What do you wish you had known before you had your first period?
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@nusher @vagina_museum Yep clicked through to the thread to say this!
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Menarche is a moment of change, of transformation. It shouldn’t be shamed or shrouded in secrecy. Talking about it can be scary, but it also opens a door to connection.
What do YOU wish you had known?
@vagina_museum *i* was well informed but my comrades were not and harrassed me when i had leaks. No one ever offered me help or sanitary products at school.
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I don't think I'll ever understand how something that happens to almost every woman on a monthly basis could be considered shameful.
Are we next going to tell people to be ashamed of pooping?
@argv_minus_one Already happening. For women at least. It's stupid, but there are people who think it is not ok for women to talk about pooping, having to poop or fart for that matter.
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What do you wish you had known before you had your first period?
Across the world menstruation continues to be shrouded in stigma, shame, and silence. Millions of children face their menarche without knowing what it is, why it’s happening, what it’s called, or what to do. Too often, the answers to these questions are only found through an individual’s own experience.
@vagina_museum That you don’t have to keep the fact you’re having one top secret - smuggling pads into the loo hidden in tissue boxes and similar nonsense! The best thing about covid was the hot water bottle in the lap for cramps. Had been settling for paracetamol in-office.
I get active pleasure from stubborn non-secrecy these days. “Oh are you cold?” - “Nope I have period pain”. Stunned Silence. But why though? If I had said I had a heat pad for back pain would have been unremarkable.
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What do you wish you had known before you had your first period?
Across the world menstruation continues to be shrouded in stigma, shame, and silence. Millions of children face their menarche without knowing what it is, why it’s happening, what it’s called, or what to do. Too often, the answers to these questions are only found through an individual’s own experience.
@vagina_museum
Before my first period, I wish I would have known that throughout my adult life, in which I never wavered in my choice to not bear children, that my uterus would be a source of debilitating pain, and that a patriarchal medical system would prolong my suffering by denying my hysterectomy until I was perimenopausal due to "risk of regret," and that I should have lawyered-up and been a raging self-advocate from the get-go. -
@vagina_museum *i* was well informed but my comrades were not and harrassed me when i had leaks. No one ever offered me help or sanitary products at school.
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What do you wish you had known before you had your first period?
Across the world menstruation continues to be shrouded in stigma, shame, and silence. Millions of children face their menarche without knowing what it is, why it’s happening, what it’s called, or what to do. Too often, the answers to these questions are only found through an individual’s own experience.
@vagina_museum
I just wish I had known that it was going to happen at all. It's so panic-inducing to find blood in your panties. -
Menarche is a moment of change, of transformation. It shouldn’t be shamed or shrouded in secrecy. Talking about it can be scary, but it also opens a door to connection.
What do YOU wish you had known?
i wish that someone told me that menstrual blood could be brown, so that when it first happened twice something like a year apart when i was 10/11, i didn't think (both times) that i'd eaten too much fruit and my bum was leaking and that i couldn't eat fruit till it stopped and for the following few weeks just in case.
i was ... older ... when it finally dawned on me what that had been.
(knowing that endometriosis was a thing might've helped too. but now i do know, i also know i have it, and i have no treatment anyway, so. i guess i'll stick with the not-poo thing as my "i wish".)
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@vagina_museum
I just wish I had known that it was going to happen at all. It's so panic-inducing to find blood in your panties.@artemis @vagina_museum That & imagine the horror and shock of finding a large “lump” in your pelvic area long before you even had sex (referring to the fibroids)
Thinking that you “might have cancer” that is known to be hard to treat/lethal (referring to ovarian) & not knowing anything about “fibroids” or doctors not telling you anything about them is disturbing.
Having multiple papsmears/palpa prior & not knowing that this is something to look out for is really wrong. -
Menarche is a moment of change, of transformation. It shouldn’t be shamed or shrouded in secrecy. Talking about it can be scary, but it also opens a door to connection.
What do YOU wish you had known?
@vagina_museum I wish I had known that it was totally normal that the menstrual cycle was *not* exactly 28 days. We actually learned a lot about the cycle and hormonal changes and everything in school, but it was always supposed to be exactly 28 days.
Mine was sometimes... 6-8 weeks (and also sometimes rather black than red). I was worried, but didn't dare to mention it to anyone. -
@artemis @vagina_museum That & imagine the horror and shock of finding a large “lump” in your pelvic area long before you even had sex (referring to the fibroids)
Thinking that you “might have cancer” that is known to be hard to treat/lethal (referring to ovarian) & not knowing anything about “fibroids” or doctors not telling you anything about them is disturbing.
Having multiple papsmears/palpa prior & not knowing that this is something to look out for is really wrong.@artemis @vagina_museum Again, the “shaming” is a big part of this. I was raised by my father who thought that bad pain from menstrual cramps were “not being tough to pain” (basically your a baby if you think it’s painful, this coming from a man who was an ABSOLUTE BABY to any pain aka, no pain tolerance
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@vagina_museum I wish I had known that it was totally normal that the menstrual cycle was *not* exactly 28 days. We actually learned a lot about the cycle and hormonal changes and everything in school, but it was always supposed to be exactly 28 days.
Mine was sometimes... 6-8 weeks (and also sometimes rather black than red). I was worried, but didn't dare to mention it to anyone.@vagina_museum But in general I would say that I was rather well informed. I knew as a child that my mother wore "mom diapers" sometimes. And in elementary school (when we were 8 or 9), before our first schooltrip, our teacher called all the girls and explained what the period was about and that it could start soon for some of us.
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What do you wish you had known before you had your first period?
Across the world menstruation continues to be shrouded in stigma, shame, and silence. Millions of children face their menarche without knowing what it is, why it’s happening, what it’s called, or what to do. Too often, the answers to these questions are only found through an individual’s own experience.
@vagina_museum I wish I'd known how to recognize my first period. I didn't know for a few hours and ended up thinking I had somehow pooped myself without realizing
Also, let's not forget about what happened with Carrie
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What do you wish you had known before you had your first period?
Across the world menstruation continues to be shrouded in stigma, shame, and silence. Millions of children face their menarche without knowing what it is, why it’s happening, what it’s called, or what to do. Too often, the answers to these questions are only found through an individual’s own experience.
I wish I, or specifically my doctors, had known that iron deficiency anemia is NOT caused by periods
Someone finally did a study about 10 years ago. It turns out that over 80% of women with iron deficiency anemia have intestinal bleeding -- The same percentage as men with iron deficiency anemia
The catch was that no one had checked for this in women before, because of the persistent myth that it is caused by periods
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Menarche is a moment of change, of transformation. It shouldn’t be shamed or shrouded in secrecy. Talking about it can be scary, but it also opens a door to connection.
What do YOU wish you had known?
@vagina_museum @MamaLake If you're having pain, reach out for help. It doesn't have to be that way. If you're having unbearable pain, see a doctor. That's not normal. You're not "gross" because you're on your period. You're not "gross" if you use a pad instead of a tampon. Period panties can make you a lot more comfortable. Reuseable cloth pads can help hugely with chaffing. Going through biological cycles is normal. Bleeding is normal. And if guys had to do it, we'd absolutely have PTO for it!
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@vagina_museum @MamaLake If you're having pain, reach out for help. It doesn't have to be that way. If you're having unbearable pain, see a doctor. That's not normal. You're not "gross" because you're on your period. You're not "gross" if you use a pad instead of a tampon. Period panties can make you a lot more comfortable. Reuseable cloth pads can help hugely with chaffing. Going through biological cycles is normal. Bleeding is normal. And if guys had to do it, we'd absolutely have PTO for it!
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I wish I, or specifically my doctors, had known that iron deficiency anemia is NOT caused by periods
Someone finally did a study about 10 years ago. It turns out that over 80% of women with iron deficiency anemia have intestinal bleeding -- The same percentage as men with iron deficiency anemia
The catch was that no one had checked for this in women before, because of the persistent myth that it is caused by periods
@NilaJones @vagina_museum
This might be true but I bleed SO much that I’m not surprised that I’m anemic from my period.
We REALLY need to have better women’s health OVERALL so doctors can say “we’re gonna check to see if you are bleeding elsewhere before we blame it on your period” or give a bloody ultrasound if you’re experiencing heavy bleeding and extra pain (even on pain killers god!) -
@nele1999 @vagina_museum I know it's not an option for everyone! YMMV but I still think that there should be more awareness that it is possible for at least some of us.
For me, periods were always heavy, irregular, and very painful. I also had a reaction to medication when I was a young teen that had me bleeding for almost 3 months non stop. So the side effects are totally worth it in my case.
I don't think it's a critique to share your personal experience.
@maj @vagina_museum Yes I suppose there is just more awareness needed about everything regarding female health and wellbeing.
So let us all speak up!
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@NilaJones @vagina_museum
This might be true but I bleed SO much that I’m not surprised that I’m anemic from my period.
We REALLY need to have better women’s health OVERALL so doctors can say “we’re gonna check to see if you are bleeding elsewhere before we blame it on your period” or give a bloody ultrasound if you’re experiencing heavy bleeding and extra pain (even on pain killers god!)@em_and_future_cats @vagina_museum
Yes it's good to check everything!
I had extremely heavy periods all my life
And, when I reached menopause, my need for supplemental iron did not decrease at all
Apparently the blood I was losing to my period was a drop in the bucket, compared to what I am losing elsewhere
But no one had ever bothered to check
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@em_and_future_cats @vagina_museum
Yes it's good to check everything!
I had extremely heavy periods all my life
And, when I reached menopause, my need for supplemental iron did not decrease at all
Apparently the blood I was losing to my period was a drop in the bucket, compared to what I am losing elsewhere
But no one had ever bothered to check
🫂🩷
