Hello ladies!!
I thought i would share some information about menstruation that i pray will be helpful to some of you out there. This is the knowledge someone should have given us but that was conveniently omitted from sex ed class. And then, in my typical style of pompous philosophying, i will share some thoughts on our society's understanding of femaleness in general. Here goes:
First, let's talk cycles. A menstrual cycle is the length of time from the first day of your period until the day before you start again. They are on average 28 days long and everyone's is different.
[Women used to all menstruate together, often during the new moon back when people lived tribal lifestyles.]
I highly recommend charting your cycle if you haven't. Just write down the date that you start your period for a few months in a row. It's that simple! You can add how you feel and chart that and find out when you ovulate and add it in. Understanding your body, mind, and emotions like this and not thinking you're crazy or unbalanced is energetically important. You are balanced perfectly. You are supposed to be a complex person!
Now, here is what you might not know: when your body can and cannot get pregnant during your cycle.
Yes, it's true! If you are smart about it, you don't need the pill or any of those arm implants et cetera.
Did you realize that one of the most common side effects of hormonal birth control is that it lessens or eliminates sex drive? Think about that. People take a pill so that they can do something that the pill makes them not even want to do anymore. Crazy huh?
So you can only get pregnant for the first approximate 15 days of your cycle. After that, nope, no chance. Your chance is highest around ovulation (when your egg drops) and is possible before that, but after you drop the ovum, it is over for the month. Go wild; only thing to worry about is STD's.
This is called the family planning or rhythm method of birth control and it has been used forever by women who either had no other method available or whose religious beliefs did not permit other methods.
DID YOU KNOW? Women are born with all the eggs they will ever have!
Next Period Piece: products to stem the tide. Tampons and pads are the best options available right? Wrong! At least in my opinion, a menstrual cup is far superior. I used to be skeptical too. But i have been using a menstrual cup (two actually) for about two years and i would never go back to tampons. Why? First, no waste. Better for the envoronment and your septic system and no worry about how the hell am i going to get rid of this bloody thing. Second, no cost. After the first purchase (around $16) you never have to spend money on your period again and you never have those oh no i dont have any tampons shit crap shit moments. And they leak less often because they hold more liquid so that's an obvious plus. What else? You can get a better feel for what your body is up to. And you can save the blood to, say, pour out on Mt Vesuvious if you're into that kind of thing.
BEST TIP EVER FOR USING MENSTRUAL CUPS: So i didn't learn this until i had already been using a cup for a whole year! The first year was a struggle getting my dang cup out of my vaginal canal. It was stressful as hell being in the bathroom for 20 minutes at times, my privates getting even sorer than they were and my thumbnails starting to bend backwards, working up a sweat, and having a worse anxiety attack than when i get stuck in a shirt in a dressing room. You know what im talking about. Anyway, i figured it out! What you do is - you push! I didnt even know i could do that and i dont remember how i figured it out - maybe in one of those bathroom panics, but that is the best kept secret of menstrual cups and im giving it to you. PUSH! It works. You're welcome.
A couple great books i have read that explore menstruation are New Moon Rising, an amazing book about all of this and more that is steeped in Native American wisdom and the belief that it is truely an honor to be female. Highly recommended for anyone! And also, The Red Tent, a book i would certainly suggest to any woman with a strong background in christianity or judaism or one who loves historical fiction. It is the beautiful retelling of a classic old testament story from the point of view of the women. And there is a book called Sex, Time, and Power: How Female Sexuality Shaped Human Evolution by Leonard Shlain, a total genius. That book is one if the most brilliant books i have ever read. Powerful books for women, about women, all three of them.
Now for the theory aspect. Im going to talk about feminism for a moment and then bring that back to the topic of menstrual cycles. I have always identified as a feminist. Even now, when feminism pushes ideologies that are directly opposed to what i think the world needs, i still identify as one. Maybe it's because i think i understand better than they do and therefore i deserve the title more. Maybe it's because of the respect i have for the strong women of the past who fought so hard for us, now.
What feminism and i have i common is that we both think that women in our world deserve more respect than they get. From there on though, we tread different ideological territory. Feminists posit that women are equal to men and that gender doesn't matter in the upkeep of our economy. In this sense, they take women down the mechanical route toward our future, where everyone is an androgynous robotoid on a assembly line, no sexual tension and no creativity in sight. I, on the other hand, posit that women are different than men, that with a feminine touch the economy, the enviromemt and the world might be in better shape, and that gender is a vital part of a dualistic universe. I want to help lead women on the natural route toward our future, where people are encouraged to know and understand themselves and where women and men balance each other and take care of each other as partners here on earth. Feminists laud the pill as the great equalizer in that it removes the "struggle" of a menstrual cycle and all the emotions and mind changes that go with it. I say that cycles and emotions and changes in mind are exactly what we need! Stop diagnosing nature as flawed and trying to medicate it, you money-hungry pharmecutical freaks! I think they are afraid to hear us ROAR -
which they should be!!
When Native Americans emerged from the women's menstrual tent, they shared with the community the insights that they had gained during their special time. I pray that one day our society will respect women and womanhood that much again! Can you imagine?
Let me know your thoughts and opinions. Hopefully this gave you a few new things to roll over in your mind.
And on a related note, stay tuned for my thirteen month calendar!
Thanks for reading and happy bleeding!
-Amanda