Period Power CHAPTER ONE * THE BLOODY TRUTH Periods are powerful. Human life would literally not exist without them. They are what make reproduction possible and keep our wombs ready to bear children, if or when we choose to do that. The common experience of menstruation connects people all over the world. Think about it: if you were assigned female at birth, most likely you will get your period on a monthly basis for around forty years of your life. It doesn''t matter where you are from, how you identify, or what access to resources you have. And if you don''t get your period during menstruation age, it means that your body is telling you either that you are pregnant or that your health needs attention. Though, it''s also important to know that when birth control is used without breaks, menstruation may stop as well.
To strengthen the way we advocate for periods, we need to understand what a period is in the first place. In the United States we still live in a culture where there is no expectation that we''ll learn about periods. Even when it is taught (in schools, by parents, by friends), it''s often taught in a way that limits our understanding of what we might call the menstrual experience. Basic sex education--if available--usually starts in the final years of elementary school and continues into middle school. For those of us who have already experienced it, we might have cringe-worthy memories of our teachers holding up bananas or wooden models of penises to demonstrate how to properly roll a condom on. My favorite memory is of when my eighth-grade science teacher took a red condom, blew it up, and shouted, "See? It works for any size!" My experience with sex education in elementary and middle school was in gender-segregated classrooms. Teachers often shuffle boys into one classroom and girls into another. In the boys'' classroom the health teacher might explain that the boys'' voices are going to get lower, their testicles will descend, and hairs will grow in unfamiliar places on their bodies.
In the other classroom the girls are learning about their bodies too. They will learn about their own hair growth, about the development of boobs, and about hormones and the new emotions that they might start to feel. This might also be the first time periods are brought up in the classroom. The teacher will hold up a tampon and pad and explain what products are available and the basics of how to use them. But the experience of actually menstruating will not be covered. You won''t find out what the blood will actually look like or what to do if you feel extreme pain while menstruating. The teachers won''t tell you what you should do if you stop menstruating suddenly. The option of using sustainable alternatives such as menstrual cups and reusable pads, rather than a typical tampon or pad, will not be discussed.
From the moment the classroom separates into boys and girls, the girls learn to feel shame about openly talking about menstruation, and this prevents future conversations and questions from surfacing. Girls learn that the topic of periods is something you either keep to yourself or you mention only to other girls, in private circles. And boys often don''t formally learn anything about menstruation. They are taught that it isn''t any of their business, that it''s weird to even be curious. Menstruator or not, you still have to share spaces with many people who are. Everyone, regardless of sex or gender identity, should know what periods are and should feel comfortable talking about them--this is necessary in order to build inclusive and egalitarian communities. So, let''s dive in. * WHAT''S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A PERIOD AND A MENSTRUAL CYCLE? * "Period" and "menstrual cycle" are two terms that are used to indicate the time of the month when the body excretes blood, but the words don''t mean exactly the same thing.
The "menstrual cycle" refers to the approximately twenty-eight-day process during which the body prepares for pregnancy. A "period" is just one brief stop in a much larger menstrual cycle. The diagram above gives us a look into a menstruator''s pelvic area, right between the hips. The two ovaries hold the eggs, and the whole menstrual cycle is directed by two of our hormone friends: estrogen and progesterone. At the beginning of each cycle, estrogen and progesterone trigger the creation of the endometrium, which is a lining on the inside walls of the uterus. Made of tissue and blood, the endometrium is spongy enough to make a perfect landing place for a fertilized egg. When pregnancy does occur, the uterus is often referred to as the womb. Ovulation happens when a menstruator''s ovaries release a matured egg about halfway through a menstrual cycle.
As you can see from the diagram, in order to get to the uterus, the matured egg travels through the fallopian tubes. The egg basically just sits in the fallopian tube or the uterus and waits, hoping to be fertilized by a sperm cell. Most of the time pregnancy does not occur, which causes the uterine lining to break off from the uterine wall and exit the body through the vaginal canal. This action is what we call a period. * THE BLOODY TRUTH ABOUT PERIOD BLOOD * When I first got my period, I was scared. I knew what menstruation was, but no one had ever told me how period blood would look, smell, and feel. So, here it is--the bloody truth in all its glory: What period blood actually looks like, how it smells, the color, and how much of it comes out will vary across menstrual experiences. There is no "normal" version of menstruation.
All bodies are different, so period experiences will also be different. Yes, the menstrual cycle is approximately a twenty-eight-day interval, but the cycle is rarely precisely twenty-eight days--and some menstruators sometimes will bleed between periods.1 On average a menstruator will lose anywhere from five to twelve teaspoons, or about thirty to seventy-two milliliters, of blood in one menstrual cycle.2 Sixty milliliters of blood or more is considered a heavy flow. But how can someone measure the amount of blood? Each regular-size tampon holds about five milliliters of blood;3 so this means that if you are using more than twelve tampons per period that are getting fully soaked, then you should go see a doctor. Another way to figure out how much blood you are expelling is to use menstrual cups, which often have marks for measurement on their sides. When period flow gets very heavy, more than eighty milliliters per cycle, it''s called menorrhagia, and losing this much blood can cause one to feel tired and short of breath--both of which are symptoms of anemia. Having such a heavy flow is not only a hassle because more period products are needed, but it can also be extremely painful.
The opposite of this condition, a very light period of less than twenty-five milliliters of blood lost, is called hypomenorrhea.4 So what causes some of us to have only light spotting once a month, and others to experience prolonged menstrual cycles that involve changing pads multiple times in an hour? Menstruators who have had children or are in perimenopause (the phase right before menopause) typically have heavier flows because menorrhagia can be caused by hormone imbalance--high estrogen and low progesterone leads to more bleeding and clots (passing more than one per day)--but menorrhagia can occur for a number of different reasons, such as certain medications that interfere with blood clotting, uterine fibroids (benign tumors), and polyps (benign growths).5,6 What can you do to regulate or help lessen the pain of period flow? Use the right products for you, eat well, and exercise in a healthy way.7 The color of period blood can also be anywhere from dark brown or even black to a very vibrant red color. This difference in color does not necessarily have any implication for one''s health when within the red spectrum. The color of the blood is dependent on how long the blood, tissue, or even clots have been exposed to oxygen. It''s similar to how your blood changes color if you cut your skin. When you first start to bleed, the color is this very bright red.
After letting the cut heal a bit (hopefully with a bandage and disinfectant), the scab that forms is very dark, almost purple. The color of blood darkens with more exposure to oxygen because the pigment concentrates as the water in the blood evaporates.8 The brighter the period blood, the less time it has been in your uterus. The blood flow tends to get a bit heavier on day two or three of your period, so this is when the color of one''s period blood might become brighter.9 The consistency of period blood is probably what people are most in the dark about. No one really tells you what your period is going to feel like, much less what the actual blood is going to be like. Most of my guy friends assume that period blood is watery, like when you get a bloody nose. Incorrect.
Your menstrual blood might be watery some of the time, particularly in the first few cycles or in the f.