As I write this, the lining of my uterus is literally falling out of my body. How cool is that?
The past two years have become a journey to becoming period positive. The first step was understanding my period. It’s actually a pretty amazing and badass process. It all started when I took a (surprise, surprise) Gender, Women and Sexuality Studies class called Psychobiology of Women. The class was all about how physiology interacts with the experiences and life events of a woman. I learned more about my body in those ten weeks than I had the twenty years I’d been living in it. We spent a significant portion of the course learning about the science behind periods.
Here is vaguely what happens during a typical cycle without interference from hormonal birth control:
The menstrual cycle consists of three phases: Menstruation, Follicular and Luteal.
Menstruation
Like a movie that begins with the ending, the day your period begins is actually day one of your cycle. Menstruation occurs when what was once the lining of your uterus flows out of your vagina. This usually lasts 3–7 days.
Follicular
After your period, your body releases hormones that signal 10–20 follicles to begin developing in the ovary. These follicles contain an immature egg (ovum); only one (usually) will develop into a mature egg. Endometrium begins to thicken for possible implantation of a fertilized egg. The length of this process varies greatly and plays the largest role in how long your cycle is. An average cycle is 28 days long but they can range and are unique to each woman!
Luteal
Ovulation marks the first day of the luteal phase. The egg travels through the fallopian tube towards the uterus. If the egg is not fertilized within this 24-hour window, it will disintegrate. A woman is fertile the 5 days leading up to and on ovulation day.The remnants of the follicle that released the egg and hormones to thicken the lining of the uterus is now called the corpus luteum. If fertilization does not happen, the corpus luteum breaks down, also causing the lining to disintegrate. This is when women can experience physical and emotional changes like bloating, cramps, tender breasts, moodiness, etc.
Now like with any reverse chronological film with great cerebral payoff, I suggest you read through that again to really pick up on all the nuances.
Let’s talk about PMS for a second.
The class I took also doubled as a psychology class. And the most revolutionary idea that my professor suggested was that PMS (Premenstrual Syndrome) might be a myth. Cramps are definitely real, I can attest to that, but the studies she shared showed that PMS is partly psychological. In Western culture, girls are brought up barraged by negative stories and warnings about PMS well before menarche (a girl’s first period). When you go in thinking the worst, the stronger your symptoms seem to feel. My professor told us a story about teaching the course a previous term, and how after the lecture on PMS, a female international student from East Asia came up to her and told her that she had never heard of PMS. This is a great example of how language can be used to construct and shape our experiences and how that varies across cultures.
When I encourage period positivity, I’m not saying that you have to love your period and shout if from the rooftops. But you could. “I am shark bait, hear me roar!” It is a shift in our way of thinking, talking about and dealing with periods. Recognize that it is not an inherently bad thing and something dirty that needs to be cleaned up and kept hidden.
After understanding my period, I was less afraid of it. I had been on hormonal birth control pills for about five years, which had made my periods pretty manageable — the occasional baby cramps and three days of bleeding. When you’re on the pill, your body does not ovulate, so I had not experienced my natural period since I was sixteen. I made a personal choice and decided that I didn’t want the extra hormones in my body, so I made the switch to the Paragard IUD (intrauterine device) which is completely hormone-free.
In a way, I chose to have my period. It’s important to recognize that having the choice to have your period or not is definitely a privilege.
The Paragard did give me more intense — longer, heavier and more painful — periods for the first several months after insertion. So there were times where I definitely did not love it, but I appreciated that I was now more in-tune with exactly what was happening to my body and how that affected the way I felt and sometimes, what I did. My newly acquired menstrual cup also helped a lot with this. It really forced me to push past feelings of discomfort and ignorance toward my anatomy, spread my labia and get that medical-grade silicone cup in there. Yeah, it can get messy — sometimes straight-up The Shining, but that’s normal! The lining of your uterus is literally falling out of your body, remember?
Treat yourself like a queen on your period. Rest. Invest in the luxury of a heating pad. Hoard chocolate all around your room like Claudia Kishi. Masturbate. Make yourself an empowering playlist (“Crimson Wave” by TacocaT). Wear BIG, comfy underwear. These Best Fitting high-waisted panties are my fav; they make me feel like a walking Mad Men sex scene. Oh yeah, try to eat healthy and exercise, too. I know it’s the last thing you want to do when it feels like your uterus is trying to murder you, and a you have a serious Netflix hangover, but it really does help.
Think yourself a powerful goddess. A super punk sparkle demon bitch. Remember, the shedding of each uterine lining is a fresh start.
