This Slate article, “Do We Really Have to Be Proud of Our Periods?” is intriguing to me on so many different levels. Coming off the heels of the viral Hello Flo commercial, the article questions if periods could and should be a source of pride for women. Furthermore, it properly points out that not all women menstruate (and not all those who menstruate may identify as women), so the period is not some “mysterious feminine energy” that defines women as real women or not. At the same time, the words “pride” and “power” are often used as forms of activism: girl power, body pride, and think of all the pride parades there are (not just gay pride parades, but all the others celebrating the different nationalities). I, humorously, defer to the late comedian George Carlin and his discussion how pride should be reserved for something one accomplishes or achieves on his or her own. (His bit on pride starts about a minute into the video.) I did not decide one day to be female, so is it so wrong to say that I’m happy I menstruate but that I’m not necessarily proud that I do?
But can the cycle be used as a form of power? This is where the commentary in the article, I think, misses the point. As previous bloggers have discussed in the past, menstruation is often stigmatized precisely because (mostly) women do it. At the end of the Slate article, the mention of bowel movements is brought up again since it, too, is a natural function. No, perhaps it isn’t a feminist act when a little girl—or any girl, for that matter—takes a poop. Perhaps it is more an act of a child thinking she has accomplished something that she should be prideful about. But menstruation is a different story. It is a feminist act for a woman to mention that she is menstruating because it isn’t talked about. From watching television, it seems to me that a good portion of toilet paper advertising is about comfort and enjoying using the bathroom. When have you seen menstrual ads that mention you could, potentially, (oh the horror), enjoy having a period? Discussing the menstrual cycle is about power. Power against the shame. Power against the patriarchal construction of the period. Power of the period.
Hi, so I recently downloaded the iPad App Mood Horoscope, which basically tells you what your hormones are up to each day of your cycle. It has been eye-opening to say the least, and validating at the same time to know that there is a scientific reason for getting quieter and more introspective during the premenstrual week. This has happened to me pretty much since my 13th year, and now in my 37th year, it still feels pretty much the same. But here is the kicker – how am I (and women in general) supposed to honor this quieter time when the world of work is set up to expect the same from us the entire month as if nothing were different. For men nothing is different…they are mostly the same from day 1 to day 30 of a month. But we women are different, and yet have to operate in this male-invented world of work, where our cycle and the changes it brings must be ignored if we are to have a decent career or even keep our jobs.