Marsai Martin, 19, learned the power of her voice when diagnosed with an ovarian cyst: 'Pain is not normal'

It Figures is Yahoo Life's body image series, delving into the journeys of influential and inspiring figures as they explore what body confidence, body neutrality and self-love mean to them.

Marsai Martin, 19, has already learned a lot about her body and the importance of women's health.

For the actress, this wasn't necessarily by choice. When she got her period at 11, she had a quick lesson. At first, her monthly cycle was exciting, and she recalls telling her Black-ish castmates about it. "We were so close, and when you grow up in a space like that, all you want to do is be able to open up and connect and talk with other Black women about different experiences that they've had and what to look for," she tells Yahoo Life. "I had no idea what a period even meant, but I knew I got one"

Her feelings changed, however, when she started experiencing a lot of pain with her periods. She was diagnosed with an ovarian cyst at 14, which she didn't publicly disclose until four years later in 2022. Seeking out the diagnosis in the first place, she says, took a lot of courage.

"I was so nervous about even knowing what was going on with my body," she says, reflecting on her younger self. "I was in a space where I didn't know if I wanted to know that information because of conversations that I had in the past."

She was made aware that reproductive health was a "sensitive topic for a lot of people but especially for Black women," she says. Data shows that women of color face higher maternal mortality rates and a higher risk of dying from cervical cancer than white women. This reality made it difficult for her to want to address her own experience, out of fear of what it might mean.

"These conversations should be nothing to be ashamed of, and it shouldn't hold you back from getting the information and the details that you need to move forward with your body," she says in hindsight. "Pain is not normal, you know. And that's something that I thought was normal for such a long time."

Even still, it took her four years to agree to get the necessary surgery to remove the cyst and ultimately relieve the pain. That time "shaped me in a lot of ways," she says.

There was "ongoing pain" that she experienced with her monthly period, on top of nervousness she encountered leading up to the surgery. "The anxiety was so overwhelming," says Martin — who, mind you, was wrapping a hit television series, filming movies and trying to experience normal teenage life at the time. "It was a bunch of things to navigate."

What she took away from the experience once the surgery was complete was that there was nothing to be afraid of. More important, she was taught to "speak up and use my voice" when it comes to conversations about her own body.

"You learn so much about your body the more you grow up. But this is a time where there's a lot of hormonal changes to where you are just trying to understand and navigate what your body is telling you," she says. "Most of the time, it will tell you what you need to do. It's just a really big learning curve in my life at the moment, especially while growing into like a full-blown adult."

This, of course, includes the reality of changes to the appearance of her body as well; although she says that hasn't been top of mind. "I was a part of a set for eight years that showed nothing but love and support and no negative energy involving the physical presence of our bodies," she says about growing up on Black-ish.

In fact, the community that she cultivated there of Black women specifically is something she has been grateful to have as she continues to evolve. She even partnered with Tampax to continue its mission of equipping women with medically accurate period education through the A Better Way to Period campaign, in which she hopes to provide that support to others.

"I know my space, and I know my voice in this world. So to be able to be a leading person for other Black women that are going through the same thing and sharing experiences [with reproductive health] is something that is even grander in my book," says Martin.