(no subject)

[babybloodheart.livejournal.com]

Do you think menstruation should be approached with apathy or celebrated?
This seems to have come up a few times online over the past few days so thought I’d ask for opinions here, I do not mean on a personal level, although I do understand for some women it is far from celebratory, I would like a more cultural opinion. It is just another bodily function, however I personally think with all the changes of the body during this time, the reason for this occurring as well as what could come of it, and issues in terms of social attitudes towards menstruation in the past that it should be something approached as something more than just a bodily function. Thoughts?

Comments

[lubedpumpkin.livejournal.com]

I think it's your body's way of punishing you for not makin' babies.

Heh. But I can see the cultural implications - in first world countries its generally the punishment thing, but in countries with more culture they definitely do respect it as something valuable and very intimate. Which it is, really..

Things that are cyclic (phases of the moon, for example) are generally revered in cultures as something related to the magic of nature. Having something in the body that is cyclic does the same thing, brings women to feel closer to nature and animals, since it's something that all mammals do.

[snapdragon-666.livejournal.com]

Personally, it really is just something that happens. Mine's irregular so it's always a pain. I never quite understand why people refer to their period as a person, or say it makes them feel more feminine. I feel feminine when i'm not menstruating because i'm female, suprisingly. I think it's kind of like a man saying he feels more masculine when he's got en erection.

As the first person who commented said, it's nature's way of getting you to have children. Thousands of years ago (and this probably still happens in some societies), women would rarely have periods because they'd usually be pregnant. So if anything, to me it makes me feel like i'm wasting time. Only if i think about it though :)

[uber-wench.livejournal.com]

Celebration! Menstruation is really fucken cool if you think about it. We are the only animal really who doesn't bleed during ovulation, and we're in season all the time. I like to think that the stuff my uterus is shedding could have supported new life. I was rather apathetic when I first got my period--I felt betrayed because it was the final proof that I wasn't goign to grow up to be a boy. Now I love my period, even thought he rollercoaster of emotions and the cramps and everything can be nasty.

It's good to menstruate. I think it's very cleansing.

[snapdragon-666.livejournal.com]

Whoops. sorry, i re-read! You didn't want a personal opinion. I feel silly now! :/

[maiden-midwife.livejournal.com]

I really think that if menarche were celebrated in our culture that women would not have such a hard time with it. By that I mean it would not be so painful or annoying. This is a mindset that we have, based on Judeo-Christian teachings. We are taught that menstruation is a curse brought on by Eve partaking of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. It is part of God's punishment of Adam and Eve for disobeying Him. Menstruation makes Eve dirty and unclean, it is a mark of her sin.

In modern American culture we are taught to keep it a secret. We are given disposable products so that we can throw away the evidence of it. We are told that we smell bad, and that we are unsanitary when we are menstruating. We are taught to believe it is inconvenient.

Picture instead a young girls peers performing a ceremony to celebrate her womanhood after she experiences menarche. Picture her being given gifts and receiving advice about the responsibilities and wonders of being a woman. During her menses a woman is considered to be at the height of her power. Picture menstrual products as sacred objects that collect the most fertile fluid that flows from her body. She now has the power to bear new life into this world.

The treatment of women with respect to menstruation is a direct result of male superiority and male domination. Making menstruation bad, devalues women's creative power.

How would things be different if menarche were celebrated instead of treated as a curse?

[skeptictank.livejournal.com]

All I can say is that you're totally right about how we're taught that it's icky & inconvenient. I also think it's funny to observe how men handle the whole process.

I had some male teachers in high school that you could pull ANYTHING on if you were female (skipping class, leaving to roam the halls, late homework, etc) by simply waving a tampon at them. Any mention of PMS and they'd go red in the face & mumble, "do whatever...I just don't wanna hear about it."

It's not scary, boys! We don't turn green and sprout horns! We don't practice voodoo from the privacy of our bathrooms and we don't plan to drug or kidnap anyone or anything with our fancy pain relievers. I

[maiden-midwife.livejournal.com]

If we are taught that it is icky and inconvenient, why can't we un-teach ourselves that? Why can't we work to replace that negative image with something positive? That's what I want to do. As a future midwife I can educate other women and teach them to pass it on to their daughters...

Most of the men I am friends with are not like that at all. One even keeps tampons in his car in case any of his female friends might have need of them. I was actually perplexed when I met a man who totally freaked when I mentioned tampons. I later found out that he grew up in a house full of step-sisters who menaced him with their soiled menstrual products. That makes it a little more understandable, but I still told him he needs to get over it!!

[skeptictank.livejournal.com]

Yeah this community is a godsend. I live with two females (mom & sister) but I'm not real friendly with them and I had few female friends to discuss these things with. So I really appreciate everyone here being SO sweet & helpful & supportive.

And this is totally foreign to me, but my boyfriend is completely fascinated by how the female body operates and is always asking me questions about this stuff. Things, I should mention, that most of my guy friends through my life would rather be oblivious to.

It's so cute; he always wants to know what's different about this type of tampon and this type of pad, how I feel when I'm PMSing, how heavy or bothersome my flow is on a particular day, how much it costs me to cater to this phenomenon...I think he lives to be apathetic to other people's situations and wants to be involved in my stress and discomfort just as much as I am each month. And I laughed when you mentioned your friend with tampons in his car, because when Kevin & I were first dating, I went rifling through his glovebox in search of his proof of insurance for some reason, and turned up not one, but THREE different varities of sanitary napkins lurking among the paperwork. "Just in case," he says, "I like to be prepared."

[maiden-midwife.livejournal.com]

That's great about your bf! LOL It makes me feel good to know that there are guys out there that will never be able to truly understand what we are going through but try their hardest to show us that they want to be supportive and will go so far as to make sure we are not stranded without a pad/tampon.

[skeptictank.livejournal.com]

Exactly! Now THAT is a man worthy of my heart.