The panty challenge isn’t just weird, it’s problematic and here’s why

The latest internet body challenge seems designed to make women feel crappy about their bodies. No, you definitely do not need to take “the panty challenge,” because it’s weird, creepy, and also, promoting untrue ideas about how women’s bodies tend to work.

It’s not quite clear where “the panty challenge” originated. It’s one of those bizarre things that shows up to be gross once in a while, like brain-eating amoebas. In this case, it appeared on social media, telling women to upload a picture of a perfectly clean panty worn during the day to show that discharge is gross and abnormal.

And lo, the internet did rise up and call “BS” on that nonsense immediately. false false false

Twitter is right on this one, folks: Discharge is an absolutely normal, natural, daily thing that most women experience. Let’s hear the truth straight from WebMD:

And there you have it. In fact, vaginal discharge is so normal, it can actually be useful to women tracking their menstrual cycles for fertility, because the texture and consistency changes during ovulation.

Who the heck starts these ridiculous challenges? Is it some weird dude who just wants women to upload pictures of their underwear? Is it a facet of humanity that continues to believe that all bodily functions are gross and that there’s some ideal of clean and pure living that removes all mucous from your life?

Well, rest assured, unless your discharge suddenly looks unusual, there’s nothing wrong with some getting on your panties.