For people who have periods, that time of the month can be a painful experience. Sometimes, it’s enough to land them in the ER. To give cis men an idea of what that feels like—in a real, concrete way—Lux Perry, the CEO of somedays, and her team hooked guys up to a machine that simulates period pain. Somedays is a company selling period pain relief products, and the team brought the device to a Calgary-area rodeo to challenge cowboys to experience different levels of menstrual cramps. Spoiler alert: they were hurting!

The machine has varying grades of pain, and a 10 on the device is the type of agony that would send you to the hospital. But still, people were willing to try it. One of the most enthusiastic participants was a cowboy who was up for a challenge. In a now-viral video, he starts out at a lower level and then is gradually brought up in severity.

Once it gets to a level seven on the pain scale, the cowboy really starts to feel it, and he's incredulous that people take on that much pain during their period. When he finally gets to a 10—similar to the pain felt by someone living with endometriosis—he’s barely able to stand up and give the group a “yeehaw.”

The response online has been overwhelmingly positive, but the somedays team had a chillier reception at the rodeo. “At first, we were getting a lot of side eye,” Perry explains. “There is still so much stigma associated with periods and period pain, so a lot of people see the word ‘period' and then instantly want to look away.”

That has changed, however, after their viral TikTok videos. “Now we have hundreds of people lining up with their partners just so they can get a feel for what their partner with a period experiences each month. And the vast majority of participants have been so humbled by the experience that they end up thanking us afterwards for the opportunity to learn more about period pain and usually end up purchasing some of our period pain relief for their partners,” Perry says. “We've even cried a few times—the genuine empathy is just so moving to witness.”

Watch men try the period simulator in the videos below.

Somedays: Website | Instagram | TikTok h/t: [Upworthy]

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