Actually, the purpose of pain is letting you know something is wrong. Periods shouldn't be painful beyond a mild discomfort. I'd say you should see a doctor, but given my experience with such creatutes, you're probably better served spending the money in a new pair of shoes... But yes, women's pain is often ignored, especially period pain, so we're often lead to think it's normal. It's not.
Sometimes the reason however can be hard to determine. I used to have horrible periods too when I was young. I was skinny, borderline clinically underweight (no, I didn't have an eating disorder). But then the years went by and I began putting on some weight, and lo and behold... My periods became clockwork regular and came with little pain. We ladies do need a decent amount of fat to work properly. Not suggesting your case is like mine, just that there's definitely an underlying issue to your pain.
Please, please, please, don't buy into that bs! It has absolutely no relation! I was told that too when I was young... Bs! Bs! Bs! Please seek a good, preferably female, gynecologist. You don't have to suffer like that or buy into old wives theories that have absolutely no fundament.