total opinion question

[misstiff.livejournal.com]

Okay. This is a total opinion question, but I'm just not sure who else to propose the thought to.

I have just recently been reading the book "CUNT" (I'm currently half-way through..but had to stop reading it for a bit) and reading it has put alot of ideas in my head. (for anyone who hasn't read this book, it's all about being cunt-loving and stopping male-run companies from profiting off our bodies.) I currently own, use and love my Divacup, which makes me feel like I have taken a good step in the cunt-loving department. but I am on BC (for no real reasons other then personal choice. No extreme cramps, irregular periods, or sex.) and reading this book has made me rethink being in tune with my body, which BC can really prevent. Hmm, from what I have written it sounds like I have basically decided to go off my BC... but I am a bit worried, I have been on it for 2 years and I took one month off for kind of similar reasons and I ended up freaking out, not knowing when my period was going to show up or anything.

I guess I am just asking what you girls think. Are you really out of touch with your body if you are taking a hormone everyday? Does the good out weigh the bad? I have one week of placebo pills to decide wither to open the new pack or not. I know it's my decision... but just wondered what you guys thought. (Sorry about the length)

Comments

[leeann-marie.livejournal.com]

I love Cunt (I even went so far as to create cunt_discussion), but I'm on birth control (the NuvaRing, specifically). For me, the good does outweigh the bad, period. I spent my entire menstruating life prior to the Ring dealing with terrible cramps that nothing (not even "just hanging with the moon") could help, and the thought of getting pregnant at my age (17) is completely terrifying to me. The Ring stopped my cramps & obviously helped with my fears of pregnancy. I feel both better and safer now that I'm on it, and, though I do have some qualms about messing with my body's natural chemistry, I truly feel like it's the best option for me at the time, and I would say I still feel as in touch with my body as I did before I started on it.

I know that isn't the greatest defense against Muscio's arguments, but it's working the best for me now. It sounds like you've got no real reason to stay on it, though, so maybe it would make sense for you to go off it. Me, I'm staying on, at least for now...

- ♥ -

[heavenisnearyou.livejournal.com]

Hanging with the moon? What's that mean?

[misstiff.livejournal.com]

The book/author suggests this entire theory that "hanging with the moon" can aleviate any problem you have with your body... cramps, irrigularity. What actually entails "hanging with the moon"? As far as I've read is just paying attention to the cycles of the moon, even keeping a chart or buying a lunar calender.

(sorry about my spelling, I think it's time for bed.)

thanks for all the replies. you guys rock!

[heavenisnearyou.livejournal.com]

I think you should try it. At least for experimental purposes. But give yourself time to adjust before comparing (I'm sure you will!) I've never taken BC, but I would imagine it does change a woman (whether the change is significant enough to notice, IDK.)

[achtungbaby.livejournal.com]

although i havnt read the book, i'd still like to toss in an opinion.

i would rather stay on the pill and have that peace of mind that i know when my period will come. i am on the pill myself, and i feel very in touch with my body. plus, there are health benefits from taking the pill as well.

[crayolaab.livejournal.com]

There are still possible negative health effects as well.

[achtungbaby.livejournal.com]

true, but i still feel that the good outweigh the bad.

[silvertipwings.livejournal.com]

haven't read the book, but i'm generally uber-aware of my body... i've recently started yasmin to control debilitating pms cramps/pain/etc. i don't think taking the pill necessitates being out of touch with your body. many women use it as an excuse for such, but there's no real reason you can't adjust and learn to read your body while it's on the pill.

[--heartattack.livejournal.com]

sorry but isn't that just holier-than-thou bullshit? i thought feminism was about saying that as women, we should be allowed & trusted to make our own decisions about our bodies?

i take birth control and while it's not natural or organic or spiritual or whatever, i defy anyone to tell me that i'm not in touch with my body.

[misabaconpants.livejournal.com]

Amen.

[--heartattack.livejournal.com]

(:

[bi-ballerina.livejournal.com]

I absolutely adore that book!
I have gone off bc because I don't like how my body acts while I am on it. I have experienced some pressure from health care professionals to be on the pill, and i don't like that at all. it feels like a societal push for all young unmarried women to be on birth control. I wasn't asked what method would be right for me. I have been very careful using condoms, and I have ec in my bathroom, just in case. And that is what feels right for me.
a year ago I felt way more comfortable using the pill.
I use the keeper, which is much liek the divacup. . .I like being able to see my menses come out of me that way. . .it gives me a deep connection to my cycles. I also notcied that my blood is quite different when on bc. It changes its content. I don't like that.
I understand the benefits of the pill. . .it helps with ovarian cysts, heavy periods, cramps, and is a great method of birth control.
I think it is so important for women to have access to methods to control their reproductive systems. . .its so important.
I don't like anything being pushed on me though. . .I decide what's right for my body. . .and I think that it what Cunt is all about.
(I love the word cunt. . .and use it as often as possible in a positive way)

[snapdragon-666.livejournal.com]

I'm awaiting my period so i can take my pills. I have highly irregular periods because i have cysts on my ovaries, which the pills are supposed to shrink. So for me, the pill most definitely will be worth it, once i get round to taking it.

I'm not at all out of touch with my body. On the contrary, i guess being able to control your cycle, as many women do, would mean you are very much in touch.

[aster13.livejournal.com]

As you say, it's a highly personal choice, but, personally, i am really quite anti-hormone BC.
I don't believe it is possible to be as in tune with your own cycles whan you are on the pill - because you don't have periods. You have withdrawal bleeds.
There are times when (in my mind) it can be "the lesser of two evils", in some situation where there was an extreme reason for taking them (ie absolutely not possible for a pregnancy to happen).
Your mucous production, your moods, your apetite, your sexual apetite, your weight, your blood and so many more things are affected by this sledgehammer of synthetic hormones, in short, i think they are really bad news.
I was on the pill, many moons ago for about 6 months or so, but i hated it.

[ethuil.livejournal.com]

I absoloutly love that book. I do agree with the idea that taking BC could make you feel out of touch with your body. I have never taken BC pills but this is mainly because I dislike taking any medication at all.

Personally I think it's highly individual. If you don't feel that you want to take the pills then don't take them, because taking them would then make you unhappy and that's not what you want. Trust your body and go with your gut feelng :)

[thesweetheart.livejournal.com]

I'm a person who is very aware of her body (always know when my period's coming, and even have something where I can FEEL when I ovulate -- it's pretty cool, really). Recently, I started thinking I was pregnant, and even though people swore up and down that I wasn't (including my fiance), it turned out I was. I knew the night it happened. Long story short, I ended up getting an abortion, and am on birth control right now. I don't necessarily feel as if I am *as* in touch with my body, but I'm still very careful to listen to it, and still know what's going on. My vote is you give it a try -- if you don't like it, you can always get back on the pill...

[majorfred.livejournal.com]

Sounds like this post, or some of the replies, got taken a little personally. I think she was asking so she could hear all sides and make an informed decision. I don't think anyone needs to defend thier choices. I didn't see any choices challenged. I'm on hormonal BC, prolly will be till menopause, but I do feel more in touch with my body's cycles and hormonal ups and downs and such without it. I also take other drugs that alter my hormonal secretions, and I feel more in touch with what my body is doing when I'm not on those. To qualify, I am in touch with my body still, in that I can definitely feel what the meds are doing in there, but I do feel the flow is more natural without them.

And to be realistic, it is more natural, because its what your body does on its own. Of course, what your body does on its own might be not so good, and may need tweeking, and thank goodness we have the technology to allow that. So, I remain on hormonal birth control, and am in touch with my body, and with what the meds alter within it.

[shmi85.livejournal.com]

I tend to find that a lot of women who are very highly anti-hormonal BC are a little rude about it. I'm not trying to insult anyone who's posted thus far, because everyone's been very positive and I'm also not trying to insult the book, which I haven't read :)

But I certainly have noticed a lot of women who think that anyone willing to stoop to using hormonal birth control is less of a woman, and has somehow given into this male-dominated society that convinces every female over the age of 12 to get on birth control, has lost touch with her body and is simply ignorant of the evils of birth control. Many women who are activists against BC are very positive about it but I've educated myself about many of the negative side effects of birth control myself and I don't enjoy being talked down to by this small minority of women =P

I am 18 and I got on birth control this May. Previous to taking steps to get on it by myself, no doctor had ever suggested that I go on birth control. I personally found the entire thing (making the appointment at Planned Parenthood, going there by myself, filling the prescription myself) a very affirming and liberating act. I felt like I was being proactive in protecting myself from pregnancy and that I was taking steps to make sex the kind of experience I wanted it to be (my boyfriend and I lost our virginities to each other shortly after I went on the pill. Neither of us are particularly fond of condoms for personal reasons).

So anyway, for me the pill is a very positive experience. If you feel uncomfortable on it, then get off it :) I don't agree with the philosophy that all women on birth control have lost touch with their bodies, however, and think it's just another way for people to scare women away from a possible choice.

[ourika.livejournal.com]

I don't believe that all women on birth control have lost touch with their bodies. I'm not fond of hormonal birth control, but I do think that it has some very good uses (cramps, heavy bleeding, menstrual migraines, irregularity, endo, PCOS, birth control, and if she so desires, the convenience that hormonal birth control can provide to some women). I do think that while a woman is on hormonal birth control, there's no reason not to skip periods (after all, they're hormonally induced withdrawal bleeding, not actual periods brought on by ovulation that passed without an egg being fertilized). I also think that while a woman's on her "period" while on hormonal birth control, her choosing to take time to celebrate her body is great.

That being said, I personally find it silly and hypocritical for a woman on hormonal birth control to say that she's in tune with her body's *cycles* since she has artificially induced her body's cycle thus she's not in tune with her body's cycle, she's in tune with a cycle that she's forced on it.

I feel very, very strongly about this topic. While I'm not anti-hormonal birth control, I think it's over used and over pushed. I think that it is a shame that a lot of women do use it just for convenience and don't explore other options that are available to them. That doesn't mean that I don't think that this option should be available to them. I do think that they have EVERY right to take it. And, in some instances, it's the best possible option.

Once I started going to regular gynecological exams at 18 (at PP because I had no insurance) until I got my IUD from my current gyno, I left every single "women's health" visit from every women's clinic, school health clinic, planet parenthood, and regular gynecologist with a lecture about how I should get on birth control. At one point, I was dating women exclusively and they wouldn't let me leave without a prescription of birth control in case "I changed my mind" or "something came up" so I'd be covered. I finally convinced them after 30 minutes of arguing that my girlfriend couldn't get me pregnant but if they insisted that I leave with some form of birth control, I'll take condoms but not their hormonal prescription (since they fill the prescriptions for birth control on site, I didn't want to take perfectly good pills that someone else could use and then just throw them out when I left).

So I'm not sure if this means that I fall into the category of a woman who is rude about being anti-hormonal birth control or not.... I am vehement, but I don't consider myself rude.