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

[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...