Two teen girls have developed a tampon-themed video game, in the process challenging the strange way society treats menstruation.
Sophie Houser, 17, and Andrea Gonzales, 16, took on the taboo surrounding girl's periods by celebrating menses in their new 8-bit game, "Tampon Run."
Instead of firing bullets to fend off opponents, like in typical video games, players lob tampons at their enemies. When an opponent sneaks unscathed by the tampon projectiles, it's game over.
"Although the concept of the video game may be strange, it's stranger that our society has accepted and normalized guns and violence through video games, yet we still find tampons and menstruation unspeakable," reads an in-game statement written by the creators.
The pair has been making waves on social media this week as users fall for their game.
Houser and Gonzales met this summer in New York while at a program run by Girls Who Code, a group which encourages high school girls to get involved in technology. Their final project for the program was "Tampon Run."
Houser told The Independent there's no reason menstruation should remain a taboo, considering it's one of the most normal reoccurrences in a woman's life.
"When girls are out of the house and need to change their tampon, they slip it into a sleeve or a back pocket, they hide it on the way to the bathroom. This is the menstrual taboo," she told the outlet. "Yet most women menstruate for half their lives. Everyone’s mom, sister, girlfriend or even the lady sitting next to you on the train probably has menstruated (or maybe is right now!). It isn’t weird or strange or gross, or at least we don’t think it should be."
Talk about girl power!
You can play Tampon Run here. Warning: It's pretty addictive.
