My theory about why we menstruate has always been that it is nature's
way of training us to endure pain so that we wouldn't go jumping off of
cliffs when we went into labor.
We used to make an upside down triangle with our hands and hold it over
our stomachs. This meant "Sisterhood of the Womb." We started
doing it as a signal that we were menstruating, but we ended up using it
whenever we heard about women doing something cool, or just as a bonding
thing.
I dream a lot more during my period, or at least my dreams are more
vivid. The dreams I have the night before my period starts can be really
wild. They don't seem to be about my period, but they are super-charged,
and so I remember them. I wonder why this is, and if it happens to anyone
else.
I wish we as women talked more about our periods, in public and with
each other. It's a big part of every woman's life, but it is hardly ever
mentioned. I'm glad I have friends who I can talk about it with, I think
it brings us closer. I have also begun to be more frank about it with the
general public, so that, for instance, if I bag out of some social affair
because I have cramps and I'd rather be home, I don't say "I don't
feel well tonight" or "I have a headache" or whatever. Instead
I say "Sorry, I've got bad cramps tonight. I'd rather stay home."
It was hard to say this to men at first, but now I'm used to it. They are
always very understanding. What surprises me is when women look at me blankly
and say "cramps? what kind of cramps?". I guess they don't expect
anybody to talk about IT in public.
"Feminine hygiene products" should not cost so much. Each
tampon or napkin probably only costs a couple of cents to make, and they
charge something like five dollars a box. I wonder if this could go on
if we were not so reluctant to talk about menstruation in public.
I think there should be some way for our culture to remove the "taboo"
of menstruation. What is one of the most embarrassing things about periods?
(usually as a young girl or perhaps even as an adult): bleeding through.
Oh my god, what a nightmare. And sex: sex on a period is (for some) better
but so many MEN are afraid of women on their period (often claiming messiness
to be a deciding factor). And don't you remember the dread associated with
having to buy tampons at the checkout when a guy was at the register? Of
course this general state of taboo seems to apply to most bodily excretions
..but I got over being embarrassed about buying toilet paper long before
I started my period.
I really think that young women need to be educated about menstruation
and how powerful this lifeblood is. Rather than try to hide it and have
an adverse relationship to it, young girls should be taught that menstruation
is nothing to be ashamed of and nothing to feel dirty about. Young girls
should be able to undergo some kind of initiation as they pass into womanhood.
In a nutshell, that is what I think. Of course it's much more complex than
that but I think societal attitudes toward menstruation need to change.
I'm really interested in the ways that menstruation serves as a subject
for bonding among women and also the ways that menstrual products are marketed.
In private, its an enriching process, a common experience on some level,
which provides a sort of common culture for women, but in public, menstruation
is used both to shame women and to trap them in their biology.
I think its nice to be pampered when you have your period. My stepmother
would buy me all the 'sanitary supplies' which made me feel like my period
was special.
You know how women used to say "Aunt Martha is visiting" when
they had their period? Well, I think they were right to think of it as
a visitor. When I treat my period like a guest, it goes better for me.
What I mean is I make time for my period just like I would make time for
someone who was coming to visit, and I do whatever my visitor wants to
do, like take naps, or eat lots of chocolate.