There's something powerful about the start of a new cycle, and this year, the energy is especially bold. The Year of the Fire Horse is often associated with intensity, disruption, and unapologetic strength. Fire brings heat, light, and transformation; the horse brings movement, independence, and forward momentum. Together, they symbolize a year that doesn’t ask for permission—it moves things.
The Year of the Fire Horse is part of the Chinese zodiac cycle, where each year is shaped by both an animal sign and one of the five elements. In this pairing, fire represents heat, light, and transformation, while the horse symbolizes movement, independence, and forward momentum. Together, they point to a year marked by intensity, disruption, and unapologetic strength — one that doesn’t ask for permission so much as it moves things forward.
When you look at that through the lens of menstrual justice, the meaning becomes strikingly clear.
Menstrual justice has never been a quiet cause. It exists because systems failed—because periods were ignored, stigmatized, and treated as private inconveniences rather than public health realities. Fire Horse energy mirrors what the menstrual justice movement requires: urgency, courage, and refusal to stay still.
Here’s what the Year of the Fire Horse represents for menstrual justice:
1. Breaking silence with heat, not politeness
Fire Horse years aren’t about soft asks. They’re about naming what’s broken—period poverty, lack of access in schools and workplaces, harmful products, medical dismissal—and saying it out loud. Menstrual justice thrives when we stop whispering and start insisting.
2. Momentum over waiting
The horse doesn’t linger. In menstrual justice terms, this is the shift from “awareness” to action: free products in public spaces, better education, smarter product design, and policies that recognize menstruation as essential—not optional.
3. Rewriting harmful narratives
Historically, girls born in Fire Horse years were often branded “too much,” “dangerous,” or “unruly.” It’s a familiar pattern: when bodies coded as feminine hold power, they get pathologized. Menstrual justice exists to flip that script—reframing what’s been stigmatized as something worthy of care, respect, and real infrastructure.
4. Independence from outdated systems
Fire Horse energy resists control. For menstrual justice, that means not relying on broken supply chains, performative allyship, or checkbox solutions. It’s about building new models—community-led, transparent, inclusive—that actually serve people who menstruate.
5. Collective courage
While the horse is independent, fire spreads. Menstrual justice isn’t a solo effort; it’s collective momentum. One policy change sparks another. One honest conversation makes room for many more.
In short, the Year of the Fire Horse is a reminder that menstrual justice isn’t about asking nicely for scraps—it’s about movement, visibility, and transformation. It’s a call to act boldly, design better, speak louder, and move faster toward a world where periods are supported as a matter of dignity and equity.
If menstrual justice had a zodiac year, Fire Horse would be it.
Call to action: You can make a huge difference in just 7 minutes! Take the Cost of Silence Survey (completely anonymous) and help us grade the nation. Your voice will help us see how Canada is doing and what work still remains.