative information about tampons.
The numbers show Black (43%) and U.S. Hispanic (36%) Gen Z women and girls have never used and don't plan to use a tampon with many worried the product would be uncomfortable.
Johnson said conversations around period health are normal amonst the LSU women's basketball squad and other sports teams.
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"We talk about it all the time in the locker room," Johnson said. "Those white jerseys, there's always nerves. If you are wearing white, you have to be on point for sure."
Reese and Johnson say that if and when they have girls of their own, they will be informed at a young age.
"They don't really teach it in schools as much as you think so I will probably teach my girls, if I have girls, at a pretty young age ... and educate them early enough so they actually understand it early on," Reese said.
Reese and Johnson are set to begin their 2023-24 LSU women's basketball season in hopes of becoming back-to-back national champions after their historic run last year.
While they'll be balling out on the basketball court, they'll be sure to continue to educate women when it comes to period health.
Notes: Angel Reese and Flau'jae Johnson's "A Better Way to Period" partnership with Tampax is an expansion of the company's existing "Flow It Forward" program, bringing medically accurate period education to all women and girls across the U.S.
