ferrousland.com - daily news archives
Thursday, September 28, 2006
periods - 07:17 AM
(filed under 'healthy living')
i wasn't sure if i should put this entry under the category of 'green living' or 'healthy living' since it sort of covers both. it's a 'green' topic by the fact that i'm not using disposable products anymore to deal with my period, but it's also a 'healthy' topic in that it's about body health & trying to encourage a healthier mindset about the whole topic of menstruation.
okay, so i've decided on 'healthy living'.
since my period has returned i've been using what's generally referred to as a menstrual cup. basically, instead of soaking up the blood, it's a receptacle which collects it until you take it out to empty it. i happen to use one called 'the keeper'. also, i've started using washable cloth pads instead of disposable ones when i feel like a change from using my keeper.
initially, my reasons for doing this were environmental (thus my confusion as to which category this topic came under), but as i've been looking at online communities & articles about using these products, i've started to realise how much our society (at least the western one in which i usually live) has been taught to look at periods as something that's terrible, offensive & distasteful, something to be hidden or shunned. not only do men think this way, but women have been conditioned into thinking this way as well. from my reading so far, it appears that this attitude has been going around some societies for many hundreds of years.
as i've become more comfortable with dealing with my period as something normal & healthy, using these non-disposable products has brought me closer to my body. it's brought me a better understanding of how my body works & the process of my period. i've come to realise that there's nothing wrong with it, or shameful about it, nothing to be hidden away behind lowered voices & discreet trips to the bathroom.
i want to start spreading the good word about women's bodies being amazing things. i don't understand why our periods have become something that isn't to be talked about, but i want to help change that way of thinking. if i had a daughter, then i'd start to teach her already about her body being a temple. since i have a son, i was beginning to think that i couldn't make changes starting with my own family, but now i realise that teaching him is possibly even a better place to start!
imagine a boy growing up understanding that a woman's body (not to mention his own body, of course) is something to be treasured & honoured & that everything it goes through is a normal part of life. imagine a grown male who doesn't shudder inside (or shudder visibly) at the mention of a woman bleeding.
imagine a world where a woman can talk freely about what she goes through mentally & physically every month: the good, the bad & the just plain interesting.
so part of my newfound resolve is that there'll be no more 'hiding' entries about my period in the 'tmi' category. that's not to say that i'll be talking about my period all the time, but when i do mention it, i'm not going to mince my words to try to 'protect' people's sensibilities. i'm going to talk about it plainly & do my bit to start making it a normal topic of conversation.
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