Amy Schumer Reminds Women 'Your Periods Shouldn't Be Painful'

Amy Schumer posted another candid video about her endometriosis journey, this time calling out the way women are often dismissed when they say they’re in pain

Amy Schumer has never been one to shy away from telling it like it is. That’s more apparent than ever this week, as she’s been taking to social media to update fans on her journey with endometriosis, which included having her uterus and appendix removed just a few days ago. Now, she’s back on Instagram with another candid video, this time reminding women and people with periods that “your periods shouldn’t be painful” — and that if they are, and your doctor dismisses that pain, there are steps you can take to make sure your voice is heard.

“Today I got the results of the tissue that they tested from me, and I just wanted to say that what I learned today is that your periods shouldn’t be painful,” Schumer said in the 10-minute video that she posted to Instagram late Thursday night. “Not everyone’s are. From the time I got my first period, I was knocked over, vomiting from the pain. And as women, we’re told that the words ‘drama queen,’ ‘stop being a pussy,’ ‘don’t be a little bitch,’ ‘you’re being a little girl’ — all these phrases, all of them, paint women as weak. Culturally, I just feel like I grew up believing that too. I assumed I was being a drama queen.”

Schumer spent much of the video calling out the way that women are often dismissed when they say they’re experiencing pain. This is such a real struggle for women seeking healthcare. Many doctors dismiss or outright ignore symptoms reported to them by women, because women are assumed to have lower pain tolerances than men. But Schumer’s journey with her endometriosis shows, so clearly, that ignoring her pain for so long caused her to endure years more of it than she needed to.

“I don’t have a uterus anymore, and I’m never going to shut the fuck up now,” she says in her video. “Let me just tell you, my pain is real. Your pain is real. We have to advocate for ourselves, we have to speak up. And, you know what? I’m worried this video is annoying, but I don’t care, because I hope that it helps one woman go and find out why she’s in so much pain.”

At the end of her video, Schumer made sure to voice that every person who struggles with endometriosis has a different, very personal story. She also updated fans on her own condition, adding that she’ll need to have her ovaries removed as well in a few years.

“It took me four decades to be diagnosed,” Schumer shared. “Endometriosis. Let’s try to have this next generation of women advocate for themselves and find doctors who know about endometriosis and take it seriously. OK. That’s my whole thing. Anything else, Amy? Um, no. I don’t think so. Thanks for listening. Much love.”