Attitudes and changing attitudes about our periods
I think of having periods as catharsis, i.e. a kind of cleansing
process, both mental and physical. Catharsis involves pain, and it
might not be voluntary, but you end up feeling better. I might have PMT and be pissed off with everything for a few days, but during the last days of my period it feels like a fresh start. I'll make plans for the future, things that I'd like to do, rewards to myself for coping well. I try to retain some of the insights I had during the pissed-off phase.
If it feels like I've been treading water over something, during that
phase I tend to think, 'Fuck this!' Afterwards I think, Well, maybe I
should move on. Also, I always want sex on the first day of my period.
I have a feeling this might not be unusual.
i have been pregnant 3 times, one is my son, who was brought into the world 9 years ago via caesarean and the other two were first trimester pregnancies that i terminated. it wasn't until some 5 or 6 years after the last abortion that i looked down at my menstrual blood and was able to grieve for my other two children that are not with me. when i was sitting on the toilet, i reached down and caught a small clot, moved it between my fingers and started to weep. i just kept saying, "my babies....my babies..." it was a very cleansing thing
I like my period. For a while I was really into how magical it seems.
I don't mind touching, smelling, and seeing it. I think it's neat. It is
kind of strange because I am squeamish about the blood from cuts or wounds,
and about having my blood taken. But my period seems different because
it is not about sickness or being hurt, it is about regeneration and renewal.
My period has changed over the years. When it started it was almost
nothing, and I didn't pay any attention to it. In high school it became
heavier, and very regular, but it was still mild in terms of cramps. In
college the cramps started to kick in, once and a while, and I became aware
of some PMS symptoms. Nowadays, it can be really difficult to get through
the first day because the cramps are so bad, but it is all so familiar
to me that it doesn't seem strange that there is so much pain. I wonder
what's coming next.
If it had been this way when I started, I probably would have demanded
to have my uterus removed! I think of it as a monthly test of strength.
When I have bad cramps out in public no would ever know, and at those times
I look at men around me, and imagine what their faces would look like if
they suddenly got my cramps. They'd be on the floor! Somehow this makes
me feel better.
I've come to appreciate my period. For years, I thought "OK., it's
natural, but what a nuisance!" I didn't feel like I was into the whole
"identify as a woman" thing. I thought that to suck it all out
with a vacuum cleaner-like device sounded like a great alternative to letting
the blood and tissue take its course over a period of days. I was basically
annoyed by the inconvenience caused by bleeding, and the extra care I had
to take of myself. In recent years, the tables have turned. I have to say
that I'm somewhat thrilled by the sight of blood seeping out of my body.
I take delight in the fact that this is a specifically feminine experience
and that men can never experience bleeding without it being linked to injury.
There's something subversive about touching blood that comes from one's
own body that is, by no means, a sign of harm to the body. It places one
in a different relationship to blood. Also, I enjoy observing how the color
and consistency changes over the course of the period. And, I use my period
as a marker of time: "this happened since my last period. I was having
my period when I visited that place. I will probably be having my period
when I'm there..." Now I'm much more excited by the organic "I'm
a woman" qualities of bleeding regularly! Of course, though, I think
feminine hygiene products should be free, if not at least tax free, a pretty
good reason for revolt!
To me my period means monthly cramps and another thing I have to deal
with as a woman.
The meaning of my period has changed a lot in the last few years. I've
really come to value it. Sometimes I'm still bothered by it but most of
the time I see my bleeding time a time of focusing inward and meditation.
I was really influenced by a book I read on the power of menstruation,
and I no longer feel that my period is a "curse" but rather a
powerful time when I connect with being a woman.
It's an endless cycle, every month revolves around having it and then
about to be getting it again. But it doesn't bother me that much, except
for the bloating and the ruined underwear.
My period primarily means to me that I am not pregnant. But I think
I do feel more "natural" that week -- not because I'm menstruation,
necessarily. Rather, because that's the one week each month in which I'm
not putting artificial hormones in my body (I'm on the pill).
The meaning of my period has changed a lot in the last few years. I've
really come to value it. Sometimes I'm still bothered by it but most of
the time I see my bleeding time a time of focusing inward and meditation.
I was really influenced by a book I read on the power of menstruation,
and I no longer feel that my period is a "curse" but rather a
powerful time when I connect with being a woman.
The fascinating thing about menstruation is that it changes with time. This is something I did not know when I got my first period. My period has changed quite a bit over the twelve years I've had it, and friends of mine who are older say theirs have continued to change as well. Sometimes I feel like a researcher, trying to detect patterns in the cycle. And if you think about it, women probably do more research and understand more about their cycles than gynecologists, because so little formal research has been done.
I couldn't believe it when I was talking to my gynecologist about cramps
and she said that medical science doesn't know what causes them. It seems
that should be an easy question to figure out.
As my period has changed, my relationship to it has changed. I have
always liked my period. When I see it begin each month, it is like an old
friend. I enjoy the way my cycle repeats each month, and I like how aware
it makes me of my body. I think when my period first began it was a fairly
light flow. As I entered my teens the flow became fairly heavy. I only
experienced very minor cramps as a teenager, and I didn't understand what
all the fuss about cramps was. When I was about twenty I began to get strong
cramps. I have never liked aspirin much, but after trying herbal teas and
massaging with no improvement, I became a firm believer in ibuprofen.
Now it is often just a pain, something I have to deal with. Sometimes
it's a relief, an explanation why I haven't been feeling so good. I doubt
I'll miss it when I reach menopause, although its absence correlates with
aging so perhaps I will. It's also expensive. Sometimes it seems like a
good excuse to pamper yourself.
Since my mid- twenties my period has progressively become more of a
pain in the ass. First of all, I was on the pill for several years here
and there, and the pill makes your flow extremely light. I barely even
thought about my period. But now it's really heavy and I have to wear super
tampons and panty liners for the first three days, Also, the first three
days bring cramps that would probably knock me down if I wasn't already
curled in a ball, clutching my stomach with my eyes bugging out of my head.
Maybe even worse, because it affects getting dressed and my ability to
behave socially, is the bloating and weird pokey stomach pains that accompany
cramps. Yup, all around fun.
When my period starts I think "good, I'm not pregnant". Then,
its just a drag. I've never really dealt with it. I try to pretend it doesn't
exist. I refuse to buy all the "feminine products" made to help
us cope. I certainly will not miss it when its gone. On the flip side when
friends are menstruating with me it can become a bonding experience. Then,
I don't dislike it as much.