My relationship with my period has been unhealthy, often riddled with embarrassment, shame and the fear of a perpetual blood patch between my bum cheeks.
It’s been twenty something years that we have been together, and still it surprises me on the monthly. Sometimes it’s volatile, with floods of blood overflowing my diva cup accompanied by disabling cramps, while other times, it shows up without warning and disappears before I have even realized its arrival. Still, it’s a constant in my life.
If you have ever shed uterine lining, you may know what I’m talking about. You, my dear reader are not alone, yet somehow it seems as if the world implies that we are. It feels like, at least in my society, that menstruation is taboo. The ability to talk about periods as a regular life occurrence seems restricted, or rather hushed. It’s not apart of the conversation, yet, my colleagues can talk about the colour of their child’s defecation at our lunch table (which I find is much grosser). So, go figure.
Why aren’t we talking periods? Why is there any misunderstanding or shame regarding our monthly shed? It is simply uterine lining. It’s only the body’s natural way of preparing for life. In fact, it’s essential to all human life. Don’t you think?
Let’s do some math people. (I LOVE MATH!!) In a lifetime, Rag Week attenders spend on average 10 years summed up menstruating (Figure pulled from a random internet source.). I also crunch the numbers myself in a follow up post. THAT’S like 10% of our life, if we live to be 100, and even more if we die sooner. That’s a butt load of time. And get this, people with uteruses, make up like only half of the population. Therefore, only like 50% of the world spends roughly 10% of their life menstruating. And for that half of the population, there’s a whole load of issues, or health concerns regarding menstruation. (A figure on this would be so awesome right now. If you have one, please send it in.) So why aren’t we constantly talking about menstruation?
I have a few questions regarding this. Is the lack of conversation a form of oppression? Is it a form of control? Should people with uteruses not have the right to fully understand and talk about their bodies? Or, do we just get squeamish talking about blood?
What I want to explore in this blog is the why? Why aren’t we talking periods? Why is there any misunderstanding or shame regarding our monthly shed? It is simply uterine lining. It’s only the body’s natural way of preparing for life. In fact, it’s essential to all human life. Don’t you think?
With this blog, I want to talk about periods- the whole picture. I want to talk about all that’s good, all that’s wrong, all that’s funny and all that’s unique to each of us. Let’s explore our bodies, readers. I want this blog to serve as a place of information and understanding. It’s time to move away from “squeamish” and “taboo” and instead, towards openly discussed. It’s time to make reproductive organ talk as common as gossip! Let’s empower each other and share our stories. What’s yours?