Subtle misogyny or liberation?

[Connonym]

So I'm reading a NYT article about birth control pills..."For many women, a birth control pill that eliminates monthly menstruation might seem a welcome milestone. But others view their periods as fundamental symbols of fertility and health, researchers have found. Rather than loathing their periods, women evidently carry on complex love-hate relationships with them.

This ambivalence is one reason that a decision expected next month by the Food and Drug Administration has engendered controversy. The agency is expected to approve the first contraceptive pill that is designed to eliminate periods as long as a woman takes it. Doctors say they know of no extra risk to the new regimen, but some women are uneasy about the idea."

Then I read a reader comment "... I'm afraid of what it will mean for young women who have no choice but to menstruate in a beauty culture that already rejects natural breasts and encourages the removal of all pubic hair. I know too many men who are disgusted to their core by menstruation--just imagine what life will be like when a generation is raised believing that only "gross" girls bleed. Its scary to think how pathologized the female body already is; how terrible to imagine that something so essential may signify poor hygiene."


Who knew there were politics to periods? I have a hate-hate relationship with mine and I think eliminating it would result in a better quality of life. I'm curious what other DU women think, is this hidden misogyny or is it liberation?

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/20/health/20period.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&oref=slogin&adxnnlx=1177169246-45ZmlJIIdhrdtKgi5nXRxw

[Ariana Celeste]

1. I think it just depends on the woman.

Personally I find anything other then the monthly BS to be unnatural. When I was on the Depo shot, it really screwed with my system and I ended up giving up on the shot because of it.

I don't think it's one or the other, all of us are different- I think what it really comes down to is how we view it personally.

[dropkickpa]

3. Depo screwed me up royally

hated that shit, bled for 9 months straight, I was severely anemic (it helped prevent pregnancy though, no way I felt like doing the nasty as bad as I felt). I love my monophasic BC pills, though!!

[dropkickpa]

2. On seasonale now

4 periods a year. I used to just skip the dummy pills. Soon as the new shit is approved, I'll be on that!!

Interesting fact: When the pill was first invented, the reason for the "period break" was so that it would seem more "natural" and no other reason.

[nini]

4. Personally.... I wouldn't mess with Mother Nature

But, I know some women who would choose this because of their active lifestyles etc.

I would think anything that has that much affect on your body to stop periods all together is bound to have issues down the line. Our bodies are meant to work a specific way and intefering with that is playing with fire.

[dropkickpa]

6. Keep in mind though

that modern women have roughly 9 times as many periods (about 450) as their foremothers. Menstruation also starts earlier and ends later. We already done messed with momma nature!

[nini]

9. you're saying our foremothers only had about 50 periods?

They only mensturated for 5 years or so? could it be they didn't live very long? That seems very low.


I agree that our foods, environment etc.. has had some affect on this though.

[Connonym]

10. our foremothers spent a lot more time pregnant than we do

Between pregnancies and nursing I'd guess that our foremothers had a LOT fewer periods than we do.

[dropkickpa]

13. They were either pregnant or breastfeeding

and breastfeeding went on a lot longer than it does in modern society, 2+ years. This is why there's a lot of kids born at 2-3 year intervals back in the day (I do genealogy, seem this pattern repeted constantly).

[nini]

14. ohhh. that's right

I was looking at it from a equal pregnancy type standpoint :D



I only had one child so I certainly can't compare to those ol days.

[dropkickpa]

16. Some of the women in my family had upwards of

12 children. Good ol' Irish Catholics, breeding more good little Irish Catholics. And that's just the kids that survived, miscarriages were not often recorded. I have 1 child also, and think 12 is just insane! 12 Dropkids of varying age? :scared:

[nini]

17. I know many of those large families from my Catholic school days.

One family's youngest son was younger than his nieces. His oldest sister had kids before he was even born. ha

I can't imagine being a grandmother and still be having kids myself. :crazy:

[AngryAmish]

30. I'm from an Irish Catholic family

2 of my great-grandmothers had 20 kids. And one had all 20 live to adulthood! Alas, only poor Malachy is left.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

24. I remember reading an article about menstruation customs around the

world, and it said that there was a tribe somewhere that referred to menstruation as "virgin's blood" and another that referred to it as "widow's blood." In other words, the typical married woman was either pregnant or nursing most of her reproductive life.

[I Have A Dream]

8. I think that the very reason behind the pill messes with Mother Nature.

However, I understand what you're saying because this seems to be "kicking it up a notch".

:)

[nini]

11. I also think the pill is risky to some women

As long as the dose is just enough to do the job then it's ok for most women.

however, you are right..my issue is really the 'kicking it up a notch' thing. Seems too drastic.

[pitohui]

20. incessant ovulation increases your risk of ovarian cancer

"mother nature" wanted me to have a baby at 13 and die a worn-out grandmother at 40, i think nature's plan stinks thank you very much

thank god for doctors and scientists who WILL interfere w. nature's stinking plan, if not for them, i'd be dead now

[undeterred]

5. I could never tolerate the pill

because it gave me migraines.

However, I'm one of the people who has suffered quite a bit under natural circumstances. I think its great to bring relief to people who really need it, but I don't think that what is normal should be treated like its pathological. And if women start thinking that way, men will too.

[Connonym]

7. Even though I like the idea, I'm afraid of that as well

Most men are already pretty squeemish about it and I can see where there would be a danger that men would come to expect women with no periods. Already I look at magazines and see all the makeup, hair styling, facials, body lotions, exercises, push up bras, waxing, etc., and I wonder how the hell we became so high maintenance. Are there really women out there who do all this stuff regularly? To be honest half the time when I wear makeup (which isn't often) I'm too tired at night to wash it off before bed -- forget about having multi-stepped beauty rituals.

[dropkickpa]

15. I've actually never dated a guy who really minded

"riding the crimson wave". In my experience, women are much more squeamish about it than men are. Most of my female friends react with a "Ewww, gross" when it's mentioned.

I was spoiled during my preg and bf'ing Dropkid, I didn't have a period for about 2 years. Because I HAVE to take my llergy medicine daily, adding one little pill to that regime has never been onerous to me.

[skygazer]

12. To me, liberation is about choice

MY choice, whether it's to take a certain class or apply for a certain job or to make my own medical decisions.

If there's no medical risk, I don't see a problem. As for what may or may not happen in terms of a cultural view of menstruation, I think people tend to get out of a situation what they bring into it - when they're already talking about their fears of what *might* happen, to me that's almost like self-fulfilling prophecy and may speak more about their attitude than anyone else's.

[MedleyMisty]

18. I think it's up to each individual woman

I hate mine and would love to get my hands on that pill.

I don't see it as part of my identity. Probably because I have absolutely no desire to ever reproduce.

Someone else might like having a period. Good for them.

I do think it's sexist to consider it "unclean", and a lot of religious people still do. But in my personal life, I'm the one who's disgusted by it, not my husband. So yeah, I'd take the pill and feel liberated.

[pitohui]

19. "even the queen": by connie willis addresses this

IMHO only an idiot thinks menstruation is anything but a pain and a hassle and a mess, sometimes technology comes along that actually improves our lives, but some people look for a reason to bitch about anything

[SarahB]

21. There's a lot of interesting stuff to think about here.

First of all, how culture looks upon women in our society. That's one issue, but I'd venture to guess most men with at least half a brain and an ounce of sensitivity (i.e. the majority) don't care so much about fake breasts, how a woman grooms down below (or not), or the extent of her menstrual cycles. Maybe I'm naive or maybe I just don't associate with men that are cretins. Frankly, why on Earth would you choose to have a relationship with a man who is going to disparage you for biological functions. Sometimes all of us can get frustrated about unexpected periods (you have a romantic getaway planned that weekend), but you deal with it and it isn't about disparaging anyone's gender. It's about it being a bit more of a mess when um... intimate stuff happens.

Secondly, the fact that too many periods DOES increase your risk of ovarian and uterine cancer. Like several posters above stated, historically women had a child within a few years after onset of menstruation following by years of breastfeeding and would get pregnant when breastfeeding was diminished enough to again ovulate. Often in earlier societies, there could be 4-5 year gaps between babies, yet little or no periods. Plus, ovarian cancer is one of the most deadliest and hard to detect. It is also not an option for most women in modern society to keep having children nonstop from ages 15-50, so hence birth control, hence artificial means. What else are we going to do? 12 ovulations and periods a year is not what our bodies were evolved to necessarily be able to handle and barrier methods of birth control are simply not as statistically effective for long term use (and especially not good for those of us who are extremely fertile and enjoy a regular sex life with our partners).

I use a Mirena IUD. One of the side effects is that my periods are reduced about 90-05%. I spot about 3 days a month. That's it. It works by delivering a low does of localized progesterone to my uterus which causes a thinning in the endometrial lining that would be inhospitable to a fertilized egg. Does it make for things more convenient? Sure, I went from lousy cramps to none at all, heavy periods (that can also cause anemia) to barely any, and I have a form of birth control that's 99.99% effective. It's the best form of reversible birth control I have found for me.

If I had some pig partner that told me what to do or controlled somehow my use of birth control for his convenience, that would be a separate issue all together and frankly, I have enough self respect as not to have a misogynistic jerk for a partner.

[KitchenWitch]

22. Personally, I am against anything that demonizes menstruation any further.

I admit I do not always carry this attitude into my cycle, but I think menstruation provides a great time to slow down and reflect (and otherwise tend to ones spirit as a woman).

I must qualify this by saying that I am in peri-menopause. When I was in my teens and twenties, I did not have the same attitude toward the cycles.

[ismnotwasm]

23. I have an unnatural aversion to studies about "women"

ie. their opinions, intelligence levels, abilities, what women what, etc.

All I can say is THANK (your Deity or whatever of choice)for birth control. I told all of my daughters the pro's and con's I could think of, and told them it was no longer in the 1970's where they didn't HAVE a choice. They came to me what something made then sick or whatever, One couldn't tolerate that ring thing. My oldest got pregnant on birth control. But all three of them took responsiblility for birth control.

Eliminating or having four periods a year is great for those who want that. I don't. In no way. (I have long diatribe about women and how they've been taught to feel about the functions of their bodies, ESPECIALLY menstruation, but I ain't going there) My only reservation is any potential side effects that they haven't found yet. Hope it's ok

Me, I don't fuck with my hormones. My husband and I are extremely creative.:evilgrin:

[Oeditpus Rex]

25. May a man offer an opinion?

One who has zero issues with biological functions?

I have no real opinion on whether this is good or bad, or something in between. I would, however, be dismayed to see it generally touted as an "improvement." There is nothing wrong, dirty, unsavory, etc. about menstruation, but I'd be worried that this pill could result in more social division, i.e. a high-schoolish "OMG! Tyfani still has periods! The skank!"

[ismnotwasm]

26. What you said!

I start on something like that and I don't know when to shup up usually. Thanks!

[WildEyedLiberal]

28. "Tyfani"

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

I realize that's the least on-topic part of your post but I actually burst into giggles when I read that.

As for the topic at hand - I don't have a big problem with my cycle, except on the months when it causes killer, debilitating cramps, and I've never been on any form of BC, so I don't have any strong feelings yet. I guess it would be nice to not deal with menstruation, but at the same time, for me, dealing with it isn't that difficult so meh.

[Oeditpus Rex]

29. I've actually seen it spelled 'Tiphani'

Far be it from me, though, to hijack this very worthy thread with tales of heavily sedated soccer moms. O8)

[pitohui]

31. yeah i can tell you're a man

There is nothing wrong, dirty, unsavory, etc. about menstruation,

only someone who has never menstruated could say that

pain is wrong, blood on the clothes is wrong, it's a frecking nuisance, hokay? cheap to say it isn't a problem when you'll never have to deal w. the problem or spend da moneys on new clothes and bed sheets because of the problem

[Left Is Write]

32. I am a woman, and I agree with "There is nothing wrong, dirty, unsavory, etc. about menstruation,"

[GirlinContempt]

33. I am a woman, and there is nothing wrong, dirty, unsavory, etc. about menstruation.

[uppityperson]

27. Our culture "encourages the removal of all pubic hair"? I missed that one.

I'd be happy to never bleed again. 1 reason for having the week off hormones so you can menstruate is some want to make sure they aren't pregnant. Personally, I'd be very happy to not menstruate again.