Thionville. Gentlemen, go try out the period simulator!

Until May 24, Puzzle and a number of partners invite you to " Take Body ," an event dedicated to women, the evolution of their condition since the 1950s, and the reappropriation of their bodies through art and culture. As part of this event, and just before World Menstrual Hygiene Day on May 28, information and awareness stands on period poverty are available to the public. The Athenes association is leading the project and, with its partners, is offering an interactive program : direct and practical information, the distribution of guides and intimate hygiene kits, a collaborative game, and the experimentation of a menstrual simulator purchased for the occasion by the urban community.

Since the start of the event, men have been flocking to test it, around fifty on the first day! So I followed the movement. To say without any apprehension would be a lie. Virginie, the deputy director of Athenes, reassures, all smiles: "If you feel unwell, we have sugar and a defibrillator!" The tone is set. Antoine, a specialist educator, takes over and explains the procedure. So I have two electrodes to place below the abs - or at least what's left of them - and two more above the adductors. With a cotton ball and some gel, I disinfect the areas where the self-adhesive electrodes are to be applied. "You have three levels of pain," announces Antoine. "Menstrual discomfort, significant menstrual discomfort, and endometriosis. Each stage lasts a few seconds." And that's all the thinking and understanding, for me, of what menstrual periods are. I endure all three stages of pain, the last one being quite severe. But I quickly imagine the ordeal of having to endure it for hours, days, at work, at home, on the bus...

For those who would like to try the simulator, it is available in the afternoons at Puzzle until Saturday evening. As a testament to the seriousness of the test and the stand, the eleven members of the collective were trained by the association Règles Élémentaires.