You can’t touch plants on your period? We asked people from around the world what myths they’ve been told about menstruation. A lot of these superstitions are behavioral restrictions that, aside from being untrue, contribute to gender-based taboos and discrimination, like using the term “old wives’ tales.”

Here’s some of the global *tall tales related to menstruation:

US/UK 🇺🇸 🇬🇧

• You’re clumsy.
  
• Tampons will break your hymen and make you impure.
  
• Can’t take a bath.
  
• Everybody gets PMS and it always manifests as crankiness/irritability.
  
• Don’t go camping because the bears can smell it from far away.
  
• Shouldn’t perm hair until after first period.
  
• If you touch any vegetable before or during the pickling process they would not pickle and go bad.
  

NEPAL 🇳🇵

• You can’t be in homes or have contact with anybody.
  

ISRAEL 🇮🇱

• You get slapped on the face when you get your first period so you have “beautiful” red cheeks all your life.
  
• If you shower with hot water while on your period you will have a heavy flow.

COLOMBIA 🇨🇴

• You can’t drink cold beverages because they will give you cramps.
  
• Don’t wash or cut your hair.
  

POLAND 🇵🇱

• Having sex can kill your partner.
  

ROMANIA 🇷🇴

• You can’t touch flowers because they’ll die quicker.
  

MALAYSIA 🇲🇾

• You need to wash your pads before throwing them out. Otherwise ghosts will come and haunt you.
  

INDIA 🇮🇳

• You can’t enter a kitchen or cook food for anyone else.
  
• You can’t enter a place of worship.
• You can only enter a place of prayer once you’ve washed your hair on or after the fourth day.
• You must wash your hair on the first day itself to clean yourself completely.
  

Anddd on the contrary…

• If you wash your hair during your periods, your flow will be less and it will affect your fertility later in life.
  

MEXICO 🇲🇽

• You should avoid dancing to very active rhythms in order to take care of your uterus.
  

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 🇩🇴

• Don’t paint your nails, wash your hair or drink lemonade.
  

BRAZIL 🇧🇷

• You can’t wash your hair.
  
• You can’t walk barefoot (you might get cramps).
  

ARGENTINA 🇦🇷

• You can’t make whip cream, it will curdle.
  
• If you take a bath your bleeding will stop and stopping bleeding is bad for your health.
  

PHILIPPINES 🇵🇭

• When you get your first period you need to wash your face with the first menstrual blood to have clear skin.
  

ITALY 🇮🇹

• Dough won’t rise.
  
• Can’t touch plants.
  
• Everything you cook will be a disaster.
  
• Can’t go to the beach or pool (no contact with water basically).
  

FRANCE 🇫🇷

• You can’t make mayonnaise; it will curdle.
  

JAPAN 🇯🇵

• You can’t make sushi because you have an imbalance in taste.
  

TAIWAN 🇹🇼

• You must blow dry your hair after a shower.
  

VENEZUELA 🇻🇪

• Avoid shaving your bikini line as the skin will get darker.
  

BOLIVIA 🇧🇴

• You can’t cradle babies or you’ll cause them to get sick.
  

What period myths did you grow up hearing? Tell us on Twitter.