Menarche is the threshold. It’s when a girl gets her first period — and crosses from childhood into adolescence. How she’s met in that moment shapes everything. It’s not just a physical change — it’s a rite of passage. And like all rites, it teaches us something about our place in the world: What does it mean to be a woman? Am I safe? Do I belong? Many of us weren’t met with honour at our first bleed. We were met with silence, shame, embarrassment — or nothing at all. But that moment still shape