My TEDxSheffield video is up. Please share if you’d like to continue the conversation.
-Chella x
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Issue 7 is out now!
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Video
Chella Quint – Adventures in Menstruating: Don’t Use Shame to Sell
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Interesting interpretations, and admirable.
I remember asking my grandmother about her periods. She was born in 1920, before the mass production of period protection thingies. She was born in Oklahoma, and during the dust bowl her family migrated to California. Back then the “Okies” were considered the trash of American society.
She said they had to sew their pads on their own. After using them they would wash them by hand and hang them in the trees to dry. Sometimes the boys would discover them and tease the girls about this.
So I guess the point is that the shame has always been there. Perhaps it refers back to the idea that all fertile women need to conceive babies NOW. If you aren’t pregnant, than you should be, and if you have a period, that means you aren’t pregnant. So therefore, lack of pregnancy equals failure, period equals failure. If you have your period, then therefore, you are a failure.
My first period adventures were at the complete disgust of my father. (I was born in ’88.) He considered it the utmost of ill-hygiene and thought the weakness and emotional struggles were merely an excuse to be lazy. To me a period wasn’t a justified thing, it was something silly little women made up in order to sabotage to glory of masculine power. It wasn’t until later that I realized periods are just A PART of my life – menstrual cycles are just a part.
Love the accent btw!