That’s Right. I said Period.
I remember talking with a male friend of mine once, and he said, “You know what? I think it’s so gross that you . . . you know . . . do that.” “Do what?” I replied. “You know. . . every month . . .” He was not talking about cleaning out the fridge here. Nope–he was talking about menstruation. MEN-STRU-A-TION. PERIODS. Those ookie ookie things that every woman has every 28 days.
But why is it so gross? Why do women come up with nicknames so they can talk about their periods when men are around? (Come on, I know you all have talked about “George” coming by for a visit . . . well, at least I have.) Check out this Onion piece about period euphemisms–it’s actually pretty accurate. But why do we skate around the issue? Periods are healthy and mean that your body is working right! They are natural, and while I will not go so far as to say that they are “beautiful” (I don’t think that the majority of bodily functions are beautiful), they are cool by me.
They only time when they are not cool is when they lead to certain side-effects (bloating, cramping, fatigue, etc.)–but then women are ashamed to talk about these symptoms as related to their menstrual cycles, which just compounds the problem.
I say embrace the period. Period.
Filed under: women's health
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femmemeister
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George? Never heard of that one actually, haha.
but definitely remember that Onion piece. Oh, how I adore the Onion! Personally, I don’t use euphemisms but I certainly don’t think periods are “beautiful” either. To me, they’re a nuisance. However, it is annoying when women think they have to skate around the subject because it’s “gross” or “weird” or when girls who first get their period are ashamed or afraid people will make fun of them.
This is why I heart my male friend who is a biochem major, who, upon doing a unit concerning the female reproductive system, kept remarking that the female body was “so amazing” and was highly impressed. Definitely made obnoxious cramps a little less annoying for a while.
Yes, periods are healthy, but like most other bodily functions and generally anything related to the bathroom, they still aren’t and shouldn’t be polite conversation.
When I was younger, I really hated my period. I never used to want children so my rationale was “WHY must I go through this monthly if I don’t really want these damn eggs anyway?!”
However, I have grown a lot in the last three years since I left home and I see my peroid much differently now. It is a (unfortuntately) messy reminder of my womanhood. Not that I need to be reminded, but I wonder how I would feel if, for the rest of my life, I never had another period. I don’t think I would feel like any less of a woman. After all, there are women who never have their periods and there are women who are on strong birth control and never have thier periods, either. However, I really do try to embrace this little part of my womanhood when it rolls around. I love myself a lot more now than I did when I hated it. Whether those two things have anything to do with each other, I’m not sure.
Wow, I toally just talked about how I embrace my period on the internet, for all the world to see!
Ahhh, now I’m going to relish in this liberating feeling.
Isn’t talking about a girl’s period like talking about pooping or peeing or ejaculating or throwing up? There’s a time, a place, and an audience for everything.
To Katie and seriously?:
I am not suggesting that women all shout out loud, “Hey–I just got my period!” for the hell of it.
What I am wondering, though, is why women are considered to be “gross” because of it. After all, nobody cringes at a toilet paper commercial, but all of my guy friends look like they are about to puke when a tampon commercial comes on TV.
There has been a lot of ink spilled about how women who are menstruating are considered “dirty.” In some cultures, they are forbidden from leaving the house. In America, that notion of, “Periods . . . ewww” does a similar thing.
After all, people who #1 and #2 (which is everybody) are not considered gross for doing so. But, a similar natural process seen only in women (menstruation) is seen as making the women themselves disgusting. Or grumpy. (After all, how many times have you been angry and somebody responded, “Are you having your period or something?”
I don’t have a problem with polite conversation. I do have a problem with women feeling ashamed or belittled just because a natural process happens once a month. (This is why the new “silent wrapper” feminine products have become so popular: people are afraid that other people will hear them opening a wrapper! That strikes me as very strange . . . after all, there isn’t any “silent wrapper” toilet paper.)
As Margaret Cho says, “I am the worst when it comes to period stains. That is why I never move because my mattress is so so so so stained that whenever I change the sheets it just looks like a murder scene. I’m serious. Somebody should put crime scene ‘do not cross’ tape up. It’s awful! I can’t understand any woman who hasn’t had some kind of hot menses mess. Those women are weird and probably perfect, and always get a pap smear every six months, and have never had a weight problem or worried about sitting on a white couch - and they are no friends of mine!”
In America, at least, I don’t think women are ashamed or belittled to such an extent as you are suggesting. There are tampon and women’s product commercials on television all of the time. You don’t hear girls being ashamed of the periods any more than you hear anyone being ashamed of the fact that they have to drop a deuce. Saying that women are considered to be “gross” because of it is an over exaggeration. As for the question, “are you having a period or something?” it is, without a doubt, much more of a joke than a serious question. And the silent wrapper thing is parallel to holding in your farts when you have to. It’s natural, but it’s something you play down in social situations. femmemeister, I feel like you’re reaching.
Hmm–perhaps you’re right, seriously?
But at the same time, I have heard from people (mainly men) that women are especially gross just because they menstruate.
I suggest you check out Emily Martin’s book The Woman in the Body: A Cultural Analysis of Reproduction. Among other things, she analyzes the way that bathroom breaks are handled in schools that make it difficult for young women to change their feminine products (no purses allowed, only a 3-minute break btn. classes, etc.) and how women who work in blue-collar jobs or very active jobs have a particularly difficult time during their cycles, but are unable to talk to a male boss about it in order to get policies changed (longer bathroom breaks, or rest breaks when cramps act up, for example). The discussion on how menstruation is especially difficult for women of lower economic standing is particularly interesting here.
And I do think that PMS jokes are a symptom of a larger assumption that women are less rational and are more “hormonal”–thus, not as logical. Their opinions do not matter if they are in a particular part of their cycle, according to that viewpoint. Even though they are humorously meant, those jokes reflect a culture in which women’s hormones are seen as “crazy,” but men’s hormones are the standards.
I appreciate your critiques, though–but even though it may seem like a small matter, I think it is part of a cultural framework in which women are reduced to their bodies and are seen as stupider/less rational/more disgusting because of it. It is these individual, small things that need to be examined in order to debunk the negative aspects of the gender binary.
Please continue to read the blog and challenge whatever you see fit, though! Good convo . . . good convo . . .