Menstruation - common misconceptions

[lilliesnremains.livejournal.com]

Hey all, if this isn't allowed, go ahead and delete it, but I read the rules it it didn't say no, so here goes.

I'm taking a human sexuality class this semester in college, and while i was originally going to do my term paper and oral presentation on "Female sexual abuse and later sexual dysfunction" i have since changed my mind and decided to do "Menstruation-How society views coming of age".

Here's where you guys come in. I have a basic outline of thing I want to talk about in the oral presentation portion, one of which are common myths associated with getting your period, or images displayed by the media. I'm looking for stories of your first time, and how you felt. i'm also looking for how you felt the first time you used a menstrual cup for those of you who use them.
Also, any links you have floating around that you think would be helpful to either suggest to the class or for me to use information from for my presentation.

What i'm hoping is that not only will many people benefit here from this, but that i will be able to change some peoples' minds about it in my class (i'll be talking about things like menstrual cups, cloth pads, and having sex while a girl is menstruating).

(on a somewhat related note, how do you pronounced menstruation? 3 syllables or 2?)

Comments

[samisapirate.livejournal.com]

I got my period for the first time on January 10th 1998.
My mother and father had explained the "Joys of your body" thing to me at around 8 or 9 (when I started to grow breasts) because most people in my family are in the early bloomers club. So when I was 10 and in the basement bathroom I wasn't scared at all when I noticed that my cooter was bleeding. I just yelled "MOM, COME HERE." because I didn't know where she kept the "products." It was strange because she just KNEW. She came down the steps and said "What'djya get your period?"
I will NEVER forget getting my period for one reason. It's tradition in my mothers family to get a "nice" slap in the face from your mother the day you get it. I cried because I thought she was kidding when she told me during the "joys of your body" discussion.
My mom will only use pads, so up until about a year ago when I got a job that was all I used because I didn't have the money to buy my own supplies.
I'm Sam, 18 and from Northeastern, PA.

[kaelstra.livejournal.com]

(on a somewhat related note, how do you pronounced menstruation? 3 syllables or 2?)

It's actually four syllables.

men·stru·a·tion

[kaelstra.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah...my first period came on Christmas day when I was 11. Oh man was I bitter.

My mother actually demonstrated how to use tampons by using one on herself, and then asking me to show her "I got it" by putting my own in. I was horrified and said I didn't want to use those, and she got all mad and dragged me to the store to buy pads for me.

[atdelphi.livejournal.com]

I was nine years old the first time I got my period, and staying at my grandparents' house on vacation. I'd hit puberty hard at eight, so my mother had given me lots of talks about expecting my period - so many that it made me uncomfortable, and out of spite I never ended up telling her about it.

I cried. I was only in the fourth grade and already wearing a B-cup bra, had hairy legs and was starting to get my first pimples - not at all what any of my peers were dealing with yet, leading to the boys making fun of me and the girls resenting me; more, for all that she was a nurse, my mother didn't have the most healthy attitude, and dwelled overlong on pointing out the older men who were supposedly looking at me if I didn't wear my bra, and banning me from giving her any affection in public in case someone thought she was robbing the cradle instead of out with her daughter. I hated that getting your period represented growing up, because I wasn't ready to grow up just yet.

So I managed to deal with my first period by means of nothing but toilet paper, and guiltily threw out that first pair of soiled underwear. When I got back home, I started stealing pads from my mother and older sister when I needed them. Un/Luckily, it turned out that I have PCOS, so I only had to deal with having my period two or three times a year until I went on the pill at seventeen. Around thirteen or so, my mother asked me, "You /have/ gotten your period already, haven't you - or do I need to take you to the doctor?" and I admitted that I had, and nothing more was said on the matter.

I still don't like getting my period, and it irks me that most hormonal birth control pills make you have it for little or no reason, but I've learned to deal with it, I guess.

Robin, Canada, age 21

[yuhoo.livejournal.com]

I'm Yaira and will be 20 on June 11.

I first got my period at about 14ish...like 8th grade or so. I do not remember really for nobody said anything to me I did not even tell my mother. We are kinda a closed family for some reason. Anyway, it was normal for awhile, every month like clockwork exactly for a week with only mild pain and bloating etc.

Then in 10th grade so 15ish my period came...and never went away. That ... was...annoying to say the least. Like the pain went away but I did not stop bleeding for 4 months. I finally told my mom and she tool me to see someone at around the start of 11th grade. Well they did not know why that was happening so they put me on Yasmin to see if that would stop the bleeding. Well it did...only too much. I was not sexually active or anything but my period did not come for like almost 6 months so they switched me to double yasmin or... I do not even remember at this point. Long story short they finally got my body into a system with the Yasmin that worked and I had it once a month only...with tons of pain. Every since that I have hated my period. Before I thought nothing really of it. I would wear either pads or tampons. I would go about my day just with dome advil. As soon as they made me "normal" nothing but badness.

So I continued until last March like that until my body rejected the Yasmin and basically said "look...I do not care what you want...but I want to bleed like a slaightered cow for awhile...do deal with it" . Nomrally I would not care but I had pain all the time and everything. I was put on the Nuvaring, which I do love. But now there is another problem. I have endrometriosis. I have had it they say for probably like 3 years but nobody seemed to think to check for that. I swear I have the worst doctors. That is why now even when I am not mentrating I am in endless pain. To get through when I have my period I have to be on Motrin, Vicodin, and sometimes midol all at the same time. Otherwise I curl into a ball and cry simply because I feel as though I am being ripped open. I am having surgery this summer so maybe all of this will not be as bad. Because of my later experiences I hate having that time of the month. I used to be kinda happy about it. Hey look at me. I could have babies...if I did not think them annoying! Now I almost feel ashamed. It makes me feel as though something is just wrong with me and has basically ruiened my life at the moment. I am having issues with school, friends (because I am always so bitchy) etc and even my parents.

My father: Can't she just ignore it. I mean...who cares? How bad can it be? Not like her leg is broken.

Me: Gee thanks. So anyway. I decided to tell you that because maybe it can help in terms of how experiences can change your whole view on the subject to make you be proud to shameful...esp since even without the endometriosis issue I have had to go through endless pain and crap as they switch my meds and what not to make me be "normal". In our society your just a freak if you are not regular or something. I dunno...I also wanted to vent all of this sinced it has been getting to me and nobody in my family really cares.

Oh and it does not help that if your not old and have endometriosis or morbidly obese you're just a loser and should be killed apparently. *sigh* This whole period thing makes me seriously wish I was born a boy.

wow I feel better now.
sorry if that does not help and u still had to read it all.

You can use my name and whatever...not like anyone is going to say it right anyway ;P

[robynchick.livejournal.com]

If I condoned violence I would suggest kicking naysayers in the crotch and pointing out that their leg wasn't broken or anything. Can't he just get over it?

[crckz.livejournal.com]

I got my first period sometime late in grade 5 or early on in grade 6. I don't remember a lot of the details now, but I do recall being excited to get it, because we learned about stuff like that in school starting in grade 4 I think... but for some reason I wasn't fully aware that it was blood that comes out and that it lasts for days.... I don't know what I was expecting, but I believe I expected whatever it was that came out to come out only once when I went to the bathroom.. My mom also told my friend's mom that I got my period (our mom's are weird like that, I've learned a lot about what's going on in my friend's lives because our mom's talk), and apparently my friend had been having it for almost a year.
My first few times were ok, but when I got to junior high and high school, I had horrible cramps that usually made me throw up.. So then almost at the end of high school I got on birthcontrol.
I used pads for the longest time, then finally about last year (if even) I started using tampons primarily, and just a few months ago, I got my Diva Cup (which I love). For the Diva Cup, I had done so much reading about it (for almost a year) from this community and menstrual_cups, that I was pretty much prepared for everything when I got it, so it's been just a breeze for me..

[imindiaunajones.livejournal.com]

My mother called everyone she knew (I swear) and told them I had gotten it. Even my uncles!
I think that my mom did that too...because magically that summer, everyone in my family knew about it. I guess that's what I get for being the oldest child in the family. Haha.

[ohsillybeeks.livejournal.com]

Oh lordy, my first period was so embarrassing. I was 11, and it was the first day of 6th grade. I had felt vaguely ill all day long, though I couldn't really pinpoint it. I figured it was just a stomach bug and to keep on a cheerful face all day and not worry about it. Somehow I got through the day without ever going to the bathroom (besides the morning pee, of course). Once I got home, I had been riding on the bus for an hour and a half and now felt fully disgusting. My mom had made my favorite dinner of the time, but I felt so sick to my stomach that I didn't have an appetite. She suggested trying to go to the bathroom and see if I felt better, so I did- as soon as I pulled down my (formerly white) underpants, I started absolutely howling. They were just about black with blood. I had no idea what was going on- they had always told us that there would just be "light spotting" during your period! I had been waiting to see a few pink dots, not what looked like a veritable hemorrhage. It was horrid. So my mom comes running into the bathroom while I'm on the toilet (thank goodness my dad and brother had the presence of mind to leave me be) and she takes one look and is like "Oh. You got your period!" I was thinking what in hell she could be talking about, I clearly needed to go to the hospital. Finally, she got me calmed down enough to change my underwear and put on a pad and made me eat dinner with the rest of the family. I'm sure my dad and brother had by now figured out or been told what was going on, and thankfully they didn't say a word. God. It was horrible, though. Next day in school I was uber-self conscious, but I made it through, hehe.

I'm Rebecca, 21, from Philadelphia, PA.

[hkitsune.livejournal.com]

My great-grandmother (aaages ago, probably in the 20s?) got her period and thought she was dying so she sat out in the snow to try to stop the bleeding.

Dunno if that's the kind of misconception you're talking about, though.



I'm really surprised at how few girls use cups, though, considering they're about the best things ever. It bothers me that they're never advertised, but pads and tampons are EXCLUSIVELY.

[asfishlovewater.livejournal.com]

I started my period a few days after my birthday in 5th grade. Early January, I guess it must have been. That morning went something like this:
It started when I got up to pee that morning. My mom was in the shower at the time. I wiped and saw red. "Uh, Mom.... I think I started my period..." Mom peeks out of the shower curtian. "Oh my goodness! That's so exciting!"
She fixed me up with a pad meant for a woman much larger, who had had multiple children. Needless to say, it was a lot more pad than I needed. I believe there were a few phone calls to relatives and friends that morning. Later that afternoon, I was taken to get my ears pierced for the first time. My parents had always promised I could get them pierced when I started my period. I was also taken out to a remarkably fancy dinner. At one point my younger brother almost blurted out to the waitress that we were there because I had gotten my first period that morning. About a week later, my Mom threw me a menarche party. She is involved in a women's group, so they all came wearing red scarves and hats and all that stuff. I had a dress that I wore for a renn faire, which my mom had dyed red for me to wear. Everyone brought red presents: scarves, earrings, roses, candles, etc. They also all brought stories. We all sat at a table covered in feminine products, listening to music, eating snacks, and telling period stories. They even had a little ritual for me to welcome and bless my coming of age.

I feel very blessed to have had such a wonderful introduction given to me by my awesome mom. I am and actor and a dancer and very physically active. Aside from the days that have had me in bed and throwing up from the cramps, I have never minded my period at all. I now have eight piercings in my ears( two nipples too). I am also still a virgin, so I've never had sex while menstruating. However, I am on birth control to help with cramps, acne, and irregular periods.

Marion, 18

[swingkitten9.livejournal.com]

That sounds very Dharma & Greg, in a remarkable way. Heehee.

[-xdominox-.livejournal.com]

firstly, i had pretty good sex education, starting in grade 4, so I knew a lot of stuff about it already, wasn't shocked or anything.

Once when i was about...11? i went to the toilet, looked in and saw blood. i thought i had gotten my first period, my mum gave me a hug and a pad. Later i realised that I hadn't got it, and that my mother had just not flushed the toilet. *sigh*

i actually got it when I was 12, i was at a friend's place. I'd had cramps the night before, although I didn't realise that's what they were. I was woken up by them, went to the toilet and found blood on my undies. my friend already had hers, so she gave me some pads. we went to the beach, i stayed on the beach and built a sandcastle... and went to the toilet like every 2 hours to change, even though it was unnecessary, but that's what I'd read.

it took me a very long time before i used tampons. I tried in high school, because I was a competitive swimmer and waterpolo player. but I could never get it right! it finally happened in 12th grade, where I was getting ready for dancing... and just made it work.
that's all i have to say really!

[-xdominox-.livejournal.com]

oh, and I'm 19.

[queensugar.livejournal.com]

I was in grade 7 when I first got my period. It was on a ski trip with my school. On the second night of the trip, my best friend (a guy) asked, quite nervously and in a whispery voice, if I had gotten my period. I hadn't, and I told him I never wanted it.

The very next night, I went to change after skiing and there was a brownish stain all over my panties. My period had started. I wasn't scared; for some reason, I was angry.

I hated my period. I didn't want it. For the first six months, I dealt with it by stuffing a rag, or a wad of toilet paper in my panties. I didn't want to use a menstrual product, because I didn't want to admit that this was really my period.

I never told anyone in my family (mom, dad, siblings, anybody) that I got it. My mother (who had been menopausal for some time at that point) had a stash of freebie tampon and pantiliner samples that she had chucked under the bathroom sink... I started stealing those. Eventually, I'm sure she noticed.

I came to terms with it by the time I was in grade 10, and started managing to buy my own tampons.

To this day, I have no idea why I reacted so negatively. Some of my friends had had their periods and were proud of them; though at a young age I resisted all parental attempts to talk about puberty, my parents were never body-negative. I had four much older sisters who had been menstruating since I was born... I mean, I grew up surrounded with used pads and tampon wrappers.

And yet, something about it was so awful to me, so unwanted. It felt like an invasion of my body, a loss of control.

These days, I'm fine with it. I don't like it, and I'll never understand what many women find meaningful about it. But it's a neutral subject. It's just there. I'm very open about it with friends (not family... that's just off-limits) and my partner... I'll talk to ANYBODY about my periods... but to a certain extent, it will always be the thing that came into my body that I didn't want.

[girlofthemirror.livejournal.com]

I felt exactly like that about my period. I hated it and I just wanted it to go away. It's odd because now I actually think it's quite cool.

[swingkitten9.livejournal.com]

I was in 7th grade (now 20). I was in the bathroom one day, and I saw that my panties were bloody. Well, I had just read The Hot Zone, so I was convinced I had ebola and was going to die a slow, horrible death. ::sigh:: It's odd, considering I had good sex education starting in 5th grade.

[thecrimsondrago.livejournal.com]

First time I got my period..hmm..I was a little surprised, around the age of 13, but with all the health classes I had had in school, I knew what to do. Went and got a pad from my mother's bathroom cabinet, and was what most consider a woman that day. :P

The cramps. Midol fast became my best friend. My period has always been like clockwork. Every 28 days, for 7 days. Heavy the first 4 days, then moderate for 2, then light for 1. On the pill, It lasts about 4 days. Still like clockwork. Every thursday of my placebo pills. *laugh* (Is on it right now)

I guess I'm one of the lucky ones. No crippling cramps (save for one or two times) and no rediculous schedules.

To me, it sounds wierd, but a woman's period is like something every single one of us women have immediately in common. And oddly, it's the perfect conversation starter with friends.

"AW MAN I NEEDS ME SOME CHOCOLATE!"
"That time of the month huh, me too!"

Insert long conversation about ovaries here.

You get the idea. It's bad sometimes, but overall, there's no harm in someone having their period. It's not gross (within reason. Decency is good), it's normal. Not even any of the guy friends I have over a certain age find it disgusting anymore. (Unless, you know, they';re cleaning the women's bathrooms and someone leaves a tampon in the toilet. But -I'd- be grossed out at that.)

And I'll say this. If a guy is willing to make a midnight run to buy you tampons, he is definitely a keeper.

Lastly, sex on your period is possible. I do it everytime. *shrug* Not gonna lie, I get horny as a mo'fo. Normally when we're doing it it's not like the hoover dam or anything, there's no blood gushing everywhere, nah. *waves hand* It's not as gross or as bad as everyone thinks it is, really.

[thecrimsondrago.livejournal.com]

Oh. And I'm 20. 21 in August.

My tips for period sex (feel free to skip) are the same for any regular sex tips. In case something does surprise you stainwise, be ready to wash sheets/clothes. Just have a lot of tissues handy and run to the bathroom to clean up. It's no different from the usual post sex bathroom trip, with the exception of maybe a little blood. I also prefer to take a shower afterwards.

Basically the only difference between it and regular sex is that it's a lot less...travel friendly. The only time you can really do it is somewhere you're comfortable that you can clean up afterwards. Did I gross anyone out yet?

Bizarre misconceptions from sheltered girl

[grrl-next-door.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure if this is the kinda info you are looking for, but I enjoy telling people about my first period because I was a sheltered child with bizarre misconceptions.

I went to a private religious school where the sex ed was minimal. I remember it being mostly focused on pregnancy and prenatal development, and how to recognize and resist sexual abuse. There must have been some sort of mention of menstruation, but I obviously out or something.

A main misconception of mine is that I thought the period would be heavy (I pictured it like a running faucet!), and that the blood would be bright red (when seen on panties). However, my first few periods were VERY light, they didn't even go through my pants! And the blood on my underwear looked brown. When I first got this, I felt embarrassed. I had no idea it was my period, and my first thought was "I swear I wiped myself when I took a crap...." Then it continued for a couple days, and I was really wondering where it was from... like if I was having really messy farts or something. I had no clue, and I was too embarrassed to tell anyone. So then it went away.

I must also add a memory of seeing a teenage girl walking around naked in the changeroom of a recreation centre. I remember thinking "she looks older than me, she probably has her period". And I noticed she had a freckle/beauty mark on her vagina. Then I thought "ohhhhhhh, THAT's why they call it a period!!" (ie. "period" as in the dot at the end of the sentence). I thought that you'd get a freckle on your vagina (the "period") to "mark" that you have started your period.

So the next time my period came back, my mom came to my bedroom door and told me she did my laundry and noticed I had my period. I was totally confused and in denial, checked in my pants and told her "no I don't, I don't have the freckle". She's was pretty amused, needless to say.

Umm some other misconceptions I had were thinking I'd have a stinging pain (I didn't understand that blood was coming from a hole that was already there, I thought I'd get a "cut"). And I thought that the PMS symptoms would be totally horrible but I barely noticed anything the first year.

So bottom line... I think sex-ed is important, and preparing kids for the changes in their bodies. You need to tell them details and how they will feel.

~Stephanie, 20, Toronto ON

[girlofthemirror.livejournal.com]

I was completely terrified about the idea of getting my period. I knew what it was, I knew it wasn't a bad thing, but I was still petrified of the whole lot. I remember when I first learnt about it just being terrified that I'd start at Junior school, then terrified that I'd start in first year then the holidays and so on. I hated everything about puberty, I hated it when I grew or got hair under my arms and in my pubic area. I used to try and squish my breasts back in because I wanted them to just go away.

I was really late at the whole business and I didn't start my period until I was 15. I went to an all girls school and it was really quite open about menstruation and quite positive and I knew that most of my friends had already started. It was the first day back at school and I went to the loo and noticed brownish gunk on my knickers and rolled up some loo role and ignored it for a bit. I hated walking around with blood between my legs, so got some tampons from the machine (we had one at school, three cheers for my lovely progressive school, hip hip...) and used one of them after lunch. I didn't get it in far enough and it really hurt but there wasn't blood all over the place so I was much happier. The next one I used went in fine and I used tampons until six months ago when I bought a diva cup.

Once I actually had my period I got much less freaked about the whole thing and resigned myself to all the puberty stuff. I was to embarrassed to tell my Mum for days and days when I did she unhelpfully bought me pads (as she didn't like tampons) so I bought myself tampons all the time I lived at home. I got a divacup for environmental reasons; I really don't like the idea of all that cotton going in a landfill. It made me feel like I was saving the planet every time I had a period so that's nice!

I'm gay, and my girlfriend and I have sex when either of us our on our period she is quite shy about these things (I was before they started, but now I'm really relaxed and open about the whole deal) and it was never an issue. Our periods don't match up so we wouldn't be able to have sex for two weeks in a row. So not a good option!

I pronounce it men-stru-a-tion

[robynchick.livejournal.com]

Oh man I never thought of that 0_o
I've always dated guys so far so between the 2 of us there's only one period. Hopefully though, if you lived with your partner someday your cycles would synch up and then it wouldn't be as bad with timing.

I love my cup!

[jamieloulabelle.livejournal.com]

The first time I heard about 'the period' I was watching Roseanne over at my friends house. Darlene said something about getting her period and my friend (age 10 boy) said "what's a period?" and I said , "DUH, it's the dot at the end of a sentence". I kindly got shut down by my mother when she told me I was wrong and she would tell me about it later. She shortly then after bought me this book:



(I can't belive they still sell it)

I was about 8 when she got me the book and I got my period around age 12 at summer camp. I was wearing brightly 80's style striped knee length shorts (kid n' play style). I used pads...then tampons and only recently found out about the cup. I am so upset I didn't know about the cup. I tell every woman I know about it as well as print out fliers and hand them out at music festivals.

yeeeeeehaw for the cup!!!

[glassrose.livejournal.com]

No one told me it was brown. I didn't know I got mine because it didn't look like blood. I felt guilty when I got it and told my mom. She just told me how to use a pad. I had no idea how to open it or what was inside. She didn't say much about it but she wasn't mad about it. My dad was mad though and told me it was disgusting.
It also lasted 10 days so I feared that something was wrong with me, that maybe it wasn't a period and I was bleeding internally. No one told me the first time can last along time and be heavy. So bascially I wish someone would have told me so I wouldn't have been so scared.

[airuvande.livejournal.com]

I was 12 when I first got my period. Between my parents being really open about talking about this kind of thing with me and school, I had some idea what to expect. Although everything I saw and read was all super-feminine and "you're going to be a woman." Cue me screaming from the bathroom for my mom to bring me the "we know you'll need this sometime soon" stash of pads I'd careless tossed in my closet. So un-feminine :) (and I'm like that about it to this day. It's a thing my body does. it also digests food and sleeps. why the fanfare/secrecy?)

A lot of my friends in middle and high school would use it as an excuse to not do things (cramping or not), but I was very physically active for most of high school, including while menstruating. It wasnt until a sports-related injury forced me to be less active that I started cramping.

My only problem with sex while menstruating is that it's messy. I think a lot of guys are turned off by the sight of blood. But it feels great. It helps that I still use pads (at 24), so we don't have to worry about removing a tampon beforehand.

[siz-t.livejournal.com]

I got my first period when I was 13, I think. Either 13 or 14. Anyway, I was a bit behind all my friends, and I was looking forward to it just so the waiting would be over and I'd get the surprise element over with. :P My mum and I always had, and still have, a really open relationship and I knew exactly what to expect, but that still didn't keep me from being shocked when I woke up one morning and went to the bathroom and there was very faint red stuff on the toilet paper. I thought it might be my period, but couldn't be sure because there was nothing on my pyjamas and only a tiny bit on the paper, so I called my mum and asked her. She told me it was, congratulated me and gave me some pads for the day. I remember sitting in a maths exam a couple of days later, when it was heavier, and feeling it and thinking "wow, I'm bleeding, and no-one else knows, it's my little secret" and feeling sort of smug.

After much deliberation I got a cup about 2 years ago, and loved it. I could completely forget about it during the day, but then when I got home from school, taking it out to change it made me feel really connected to my own body, and positive about having my period. I've always thought of menstruation as a natural thing, and always felt very connected to nature etc, so using an environmentally friendly, natural product made it even better. However I don't use it for the moment because I live in uni halls of residence with no en suite bathroom (dammit) and I haven't quite got the confidence to sort it out in public bathrooms. Next year, though.

Best of luck!

(Sarah, 18, Birmingham UK)

[amazon-syren.livejournal.com]

Hi there, :-)

My first time was in... grade 10. So I would have been about 14, or maybe 15 (depends when in the year it was... I *think* it was before my birthday, but I can't remember).
I remember going to the bathroom one day (second period?) and discovering this pinkish-reddish stuff in my underwear.
My reaction was to tilt my head to side and think:
"How interesting".
And then use toilet paper to sop it all (what little there was -- I am not, and never have been, a heavy-bleeder) up.

I didn't tell my Mom. (I did steal her pads for a couple of months, however).
I didn't tell her because... well, this was mine! I wasn't about to share it with someone I didn't get along with very well.
(That was around the time that I was referring to her as "my father's wife", jsut to give you an idea. ;-)

But.
I'd always known what periods were (so clearly my Mom was not that bad). When I was little, I called them "blood periods", and my mom had to sort of hammer it into my head to "just call it your period, okay?" but I knew what it was, and why it happened, and all that other stuff from when I was a little kid. (That didn't stop me from *totally* freaking out during the 'health class' in grade six, where we actually had to talk about this stuff out loud. I was a *mess* in that class. I had to leave, I was *that* uncomfortable...)

I remember my sister finding out that I'd already got my period and sort-of freaking a bit because she'd been meaning to ask our mom when you're supposed to start counting your cycle-days from (is it 28 days from period-day-1 to period-day-1, or 28 days from period-day-7 to period-day-1? -- Answer: Depends on the person and, often, the emotional-state they're in, from cycle to cycle), and she was scard to death that our mom would think that she was asking *for me*, since she (Mom) didn't know I was bleeding yet... Which was when I finally told her (Mom) that I'd already got my period. (Which explained where her pads had been going. ;-)

It took me quite a while to get up the nerve to buy my own pads (and then tampons, later... I was really scared about using them, being a virgin at 19 and all, and not remotely comfortable with sticking *anything* inside me). Now I'm totally comfortable with them (except when they chafe and catch, but that's another story). :-)

I don't use a cup (yet -- it's on my 'buy soon' list... I'm taking the plunge! ;-) but I decided to use OB tampons because (a) lack of excess packaging/aplicators = less junk going into the land-fills, and (b) the plastic-wrap doesn't tear in your bag (I have a fairly irregular period, so I'm never *totally* sure when it's going to show up. Thus I always have stuff on-hand. :-)

Regarding "menstruation": I don't know if it's possible to pronounce that word using only two syllables... "men'strin"? Dunno. But... I tend to go for either "men-stroo-ay-shun" or a wierd hybrid of the two pronuciations, which ends up sounding a bit like "mens-terr/tar-ay-shun". Which is *completely* inaccurate, but still what comes out of my mouth. :-)

Re: Sex on your period: Well, as I said, I'm not a heavy bleeder, so really it's only the first three days (or sometimes day 2-3-4) where it would be *really* messy. Even then, on day 1 or 4, we can sometimes get away with doing it on a dark towel. :-)
I do find that I'm horny as hell during my period (possibly due to the extra lube, or the constant stimulation of the tampon-string, but also possibly because my gods! [TMI] the smell of fresh menstrual blood is just divine! Blood laced with hormones. Yummy! :-D Back when I was still using pads (and now, with tampons, although slightly less so), I'd just sit in the bathroom-stall for a minute and smell my own blood. Oh, how wonderful... :-)[/TMI]

More than you ever wanted to know, I'm sure. ;-)

MORE TO FOLLOW...

[amazon-syren.livejournal.com]

... THE FOLLOWING MORE




Mostly, I think our (Western) society views women's coming-of-age (I don't know about Men's coming-of-age at all!) as something that (physically speaking, anyway) we shouldn't talk about much. It's like those tampon ads that say "it's an ordinary day" -- prentend like you aren't on the up-curve of your hormone cycle, or have cramps, or are aroused by the way the bus is jolting, or what-have-you, and No matter what, don't let anybody know!)

There's a book called "Issues of the Blood" that you might be able to get through inter-library loans, or something...

Laws, Sophie. 1990. Issues of the Blood: The Politics of Menstuation. London: The MacMillan Press Ltd.

She's also done a book called Seeing Red: The Politics of Pre-Menstrual Tension which might also be of use. It touches on a whole bunch of stuff, including how we're currantly (in theory, in some instances) telling our daughters that "menstruation is a wonderful thing that should be celebrated -- but it's not actually appropriate to talk about it in mixed company because it's still something that should be hidden away out of sight".
What kind of mixed messages are young women getting now?

Oh, hey, random: One of the ladies in my Goddess Salon group did a paper on menstruation, and the nick-names for it are interesting.
Names like "the curse" or "the rag" or the other *very* negative ones emerged in the 50s and 60s. Before that, the words our grandmothers and great-grandmothers used were things like "the visit" or "the monthlies" or "Auntie Flo". Stuff that, even though it wasn't celebratory, was much less derogatory and... chilled-out.
I think this is interesting. (Any idea why that might be?)

Anywhoo. I think that's about it. :-)

Here's hoping your project goes well (and all my yammering fits into the comment-space available. ;-)

- TTFN,
- Amazon. :-)

[amazon-syren.livejournal.com]

Oh, and I'm Allison, I'm 26, I'm Pagan, and I'm in Ottawa, Canada. :-)

And my first period lasted a grand total of three days. (And required a grand total of three pads).

My second one didn't come for another six months. I think I only got two periods that year. :-)

And I had a regular (Full-Moon to Full-Moon) cycle once upon a time.
But only for about half a year. It randomly... de-randomized one day, and it was great (I actually had a clue about when I'd next be bleeding!).

One time, while I was in Toronto, this guy I'd met who was trying to develope his psychic abilities (sounds *so* flakey, I know) gave me a reading, and he said that he didn't see a husband/wife or any children in my future. [1]
I cried for five hours, all the way home from Toronto.
It was the Full Moon that night, and I'd been expecting to start bleeding on the greyhound bus. I didn't get my period for another two months, and it hasn't been regular since.
Wah.



[1]Granted, I'm getting hitched in a little over two months, so clearly he was wrong. :-)

[aprilstarchild.livejournal.com]

I just noticed this post, linked from another one, so I'm replying late. :^)

I'm April, I'm 26, and I live in Oregon.

My friends all got theirs way before I did. I was a late bloomer and hit every part of puberty late. When I was in eighth grade, most of my friends had gotten their period, and I was just starting to grow taller.

A few days short of my fifteenth birthday, I came home from school and went to the bathroom and there it was. I was more irritated than anything else, it was just something else I had to deal with.

I had worse cramps when I was younger than I do now, but whenever I'm not on the pill my cycle is between 28 and 31 days long...I get really tired the day before, and a headache the day I start, usually.

My mom didn't want me to start using tampons...so I bought them myself, a few months in. I want a cup, I've been using Insteads since my senior year of high school.