According to an article from Metro Lifestyle, Ancient Romans believed women on their periods were evil and dark. “According to Pliny the Elder, they could stop hailstorms, whirlwinds, and lightning, and kill crops. Not to mention kill bees, dim mirrors, and blunt weapons just by looking at them.” Being a Roman woman must’ve been pretty tough back then. However, modern-day periods are much simpler than they were then with an infinite amount of information at our fingertips. Not only that, we literally have apps especially for helping women with this particular issue. Introducing Flo, the most reliable and efficient tool for menstruation. 

While the slogan and name for this app give off the vibe that this is just another simple period calendar, Flo has features for every young woman out there dealing with everyday feminine problems. This application takes into consideration just how difficult it is to be a woman. Some features it holds: cycle tracker, symptoms log-in, fertility predictions, pregnancy tracker, health insights/articles especially accustomed to your needs, and so much more! When the app opens, it looks like all there is is a period calendar, but once you get the chance to entirely explore what it has, you’ll find that there’s something for every female need.  On top of all that, there’s a helpful, supportive community that stays anonymous using an assortment of cartoon animals with different colored backgrounds, so if you need to ask advice about a particularly embarrassing issue, you can ask and get responses without anyone ever finding out. 

When you first open the app, you get the choice of whether or not you make an account to save your progress. After going through that, you log in some basic information, like when your last cycle was, so Flo can get to work on caring for your essentials. Before your period arrives, Flo can provide predictions as to when you’ll start. The more cycles you log in, the more accurate these predictions will be. At the time your period actually arrives, you can log in your symptoms in 14 parameters consisting of ordinary menstrual happenings(moods, blood flow, water intake, symptoms), to other womanly needs(pills you’ve taken, physical activities, pregnancy tests). After logging in your symptoms, articles are customized to give you the necessary information for your symptoms. For example, if you logged in cramps and bloating for your symptoms, you’ll soon find articles to help you control and ease it. While Flo is the perfect app for adolescents, young adults can use it too. Getting inputs on someone more experienced on these matters will surely help young women know the ins and outs of their own body. In an age where technology is right at our fingerprints, it is amazing to know that people all around the world are finding useful ways to use it. Women have, throughout history, been misinformed about their bodies and ridiculed for things they can't control. Flo is just one example of how our generation is changing things for women in hopes that we will never go back to relying on the superstitions of the past.