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Author Topic: no more periods?
Loony Bin
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posted 29 March 2004 04:34 PM      Profile for Loony Bin   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
From the link to the Museum of Menstruation:

would you stop menstruating if you could?

from one response:

quote:
I think that, even if it is an unjustified curse, we should keep our period because it is natural and because it is the only way to know if accidentally we get pregnant.

and another:

quote:
Tampons hurt, pads are hot and sticky (and smelly!), and the cramps are hellacious. I want it to go away.

What do you think? Would you get rid of your periods, given the choice?


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Madame X
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posted 29 March 2004 05:51 PM      Profile for Madame X     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
No, I've gotten kind of used to them, besides when they come, PMS retreats!
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googlymoogly
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posted 29 March 2004 05:58 PM      Profile for googlymoogly     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I don't mind the bleeding part so much as I mind the cramping; I haven't found anything that works. I would keep the period if I could get rid of the cramping.
From: the fiery bowels of hell | Registered: Mar 2003  |  IP: Logged
clever nickname
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posted 29 March 2004 06:17 PM      Profile for clever nickname     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I would consider it...I've skipped them before when they were inconvenient (ie. during a vacation). But I'm wary of skipping too often, as there isn't long-term research in how that might affect me, and I do like having the monthly reassurance that my birth control is working
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swirrlygrrl
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posted 29 March 2004 07:20 PM      Profile for swirrlygrrl     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Hell yes! When I was on the pill, I'd regularly skip. Since there isn't much info on the long term impacts of that, I'd make sure to have one every few months, but grudglingly. While I agree the knowledge that one is not pregnant is nice, its not 6 days of leakage nice in my books. I've never had cramping problems - it just cramps my style *zing!*

But then again, I'm not big on my body, and I'm sure someone will think that this is another symbol of my dissasociation from my body's natural rythyms and wonders, as per the Puritanical strains of our society. Highly possible. But I still would prefer not to bleed monthly.


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Michelle
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posted 29 March 2004 07:24 PM      Profile for Michelle   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I would probably be scared to get rid of them through artificial means. I mean, if there was some magical way to do away with them with no side effects, then great, suits me!

In any case, I have unusually long cycles, so it's less than once a month for me anyhow. Sucks when they come along, but hey, maybe I'll hit menopause early or something.


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Mandos
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posted 29 March 2004 08:25 PM      Profile for Mandos   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
If there were no more periods, how would we know when we've reached the end of the sentence? Celebrate the natural rhythm of the period. It gives order to written language.


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Michelle
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posted 29 March 2004 08:36 PM      Profile for Michelle   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Oh GAWD, Mandos!

You remind me of that really annoying subway ad that's all over the place right now. It's for Alesse, which is a birth control pill. It's got four frames. The first frame is a picture of a pretty, young, hip woman that is captioned, "I'm on Alesse!" The second frame is a picture of another pretty, young, hip woman that is also captioned, "I'm on Alesse!" The third frame is of a cute, hip guy with a bit of a confused half-smile, captioned, "What's Alesse?" The final frame has a picture of the package of pills.

Of course, this ad always drives me crazy. Reinforces the idea that it's okay for men to be clueless with regards to birth control, because heck, that's the woman's job anyhow! "Aww, isn't that cute! He doesn't know what Alesse is! Hey, if we're really careful, he won't find out that this other little package is a tampon either!"

[ 29 March 2004: Message edited by: Michelle ]


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Mandos
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posted 29 March 2004 08:43 PM      Profile for Mandos   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
In high school, I wrote an essay for a (failed) application for a university scholarship on an annoying yeast infection medication TV ad. In the ad, the woman whispered loudly "Yeast infection!". Then us guys were supposed to be squirming in our seats. So, kindly, she opened an inset in the corner of the the screen with a football game when us guys were supposed to be looking at while she explained the wonders of her medication to the female viewers.

1. I'm not interested in football.
2. I should hope that the potential discomfort of nearby women is more interesting than football.
3. I don't find yeast infections any more of a disconcerting disease than a sore throat. Believe it or not, even men get infections in embarassing places. "Gold bond powder--stops male itch!"

[ 29 March 2004: Message edited by: Mandos ]


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lagatta
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posted 29 March 2004 08:47 PM      Profile for lagatta     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Hah! I saw the same ad. In the version here, at least, the guy is cute but just slightly nerdy looking (sort of like the Hollywood convention of making an attractive guy or gal a nerd or a Plain Jane with heavy-rimmed glasses and a severe hairstyle). Had the same reaction.

I've reached the age that there are months I skip. Usually, alas, not a problem, but a grilfriend did manage to convince me to buy a pregnancy test after skipping it post-return from one of my sojurns across the pond.

If it weren't a dread sign of ageing and a harbinger of nastier ones, I'd be quite happy to be done with it.


From: Se non ora, quando? | Registered: Apr 2002  |  IP: Logged
Michelle
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posted 29 March 2004 08:50 PM      Profile for Michelle   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
HA. I hate that commercial!

Back in my early 20's, my then-boyfriend and I hung around with a very close-knit group of friends every Thursday night at a local pub. And we would always talk about ideas for books we were going to write someday, or movies or commercials we could shoot.

Well, one night after a few rounds, we were joking around about stupid names for feminine products, one of which was "Gynelotremin". Then we started trying to come up with equally stupid names for male hygiene products, and I came up with "Scrotalotremin". We swore up and down that we were going to shoot a spoof commercial of it, but we never did. Pity!


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clersal
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posted 29 March 2004 09:10 PM      Profile for clersal     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Well my periods have ended, quite a few years ago. Normally. I did not take any hormones either and the hot flushes were for the birds. I was always flinging off covers at night and wiping the perspiration off my upper lip.

Well I don't miss my periods EXCEPT that it is a sign of age. I look in the mirror and I don't want to see what I see.

No I wouldn't have stopped them if it was possible. I really don't believe we should muck around with Mother nature.


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neeuqdrazil
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posted 29 March 2004 09:57 PM      Profile for neeuqdrazil   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I'm on the pill, and I occasionally skip my period.

Well, actually, it's not so much skipped as shifted - I usually end up with some breakthrough bleeding, but it means that if I time it right, I can manage to not have my period when other things are going on (travelling, seeing the lover who is on the other side of the country, etc...)

My ex-gf is now on Seasonale - you only have four periods a year. I don't know if it's available in Canada yet (she's down in the US.)


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Loony Bin
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posted 30 March 2004 10:36 AM      Profile for Loony Bin   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I started taking the pill when I was 15 and kept taking it on and off until just last year. That's ten years of artificially manipulated menstruation. I did occasionally skip periods (as another poster above, mostly when I was on vacation or something like that). I tried the shots, and while that stuff was coursing through my system I didn't have a period at all--for three months. Rather than enjoying it, it really bothered me, and made me extremely anxious that something was wrong with me.

I quit last year and really don't plan to ever go back. I like having periods, and the first couple times I had an 'unassisted' period was a revelation. My cycles are predictable and my periods are pretty short and pretty light. And, truthfully, I like getting my period.

Sure it's messy, and sometimes painful, or just a pain in the ass, but I like that it's a cycle. I like the way it assures me every month that my body has it's own plans, that I'm not just a cerebral being (I'm not a very physical person, ye might say). I always feel somehow comforted by it. Like, if I'm getting my period, my body's working properly, and everything's okay.


From: solitary confinement | Registered: Feb 2004  |  IP: Logged
clever nickname
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posted 30 March 2004 10:42 AM      Profile for clever nickname     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I don't like to skip more than a month...I find my periods are heavier the month after I skip one. They used to be quite heavy, long and painful before I went on the pill, so I don't need to be reminded of that.

I've considered getting the shot since I'm bad at remembering to take the pill (reading this thread just reminded me!), but I'm worried about my period disapearing completely. Also, one brand of pills I tried turned me into a crazy lady, so there's that to worry about too.


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Rebecca West
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posted 30 March 2004 11:21 AM      Profile for Rebecca West     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Yes. Gawd yes and right now please.

Seriously though, there is no way to do away with them without buggering up your body in some way, so no thanks, I can wait until menopause. I think.


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dances with swords
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posted 30 March 2004 04:46 PM      Profile for dances with swords     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
Originally posted by swirrlygrrl:
Hell yes! When I was on the pill, I'd regularly skip. Since there isn't much info on the long term impacts of that, I'd make sure to have one every few months, but grudglingly. While I agree the knowledge that one is not pregnant is nice, its not 6 days of leakage nice in my books. I've never had cramping problems - it just cramps my style *zing!*

But then again, I'm not big on my body, and I'm sure someone will think that this is another symbol of my dissasociation from my body's natural rythyms and wonders, as per the Puritanical strains of our society. Highly possible. But I still would prefer not to bleed monthly.


The knowledge that one is not pregnant isn't that dependable either, when you're menstruating on the pill. I had a friend who was five months pregnant before she figured it out, because she got pregnant on the pill and her "periods" kept coming. The period you get on the pill is not exactly the same as a regular period that would actually confirm you're not pregnant.

Swirlygrrl, your second paragraph here is interesting and very telling. I've mentioned this book before, in a pregnancy thread, but Emily Martin's The Woman in the Body addresses this. It's medical anthropology, and she looks at menstruation, pregnancy/childbirth, and menopause through a study of urban women in Baltimore. The women in her study were black and white, with a spread across social classes, and an wide age range. When interviewed about menstruation, the women from higher-income families would talk about it as if it were something that happened to them, as if their bodies were separate from who they were. There was a degree of scientific removal from the sobject when these women talked about their periods. Martin's analysis was not too far off from your own- that a dissociation from the body was a connected to a rise in the medical view of the body as machine, which was in turn linked to the rise of industrialism.

I was always fascinated by my period, and Martin's book made me think about it more deeply. I definitely am interested in the cyclic time of the body, and the way it falls outside of social time. I actually like to think of it as an important site of resistance and a good reminder to return to feminist activism every month. (so of course, in keeping with the hippy-dippy emotions and the personal-is-political, I use the keeper. goopy but certianly cheap and convenient.) I welcome my period as an opportunity to confront my body in ways I forget when trapped in front of a computer screen all day.


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Anchoress
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posted 30 March 2004 05:41 PM      Profile for Anchoress     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I LOVE getting my period. I've never been on the pill, and I don't think I ever will (don't like the idea of taking hormones). I used to get cramps so bad they made me throw up, until I started getting good chiropractic treatment (not all chiros are the same - I had to shop around to find the great one I went to). In addition to the lower-back treatment, he also recommended I stop crossing my legs at the knee, which I did, and have had about 80% relief since. I mean I *newver* cross my legs at the knee (which apparently tilts the uterus causing cramping), and women I've recommended it to have had similar relief.

But the final nail in the cramp coffin was when I got my IUD, since when I have had five cramp-free years.


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googlymoogly
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posted 30 March 2004 06:42 PM      Profile for googlymoogly     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Are IUD's expensive? Sounds like an option I should think about; my cramps are pretty nasty; though as a lesbian (recently out), I will likely NEVER need to use an IUD
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swirrlygrrl
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posted 30 March 2004 07:19 PM      Profile for swirrlygrrl     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
Gynelotremin

Heh heh...in honour of the terrible names given to yeast infection/"feminine itch" prodcuts, a friend of mine came up with "Gynefemvag". I can't decide if the medicalized discourse is better than the soft focus romanticized packaging of menstrual products (what do ball gowns and horseback riding have to do with having one's period?)


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Anchoress
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posted 30 March 2004 07:21 PM      Profile for Anchoress     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
[thread drift] I'm in BC, and I paid $50 for the insertion at a birth control clinic. I don't know if it would have been less or more if my GP did it.

Here's the skinny on IUDs:

1. Not everyone experiences relief from cramps after insertion - some women find cramps get worse.

2. The medical profession is *very* anti-IUD, and often exaggerates the small (but real) threat of side-effects, many of which would not apply to you since you are not sexually-active with men. Side-effects such as: fallopian pregnancy, PID (Pelvic Inflammatory Disease, a stubborn bacterial infection usually transmitted by penetrative sexual contact), Chlamydia (sp? Transmitted the same way as PID), and other intra-uterine infections. Side-effects that *would* apply to you include perforated uterus, fallopian scarring and others.

Don't want to scare you; my GP was dead set against my getting an IUD (perhaps partly because of lobbying from the pharmaceutical industry? I wouldn't doubt it), but the MD at the clinic where I had it inserted (she's famous in the reproductive choice community in BC), praised the IUD as the *best* type of contraceptive for women who are not with multiple sex partners.

3. IUDs can cause heavier bleeding during periods, and are therefore not recommended for women with heavy periods, endometriosis, etc. They are also not recommended for women with uterine or ovarian cysts, or uterine polyps.

4. They are strongly contra-indicated for women with multiple sex partners, since the introduction of the IUD to the body makes the reproductive organs more susceptible to STDs.

5. Having an IUD can decrease a woman's ability to conceive.

Having said that, I LOVE my IUD, I've had it for over 5 years, and IMO it was completely worth the few days of discomfort and the slightly-heavier periods (and the fertility risks, too). [/thread drift]

Edited to add: While we're getting personal, may I also say that having an IUD has intensified my orgasms.

[ 30 March 2004: Message edited by: Anchoress ]


From: Vancouver babblers' meetup July 9 @ Cafe Deux Soleil! | Registered: Nov 2003  |  IP: Logged
arborman
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posted 30 March 2004 08:04 PM      Profile for arborman     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I had no idea they could be skipped.

As a male, and therefore not directly experiencing them, I have no opinion.

However, when I was single I was always pleased and relieved when my partner's period arrived. For one reason or another I haven't been involved with many women who were willing to go on the pill, so there was always the slightly higher risk of an unexpected pregnancy.

If I had a nickel for every time I wished for a male pill in those days. I'd have, oh, 50 bucks or so.

I can't imagine not having periods for a significant length of time would be a good idea, health wise. Again though, not my body, not my call.


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Sine Ziegler
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posted 30 March 2004 09:56 PM      Profile for Sine Ziegler     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I would skip them. Cramps are very painful for me and I have had them for 12 years now. I have to miss work once in awhile because of it and as a result my employer thinks I am lazy.


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athena_dreaming
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posted 31 March 2004 10:14 AM      Profile for athena_dreaming   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
depends on teh method--if there were a non-pill non-hormonal method, maybe. but not with current choices.

the one thing i hated about the pill -- i was on it for years -- was that it killed my sex drive. absolutely murdered it. for years i thought it was just a normal part of being in a long-term monogamous relationship, but hten i went off the pill when we started trying for a baby and realized, nope! it was the damned hormones.

not planning on going back on.

apparently this is even a fairly well-known side effect, but not one a doctor will ever tell you about because it's not considered really all that important for women. i mean, we girls don't really want sex anyway, right?


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Loony Bin
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posted 31 March 2004 10:54 AM      Profile for Loony Bin   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I went on the pill in the middle of tenth grade. By that time I'd only been menstruating with any regularity for maybe two years, if that (I was a late starter). I was basically still just getting my rhythm when I started manipulating it with hormones.

I wonder now if my first relationship and my high school years in general might have been a little more pleasant and less manic if I hadn't been on artificial hormones for the whole thing. At the time, I had no idea what the pill could do to a girl's head, never mind how it worked on the body (except for a vague notion of thwarted natural processes and frustrated ova). I wish I'd known that it might be the pill making me feel so crazy, maybe then I wouldn't have felt so bad about myself--and maybe I would have quit taking it way earlier.


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lagatta
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posted 31 March 2004 11:35 AM      Profile for lagatta     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
But then, Liz, you might have had a baby by accident before finishing school and ruined the rest of your life, if you weren't prepared to have an abortion or if it was difficult for minors to obtain them confidentially where you live. Try to look on the brighter side!

The problem is that there aren't a lot of alternative methods that are really secure and non-intrusive. Perhaps someday ...

Except for the relief of not having an unwanted pregnancy, or still feeling young and vital (when you are my age...) I can't see why any person would enjoy something painful, messy and inconvenient. It isn't a major problem if there aren't severe cramps, but it is nothing to celebrate (I can't stand touchy-feely earthmother stuff ) . Just the time I've spent over the years trying to get stains out of sheets, panties, other clothing ...

[ 31 March 2004: Message edited by: lagatta ]


From: Se non ora, quando? | Registered: Apr 2002  |  IP: Logged
dances with swords
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posted 31 March 2004 01:28 PM      Profile for dances with swords     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
Originally posted by lagatta:
I can't see why any person would enjoy something painful, messy and inconvenient. It isn't a major problem if there aren't severe cramps, but it is nothing to celebrate (I can't stand touchy-feely earthmother stuff ) . Just the time I've spent over the years trying to get stains out of sheets, panties, other clothing ...

[ 31 March 2004: Message edited by: lagatta ]


Yeah, but "painful, messy and inconvenient" is not a universal way of framing menstruation. Breakdown any menstrual advertising and the dominant cultural message there is about menstruation being inconvenient and getting in the way of life. Not to be frustratingly earth-mother-y, but we don't have to look at it in the way the dominant culture asks us to.

But then, I've never had to spend any time getting stains out. Probably because I have dark underwear and dark sheets, and have never bled through to my clothes. Even so, I wouldn't be that annoyed because of aforementioned infuriatingly earth-mother-y instincts. But I'm not as bad as my sisters and cousins, with their hemp reusable pads!!!


From: toronto | Registered: Mar 2004  |  IP: Logged
lagatta
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posted 31 March 2004 01:43 PM      Profile for lagatta     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I assure you that I am knowledgeable about the literature criticising capitalist society from a feminist standpoint.
From: Se non ora, quando? | Registered: Apr 2002  |  IP: Logged
Mr. Magoo
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posted 31 March 2004 02:09 PM      Profile for Mr. Magoo   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
Breakdown any menstrual advertising and the
dominant cultural message there is about menstruation being inconvenient and getting in the way of life.

Same with those Immodium ads! Geez, the way they talk you'd think having the runs was about nothing more than cramps and bloating and not being able to go horseback riding. What about diarrhea as a joyous affirmation of my colon?

The next time you're blessed with a dose of the Green Apple Quickstep, don't hide! Look your friends and co-workers right in the eye and say "I have diarrhea!". It's empowering!


From: ø¤°`°¤ø,¸_¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸_¸,ø¤°°¤ø,¸_¸,ø¤°°¤ø, | Registered: Dec 2002  |  IP: Logged
Loony Bin
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posted 31 March 2004 02:18 PM      Profile for Loony Bin   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Buzz off magoo. What do you know about it anyways?

Not every woman feels that period blood is the same as feces, thanks.


From: solitary confinement | Registered: Feb 2004  |  IP: Logged
lagatta
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posted 31 March 2004 02:23 PM      Profile for lagatta     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I certainly don't think it is the same, it is a sloughing off which is very different from excreting toxins and undigestable substances. Moreover, unlike regular feces, diarrhea is a sign of something out of kilter.

However, blood, be it menstrual or other, is even harder to get out of the sheets ...


From: Se non ora, quando? | Registered: Apr 2002  |  IP: Logged
Mr. Magoo
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posted 31 March 2004 02:24 PM      Profile for Mr. Magoo   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Nor, judging from some of these posts, that cramps, stained clothing, and a limited lifestyle are necessarily empowering, affirming or positive. And I can hardly blame them.

Anyway, not trying to directly compare blood to feces. Just noting that finding certain "natural" biological processes less than fun doesn't mean that you've fallen for some kind of Madison Avenue brainwashing.

Cheers!


From: ø¤°`°¤ø,¸_¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸_¸,ø¤°°¤ø,¸_¸,ø¤°°¤ø, | Registered: Dec 2002  |  IP: Logged
dances with swords
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posted 31 March 2004 03:35 PM      Profile for dances with swords     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
Originally posted by lagatta:
I assure you that I am knowledgeable about the literature criticising capitalist society from a feminist standpoint.

yeah, sorry, didn't mean to sound condescending or state the obvious there. oops.


From: toronto | Registered: Mar 2004  |  IP: Logged
clever nickname
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posted 01 April 2004 08:32 AM      Profile for clever nickname     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
apparently this is even a fairly well-known side effect, but not one a doctor will ever tell you about because it's not considered really all that important for women. i mean, we girls don't really want sex anyway, right?

My doctor did. The first brand of pills that I tried completely killed my sex drive, amoung other side effects. He warned me about all the possible side effects before I started taking them, then worked with me to find a brand that would suit me better when I told him the problems I was having.

Maybe I'm just lucky? But there are doctors out there who do recognize that might be a problem.


From: London ON | Registered: Oct 2003  |  IP: Logged
Michelle
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posted 01 April 2004 08:43 AM      Profile for Michelle   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
Originally posted by Mr. Magoo:
Anyway, not trying to directly compare blood to feces. Just noting that finding certain "natural" biological processes less than fun doesn't mean that you've fallen for some kind of Madison Avenue brainwashing.

Agreed!

(BTW, I laughed at your Immodium post.)


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Sine Ziegler
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posted 01 April 2004 10:07 AM      Profile for Sine Ziegler     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
How do you know for sure that the pill is affecting your sex drive? I think it is happening to me too but I am not sure.
From: Calgary | Registered: Apr 2001  |  IP: Logged
clever nickname
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Babbler # 4525

posted 03 April 2004 03:13 PM      Profile for clever nickname     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Well, for me the difference was pretty marked--I didn't want my boyfriend to touch me at all, and my body wouldn't co-operate when I did want him to. I could rule out other possible causes, like an increase in stress, illness or relationship problems, and it got worse as my cycle went along and better when I switched pills. So I guess that's how I figured it out.
From: London ON | Registered: Oct 2003  |  IP: Logged
shaolin
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posted 12 April 2004 11:44 PM      Profile for shaolin     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I realize this thread is long dead, and also that I'm probably being extremely dim witted here, but how the hell does one skip a period?! What have I been missing out on?!
From: Edinburgh | Registered: Jul 2003  |  IP: Logged
Amy
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Babbler # 2210

posted 13 April 2004 08:01 PM      Profile for Amy   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I think that you can do it a few ways, but the ones that i'm familiar with are: taking 2 or more packets or birth control pills without taking the week of placebo pills, and then going on the "shot"... although I don't know how well that one works.
From: the whole town erupts and/ bursts into flame | Registered: Feb 2002  |  IP: Logged
Timebandit
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posted 15 April 2004 05:52 PM      Profile for Timebandit     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
...I can't stand touchy-feely earthmother stuff...

Well, being a somewhat touchy-feely earthmother ( ), I guess I've learned not to mind so much. I've come to the conclusion that if I really love my body, I'll have to love it for its not so fun aspects as well as its more delightful ones.

And I do indeed love my body.

Seriously, though, I think that our bodies speak to us, and when I've tried being on the pill, it really wreaked havoc. My periods were no lighter, but I was depressed and given to blinding rages and crying jags, which are not at all part of the way I am when I'm unmedicated. I took it as a sign that my body really wanted me to stop putting that stuff in it. So I did. The people around me deserved better.

So, while I do find menstruation somewhat inconvenient sometimes (more so as I get older, I get backaches now that I didn't before), it's only life.


From: Urban prairie. | Registered: Sep 2001  |  IP: Logged
lagatta
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Babbler # 2534

posted 16 April 2004 01:01 AM      Profile for lagatta     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
Funny, Zoot, I don't find anything I said about the revolution represented by the Pill or its limits - a chemical intervention that many women can't tolerate - in contradiction to what you say. I do wish to reiterate that one can't emphasise enough how horrid life was for women before reproductive choice. One of the rare readable Wente columns discussed what could be summed up as the horrific choice of a sexless, affectionless existence or a brainless existence. In any case, a thing.

The fact that so many women are not able to tolerate the Pill and that there are no real choices for many - the IUD provokes extreme bleeding and infections in many women, and there is still no other method that is near foolproof and doesn't interfere with lovemaking - means there is a long road ahead of us -

I hate earthmother and new-agey stuff, find it profoundly reactionary, but I've seen your work and it has nothing in common with that garbage, it is fine social cinema.


From: Se non ora, quando? | Registered: Apr 2002  |  IP: Logged
athena_dreaming
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posted 16 April 2004 10:02 AM      Profile for athena_dreaming   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
lagatta, can't agree with you.

first off--wonder how many women pre-pill would have liked to hear they had a choice between a "sexless, affectionless existence or a brainless existence." First off, a life without sex does not equal a life without affection--in any era. Secondly, being a mother does not mean you are brainless, or have no capacity to use your brain. Thirdly, neither choice makes one a "thing," any more than the son of a farmer pre-industrial revolution was made a "thing" by being "condemned" to the life of a farmer. Yes, reproductive choice is wholeheartedly a good thing; but I find your statements quite insulting to the many billions of women who lived before the pill. Their lives were more than that.

The IUD is the most popular form of birth control in the world outside of N America. 40% of women in Norway have one; there is no higher rate of infection, infertility, or what have you in NOrway. Past research linking IUDs with PID and other infections have been discredited, and while bleeding for some women is heavier on the copper-only IUD, I wonder about your choice of the word "extreme."

I've been thinking about this on and off for the past little while, and I've come to the conclusion tht there are many bodily functions I find inconvenient or messy, yet I would not choose to suppress them artificially. Even more than the regular confirmation of not being pregnant, I like to know what is going on with my body. What I found hardest about going off the pill when DH and I were TTC was that I had no idea when to expect my cycles to return to normal, when I should expect my period, when I would ovulate, or how my body worked without those added hormones at all.

There are several women of my acquaintance who were on the pill for years and assumed they were still fertile--went off the pill to try to get pregnant and found they had problems.

I've decided I don't want to mask the workings of my body from myself--anymore than I would want to constantly take tylenol and risk never knowing of a serious health problem masked by a constant painkiller.


From: Toronto | Registered: Oct 2003  |  IP: Logged
Timebandit
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Babbler # 1448

posted 16 April 2004 08:39 PM      Profile for Timebandit     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
quote:
Funny, Zoot, I don't find anything I said about the revolution represented by the Pill or its limits - a chemical intervention that many women can't tolerate - in contradiction to what you say.

I was making a joke. That was the point of the little winky thing.

quote:
I do wish to reiterate that one can't emphasise enough how horrid life was for women before reproductive choice. One of the rare readable Wente columns discussed what could be summed up as the horrific choice of a sexless, affectionless existence or a brainless existence. In any case, a thing.

I think that's more than a little too harsh.

To accept that life was "horrid" for all women pre-oral-contraception, one has to accept that the female body and its reproductive functions are fundamentally bad. One can still have a horrid life with the benefits of contraception and, conversely, have a wonderful and fulfilling life without it -- albeit in a different way.

I am, myself, descended from some very clever and resourceful women who most definitely didn't have access to contraception. I'm sure a lot of us are.

And there are others -- take Dr. Elizabeth Matheson as a shining example. Attended medical school while pregnant with her third child and the other two in tow. Had 11 in total, often carrying her latest babe on her back when she lit out to treat someone in dire need -- she was the only doctor in a 100 mile radius for several years.

quote:
I hate earthmother and new-agey stuff, find it profoundly reactionary, but I've seen your work and it has nothing in common with that garbage, it is fine social cinema.

Thank you. That's a high compliment.

I actually, though, do appreciate the earthmother schtick to a large degree. I found having children a very transformative experience. Spiritual as well as physical. A defining experience, even.

In fact, I find a rejection of the vision of women as mothers somewhat reactionary in its own way. Let's face it, most women are mothers, and childbearing is a strictly female experience. Rather than write it off as of negligible importance, many of the earthmother types think we should celebrate it. I agree with that.

I am, in fact, currently seeking funding for a film on that very thing.

Perhaps we can agree to disagree on this one

[ 16 April 2004: Message edited by: Zoot Capri ]


From: Urban prairie. | Registered: Sep 2001  |  IP: Logged
IrishMuse
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posted 25 April 2004 08:33 PM      Profile for IrishMuse   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message      Edit/Delete Post  Reply With Quote 
I like my period...but if I could have less pain and problems, that would be nice.

I have been on the pill since I was 15 to control my periods...they were so heavy and long that I'd miss at least 5 days of school (when they were heaviest and most painful) every month. Of course, 5 out of the 14 days that they would last wasn't bad.

Unfortunately, the pill breaks down every 4 years for me. My body gets used to them. So my doc is trying me on the birth control patch. My period is now 6 days long, rather than the 4 when I was on BCPs, and much heavier. But, it takes about 3 months for everything to even out, so I will see.

I don't mind my period. It's usually pretty regular, and I use INSTEADs and cloth pads. Of course, I'm one of those Wiccan people interested in celebrating my "moontime", so what can I say? My mom is grossed out about the cloth pads, but I just wash them out while I'm showering in the morning--I figure that if I'm cleaning myself in the morning, I'm going to come into contact with menstrual blood at some point--what difference does it make if I'm washing it out of a cloth pad as well? But my mother equates it with a dirty diaper...although, menstrual blood isn't really dirty.

Even my germophobe boyfriend doesn't have a problem with the cloth pads.


From: Hamilton, ON | Registered: Apr 2004  |  IP: Logged

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