Talking about menstruation!

I spend about 1/5 of my time menstruating. Most of my sick days are due to menstrual cramps. I get period blood on my fingers when I remove/insert my menstrual cup.

My period is a substantial part of my life.

So why is it taboo to talk about something that is a substantial part of the lives of every female in the world?

You'd Think We'd Never BledBook: Avoiding the Topic of Menstruation Since 1903
From Adventures in Menstruating

"Your health worries explained: Let's all just pretend there's nothing down there!"

This reminds me of the many unsatisfying experiences I've had with doctors on the topic of my vagina, including having to teach my doctor what a menstrual cup is just a few weeks ago (they're not that uncommon!).

In my opinion, our culture's unwillingness to talk about menstruation oppresses females in a lot of ways:

1. It sends the message that this bodily function is gross and unmentionable, which discourages females from loving their bodies.

2. It fails to educate girls about menstruation. Some girls never hear of menstruation at all before their first period (and therefore assume they're wounded, which can be traumatic).*

And the conversation that our culture does have about menstruation focuses on sanitary products, not the significance of fertility or womanhood.

*This info is from The Body Project.

3. It produces men who lack an understanding of menstruation.

4. It leaves females unskilled at talking (and questioning) about their bodies because they have not learned comfortable (or any) words to identify their body parts.

"Women still struggle to find a vocabulary that does not rely on Victorian euphemisms, medical nomenclature, or misogynistic slang." -Joan Jacobs Brumberg, The Body Project

I totally struggle with finding a vocabulary to talk about my body. What do I call my vagina? "Vagina" sounds a bit too medical, "pussy" is a word people use to insult each other, and any sort of euphemism is totally against my passion for bluntness.

There is a movement called menstrual activism, radical menstruation, menstrual anarchy, or menarchy that strives to change the ways that menstruation is dealt with by society.

Menstrual activism may include:

-Speaking openly about periods
-Challenging negative attitudes toward menstruation
-Campaigning for more environmentally friendly sanitary products
-Campaigning for safer sanitary products

"Do we have to regard our period as something dirty? Do we have to greet a girl's first period with silence?" -Chris Bobel

Pagan menarche ceremony

Some cultures have rituals for menarche (a girl's first period) that celebrate the girl's rite of passage.

I can see how the above photo might seem silly to a lot of people -- white, Western women imitating tribal rituals that they likely have no ties to. But I think there is good in it. It can be a good thing for people from one culture to adopt the practices they value from other cultures.

A menarche ceremony:

1. Helps a girl to feel welcomed into the world of womanhood (through the sharing of stories, the celebration of womanhood, etc.).

2. Provides a girl with an opportunity to contemplate the weight of her newly found ability to make babies.

3. Fosters solidarity and bonding among all of the women and girls involved.

4. Creates an opportunity for those who have had their periods for a time to share stories -- funny stories, embarrassing stories, stories of lessons learned, etc. which can help the newly menstrual girl gain an understanding of menstruation in an emotional and spiritual light (as opposed to learning just the medical facts, like how to use a tampon).

5. Brings meaning and gratification to the life-changing event. If a girl's first period is not acknowledged beyond the purchase of sanitary products, it may feel unfulfilling (like when it's your birthday, but it doesn't feel like your birthday).

6. Helps a girl to feel more in tune with her body and nature by allowing this naturally occurring event to dictate when a ceremony will take place.

To clarify:

Do feminists hate men? I'd estimate that most feminists do not hate men, though some might. Feminism is "the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes" (Merriam-Webster Dictionary), not the theory that any gender is better than another.

Do I think a menarche ceremony is the only meaningful way to address menarche? No, I just think it can be a good way to do it, but I'm sure that some girls would prefer not to share this experience with friends and parents' friends. Of course, a girl's preferences and feelings should be central to how her first period is addressed.

Activists combat the notion that menstruation is gross:

A piece from Ingrid Berthon-Moine's collection of photos of women wearing menstrual blood as lipstick

"consider the idea of tasting your own menstrual blood" -Germaine Greer

Ingrid Berthon-Moine's "Red is the Colour"

Painting using menstrual blood

Why do I think these quirky artistic endeavors are worth mentioning?

1. They send the message that menstruation is beautiful. They feel to me like celebrations of womanhood and menstruation.

2. Since switching to a menstrual cup (instead of tampons/pads), I have been looking for ways to use my own period blood (because a menstrual cup collects it in the cup, rather than absorbing it into fluffy material). Menstrual blood seems potentially useful -- I've considered using it as a dye. I hadn't thought to use it as paint, but that seems like a worthwhile project. It makes a point and it is free paint (paint is expensive!).

3. I think art is a powerful form of peaceful activism.

Turn off the TV: Live your life.

The average American watches 4 hours of TV a day. That translates to 2 months a year.

Wooden glasses: My eyes' dream come true

A combination of brilliance and distaste for most glasses gave me an idea: Glasses made out of wood! So I googled it and it turns out that they exist!

Besides being seductively earthy, wooden glasses are said to be less harmful to the environment than conventional glasses, as they are made from a renewable resource. Some companies that offer wooden glasses are also more environmentally conscious in other ways (i.e. some plant trees).

On the other hand, many companies that sell wooden glasses are expensive and difficult to buy from. I have included a variety of wooden glasses companies in this list, including some that are affordable and easy to find.

Herrlicht of Germany has 8 styles of wooden frames. I called 10/10 Optics, a NYC store that sells these, and they said that the Herrlicht frames start at $600

Urban Spectacles of Chicago custom makes exclusively wooden frames, starting at $850

Proof of Idaho offers wooden frames, starting under $100. They are even sold in Massachusetts!

W-Eye of Italy offers 10 styles of wooden frames with nickel-free aluminum on the inside to make the frames flexible. I'm not sure if they are sold in any English-speaking countries.

M.A.D.E. of Denmark makes wooden frames that include metal details.

Sire's Crown of California makes wood frames with wood pulp fronts. They plant 20-100 trees for every pair of glasses they sell. The frames pictured above are $300.

ROLF Spectacles offers wooden and bamboo glasses frames, which are made completely out of natural material and with no metal parts.

ICU Eyewear of California offers a few frames with bamboo temples (search "bamboo" on their homepage). The above pair is only $52. They're actually reading glasses, but I assume that you can have prescription lenses put in them.

Amy Sacks offers the "Bamboo Masa" frame with a plastic (cellulose acetate) front and bamboo temples for $125.

Here is an article with more information about wooden glasses frames.


Other places to buy wooden glasses:

Kayu Design (under $200, but only sell sunglasses)
Barbara Creations, Inc.
Yii
Waiting for the Sun
Schwood (affordable and relatively easy to find, but only sell sunglasses)


Coming up next: A post on recycled & secondhand glasses.

Do glasses create less waste than contacts?

After mending my glasses with masking tape, I figured why not cover the whole frame in tape. But that got boring so I didn't finish. And it turns out the tape "hinge" is weaker than the real hinge, so the left side sags. So I've decided to buy new glasses.

I have only worn glasses in public a handful of times. When I found out that I had bad vision at the age of 10, I began wearing contacts.

Contact lense solution, contact lense boxes, contact lense packages, contact lense cases (not pictured: actual contact lenses, cardboard box that solution comes in)

Recently I became worried about all of the waste involved with wearing contacts. So I began waiting two months instead of one month before switching to a new pair of contacts. And I put clean contact solution into my contact case once every few days instead of daily. But this is probably very unhealthy, so I want to try something else.

Which brings me to glasses!

Do glasses really create less waste than contacts?

Some numbers:

A year's supply of contacts (12 pairs of monthlies, with 12 contact cases and 12 bottles of cleaning solution):
549 grams of plastic

A pair of glasses lenses (not including frames):
35 grams of plastic


(statistics from this article)

Well, I probably use about 1 contact case and 5 bottles of contact solution each year (much less than the 12 cases and 12 bottles factored into the statistic above).

On the other hand, everyone I know who wears contacts also owns a pair of glasses (for use late at night, etc.). But the people I know who predominantly wear contacts usually buy a new pair of glasses every 5 or 10 years. I bought my current glasses around 8 years ago.

How often do glasses-wearers buy a new pair of glasses? I'm hoping to replace my glasses no more than once every 5 years.

I'm estimating that buying a pair of glasses every 5+ years is less wasteful than wearing monthly contact lenses.

Also, there are glasses available that are made out of recycled and renewable materials.

I will soon post about the best places to look for glasses made out of recycled materials, and glasses made out of wood!

Reusable hygiene products, etc.

Instead of tampons: a menstrual cup

I recently bought the Diva Cup. It's comfortable and doesn't dry out your vagina, like tampons sometimes do. Also, you can wear it for up to 12 hours at a time and it doesn't cause Toxic Shock Syndrome, which I'm always afraid I'll get because I forget to change my tampon.

Another benefit of getting the Diva Cup is that, at $40ish, it's cheaper than buying disposables because you only replace it once a year. And of course it's better for the environment.

Figure out which brand to buy with this online quiz: Which menstrual cup is right for you?

Instead of pads: cotton pads & pantiliners

It's nice to have these for the lighter days of your period.

They are available on Etsy and Lunapads (Lunapads' are kind of big, so I'd get the smallest size), or you can make them yourself with some old flannel or other fabric. There are a ton of tutorials online.

Instead of tissues: a handkerchief

I recently started keeping a handkerchief in my purse and I love it. You can just wash it in the washing machine every once in a while, and even put it in the dryer. They're $5 at Lunapads, but they're easy to find at thrift stores, so I definitely recommend buying one used.

Instead of paper napkins: cloth napkins

Cloth napkins are cuter and more environmentally friendly. You can just leave them at each person's spot at the table and wash them when they are clearly dirty, instead of after every meal. They are easy to make, find at thrift shops, or buy on Etsy.

Secondhand stuff: What's good about it, where to get it

When I decided to downsize my possessions about a year ago, I got rid of lots of things that could probably be useful. I had acquired most of these potentially useful items for free, picking them up with the intention to be made into something, used in my nowhere-in-sight future apartment, or given to someone who could use them. But after becoming frustratingly bogged down by my excessive possessions, I decided that I would probably be able to find these things for free again when their purpose arose, and if I had to do without them for a time, I could probably manage.

Free stuff is really easy to come by. I see free furniture in fine condition on the side of the road daily. It makes buying these things new seem a little unreasonable. Of course, when you go to a firsthand store, you have a better selection and you might have to do less work (lifting, finding a truck to use, potentially refinishing), but is it really worth it? It is understandable to put effort into having a clean, safe, comfortable living space, but style might be worth compromising for the advantage of both the environment (there are already more than enough couches/tables/lamps/TVs/beds/dishes/etc. out there already, why use resources to make more?) and your bank account. Plus, visually challenging items can spark creativity to make them work with your taste.

 

Alternatives to buying new:

1. Freecycle

     -Grassroots nonprofit dedicated to reusing and keeping good stuff out of landfills

     -Sign up (for free) with your local Freecycle branch to get and give free stuff

2. Craigslist (free and otherwise)

     -You can use Craigslist without even having to sign up

     -On the Craigslist home page, click "free" under the "for sale" category

     -Also a good place to find out about yard sales--click "garage sale" under the "for sale" category

3. Yard sales

     -Yard sales are good for recycling, building community, and spending time outside

     -If you go to yard sales near the end, lots of times people just want to get rid of everything so they'll give stuff to you for free or cheap

4. Thrift stores

     -Good for recycling and getting bargains, but not free stuff, and not usually as cheap as yard sales

     -Good for finding fabric. Sheets usually cost a couple of dollars and provide a lot of fabric

     -Often money goes to charity or church

5. Consignment stores

     -Good for recycling and getting bargains, but not usually as cheap as thrift stores

     -Some consignment stores are very designer brand oriented, so they're not as cheap

6. Swaps

     -Some organizations (colleges, churches, etc.) organize swaps, especially clothing swaps

     -If you can't find one, organize one! Even if it's just a few friends.

    

7. The side of the street

     -Good for finding free stuff!

Some of my recent free finds:

A side table found on the streets of Quincy, which I think I'll paint; a picnic basket found on the streets of Easton

A large vase found on the streets of Easton; a candle holder found with the vase

Pillows found on the streets of Stoughton; a ton of curtain rods found next to the metal/furniture dumpster at Eastern Nazarene College in Quincy. I have also found book ends, paper organizer things, futons, office chairs, comfy chairs, and lots of other things next to/in that dumpster.


I also get all of the beads I use in my jewelry for free, mostly at the ends of yard sales. Don't spend money on stuff!