2017 Reading, Week 1: Moon Time

As you may know, one of my New Years Intentions for 2017 was to read at least one book every week.

In order to hold myself accountable for this, I have decided to post a little bit about each book that I read on my blog.

The first book that I read is called Moon Time: Harness the Ever-Changing Energy of Your Menstrual Cycle by Lucy H. Pearce. In case the title and subtitle don't give it away, this is a book about understanding and embracing the monthly cycle that approximately half of the human population goes through in their lifetime, the menstrual cycle.

This book. Right here. 10/10 would recommend.

It's a relatively short book, but it's got a lot of information that we don't learn in school and that society seems to want to keep from menstruators. It's almost as if the world is not prepared for those who menstruate to embrace the power within them [because anyone who can bleed for 3-7 days a month and not die is obviously pretty powerful, right?] and harness it to change the world outside.

The book starts with a good biological explanation of what happens to the body during the menstrual cycle and then looks at how society treats humans who menstruate. Like many other books on the topic, it is good at pointing out the flaws that much of today's society exhibit regarding the treatment of menstruation; it is also good at pointing to different ways to work with the changes that the menstruating body experiences, for those who are not interested in using commonly prescribed pharmaceuticals for this.

One of the major things that I learned from the book is that birth control pills are highly over-prescribed in our society, and that many individuals who go on the pill do not get all of the information about it beforehand. I, for one, definitely did not know everything I should have known before I went on the pill in high school. While I am not sure if I believe everything negative about birth control pills that the book talks about (after all, tons of doctors tell you on a regular basis that birth control pills are completely safe, and I do have a good deal of trust in doctors), there are some things that I feel should be discussed more before putting humans on birth control, especially those that are young.

Overall, I think that this is a great book to read if you're interested in knowing more about your menstrual cycle in an intimate way, rather than just the clinical treatment that you get when you look it up. It does a great job of filling in some of the gaps that society has allowed and encouraged in the education on menstruation. It also has some fun activities and ways that you can embrace your menstrual cycle and plan your life around it in order to better use the varying energy levels that you are likely to experience throughout your cycle.

This is a book that I asked for and received for Christmas, and I elected to read it as my first book of 2017 because I wanted to enter the new year with a better understanding of my own body. I also selected it because my menstrual cycle began (i.e. my period started) on the first day of the new year, and it seemed fitting to read something related to moon time (the author uses "moon time" as a phrase for "period") while in my moon time, ya feel?

At the end of the day, I would recommend reading it, and taking from it what suits you the best, allowing yourself to read, acknowledge, and understand the different perspectives that are offered in the book, whether or not you elect to take all of the advice given.

Even if you are not a menstruating human, there is a lot to learn from this book. If you are a non-menstruating human who values the menstruating humans in your life (e.g. mother, sister, friend, partner), I would recommend reading this with one or more of those humans and discussing it as you go in order to better understand how the menstrual cycle affects them and your relationship with them.

Food for Thought Friday: the F-word

You had to know this was coming.

It's time to talk about the F-word

No, not that F-word, this one:

Feminism

There are a lot of misconceptions out there regarding feminism and the feminist movement.

I am (sometimes) proud to call myself a feminist. (Other times, it is difficult, and I'll talk about why today)

So, let's start with a little bit of history.

The feminist movement began in the 19th century (that's the 1800s for those who get confused by the century numeration system) with women fighting for rights like being able to own property and, like, be treated as humans. The actual start of the first feminist movement is debatable. It is my belief that the first-wave feminist movement (in the United States, at least) came after the Civil War, when women whose husbands, brothers, fathers, or other important male people died in the war had to fight to receive their fallen companions' pensions. The first-wave feminist movement (as we now call it) carried on through the early 20th century (1900s) with the women's suffrage movement. Many of the people who are admired as members of the first-wave feminist movement would not have called themselves feminists. The term wasn't really developed until later--they would have been known as women's rights activists. The first-wave feminist movement encompasses a lot, from fighting for the right to own property to the right to vote. Some of my favorite feminists from this time are Clara Barton (educator, Civil War Nurse, founder of the American branch of the International Red Cross, and much more), Mary Wollstonecraft (author of A Vindication of the Rights of Women), Lucretia Mott (abolitionist, quaker, women's rights activist), Sojourner Truth (abolitionist, women's rights activist), and Sonia Kovalevsky (first woman to earn a PhD in mathematics).

The second-wave feminist movement began in the middle of the 20th century (1900s, y'all), after WWII and Rosie the Riveter brought women into a new (to them) sphere. Prior to WWII, most women were expected to, and did, remain in the home. When WWII occurred and all the men were off fighting, and women had to step into the factories to do all the work that the men weren't doing since they were away, they realized that they kinda liked not being home all day every day and so after the war, when all those who had been fighting came back and wanted their jobs, these women were like "yo, I want to have a job still, too" and so the feminist movement grew to encompass women's right to work outside the home as well as other important topics, such as reproductive health (I'm talking Roe V. Wade, birth control access, family planning, etc. some of this was part of the first wave movement, but became more central to the second wave). Much like the first wave of feminism, this was often referred to by another name: the women's liberation (lib) movement. Some of my favorite second-wave feminists are Betty Friedan (author of The Feminine Mystique), Simone de Beauvoir (author of The Second Sex), and Oprah Winfrey (she's considered part of the second wave, though she is still active today).

The second wave of the movement is where a lot of the criticism of feminism began.

The third wave of feminism is what's occurring right now.
It's not perfect; no movement is.
It's been criticized for not being as inclusive as it should, and rightly so. We have all kinds of celebrities claiming the title of feminist, but then turning around and doing things that are wrong.
[in case you don't want to click through to those articles, the first is about Taylor Swift's "squad" not actually being about women's empowerment, since it's kind of a big group of the kind of girls that intimidate you in high school ganging up on another girl, also the term "squad" is one she appropriated from black culture; the second article is about Amy Schumer being foolish and making a really bad parody cover of Beyonce's "Formation," a song by a black woman, about black women's lives, for black women. Not for Amy Schumer.]
This is why it's sometimes hard to be proud to be a feminist.

But here I stand, and it's quite clear that I haven't disowned the movement for the problematic actions of some. So I'm going to talk about what feminism means to me, because the criticisms don't have to be true of everyone.

First, feminism, to me, is about gaining equality for all people of all genders. The word "feminism" is kind of misleading, because it seems to imply that the feminine should be considered better than the masculine. This, however, is not what the intent was when the term was coined. At the time, women were just trying to get to a place where they could be seen as humans and taken seriously for who they were. Over time, the goals of the movement have changed to be more inclusive of those who don't fall into the strict male/female binary but still want to be treated equally and taken seriously. My feminism embraces individuals of any and all genders and seeks to be inclusive of those who haven't had the opportunity to be heard in the past.

Second, I believe feminism needs to be about accepting and embracing people of all races and colors. Sadly, there is a huge lack of what is referred to as "intersectional" feminism in today's movement. [that link is a great article about why intersectional feminism is important]. Everyone deserves to be seen as equal, but that does not mean that we can ignore the different places that individuals come from. The whole idea of being "colorblind" is super offensive to, like, everyone that isn't white because it ignores the horrible conditions that have been faced by people of other races in the past. Yes, everyone should be seen as equal, but that does not mean that everyone is the same. By claiming not to see or care about race, some white feminists are effectively trying to erase the experiences of millions of people whose ancestors faced challenges such as slavery and internment at the hands of white people. That is not okay and needs to be stopped.

Third, my feminism is inclusive of anyone and everyone who needs help. It understands that bad things can and do happen to any person of any type. Some of the issues that people say feminists ignore are actually part of feminist discourse, but people don't want to accept it. Toxic masculinity, that thing that causes people to be like "why are you letting your son watch princess movies" is a huge feminist issue. Because the patriarchal way society is set up is harmful for everyone, even those whose gender qualifies them to receive higher wages, better jobs, and to be taken seriously.

Feminism can and should be about eliminating the harmful societal structures that have put people into boxes that we're not meant to fit in.

It's not about hating men. It's not about burning bras and refusing to shave (though I definitely support not shaving bc like what a waste of time). It's not about harming anyone.

It's about helping everyone. The goal of feminism is to ensure that future generations will have a better, more equitable society than the one that we have, as past generations have worked to make our society more equitable than the one in which they lived. We just have to start by helping those who are the most harmed by how our society is currently operating, and sometimes, that's girls, sometimes that's people of color, sometimes that's boys who are told they can't cry because boys don't cry.

xx,

Sienna

The Fierce Feminist

Speaking of Great Speeches...

Viola Davis gave one this week, too!

Viola Davis won the #SeeHer award, a new award in this year's Critics Choice Awards, and her speech was pretty great.

THINX did a great post about this one, too, so I'll link that for you here. [It even includes an embedded video of the speech itself]

So, the moral of this week is: women are amazing and relevant! Madonna's Woman of the Year Speech did a great job of calling out sexism [and ageism] in the music industry, and Viola Davis' #SeeHer speech did an excellent job of calling out sexism and racism in the film industry. 

And as important as calling out sexism is, calling out racism is probably [definitely] way more important for feminists.

Feminism as we've seen it in the past and as we're often seeing it now misses out on a lot of people. White feminists tend to forget their non-white sisters. And cis female feminists tend to forget their brothers and sisters who aren't cis females.

But we cannot progress while still leaving others behind.

So, always remember that there are others out there who are not like you, but are every single bit as deserving as you are of equality.

While Davis' speech was short because of the nature of the ceremony, she got some important points into there, namely that:

1. generally, roles for African-American women in film are roles such as maids, where the costume likely involves an apron

2. roles for African-American women aren't usually roles that get the label of "sexy"

And these are things that trace way back in history to the time of slavery and the justifications people gave for enslaving their fellow human beings.

And it's about time that this stops being the norm, because it's wrong. Anyone can be anything, and Hollywood needs to portray that.

One more time, for the people in the back: Anyone can be anything

xx,

Sienna

The Fierce Feminist

How 'Bout Madonna, Y'all?

Madonna recently received and accepted Billboard's Women in Music Woman of the Year award

But, like, she didn't just smile and wave like a *good* girl

She delivered an amazing speech about the sexism and double standards that she has faced over the course of her 34 years in music.

And, like, she didn't drop the mic [bc that's actually really, really bad for microphones and she probably knows that--don't ever drop a mic for real guys] but she may as well have.

Instead of writing my own super long blog post about it, I'm going to send you over to the THINX blog, because they wrote a long post about it. 

And, as a bonus, here's a link the video of her speech so you can hear it for yourself; it's definitely worth it.

And I'm gonna leave you with one of my favorite songs by her:

And another, more recent song, featuring another great woman in music (this one's linked because I can't get it to embed from youtube)

xx,

Sienna

The Fierce Feminist

We now return to our regularly scheduled programming with #FoodForThoughtFriday

#FoodForThoughtFriday
#FreetheTitties

Today's topic is the bra, the medieval torture device for breasts, and a tool in centuries of oppression of women.

Now, the bra as we know it today wasn't invented until the early 20th century (Google gives the exact date as November 3, 1914--102 years and 8 days ago today), but binding and constricting the female breast has been around much longer. The reasons for doing so have been varied, but it's overwhelmingly an oppressive measure taken against the female breast (otherwise those who have male breasts would also be wearing bras, right?) and there are now tons of studies that say wearing bras is actually bad for your breast health (these are just five results related to the search "bras are bad" in no particular order).

I'm not here to say the things that have already been said by so many people; I'm here to break down why we still wear bras/consider it taboo not to wear a bra and to offer arguments on why we should #freethetitties.

So, the reasons that we still wear bras:

     1. Bras make breasts "look better." I mean, if you're a heterosexual male, the shape that a bra gives a female breast is pretty nice. Although this is highly contradictory to the second reason we wear bras.

     2. Breasts without bras are "distracting" to men. Which implies that without the bra, a woman's breast will draw a [heterosexual] man's attention more than with. Which kind of implies that they want to see the one without the bra. [of course, all of this hinges on the terrible social construct of "boys will be boys," which implies that "girls should modify their behavior to ensure boys aren't bad," a social construct that is harmful to everyone because it implies that men can't control their animalistic urges and frequently takes young girls out of school to change into clothing that is less distracting to their classmates, but that's a story for another Friday]

     3. Female nipples are offensive! Like, seriously? They look just like male nipples, but are surrounded with more breast tissue. Plus, female nipples produce life-sustaining milk for infants, male nipples don't [usually].

     4. Over time, wearing a bra has gone from something that was invented as a liberation from the super-restrictive corset to something that smushes the female breast into submission against the will of gravity and nature.

And the reasons why we shouldn't are numerous.

     To start with, it really is bad for your breasts. The muscle tissue in breasts can't get stronger if it doesn't have to work. Wearing a bra prevents your breasts muscles from working to get stronger. I mean, there are times when it's reasonable to wear a bra, such as when doing physical activities like running (because the amount of bouncing that can and will occur while exercising is painful), but other than that, let them breathe.

     It's also usually more comfortable to not. Like, 99% of humans who wear bras will tell you that getting home and being able to take it off is the best part of their day, or at least in the top 10 best parts of their day.

     Bras are expensive. Like, it costs $20-$50 to get a decent bra, and that's just if you're in the smaller (but not too small!) sizes. If you require "specialty" sizes, such as a band size smaller than 32 or larger than 40 (VS, I'm looking at you), maybe 42 or 44, or a cup size that is smaller than A (i.e. AA, AAA) or larger than D (VS again), or maybe DD or DDD or H, you have to go to a more expensive store, where they will measure you and fit you with a custom bra that probably costs upwards of $75. I don't know exact costs of these bras, since I fit in the non-specialty bra size category, but I know plenty of people who require "specialty" bras. And you could be using that money for more important things, like food.

     Bras usually don't fit a human the way they're intended. Because most humans don't have perfectly even breasts that are both the same size (I mean, I know there's nearly a full cup-size difference between my left and right which always makes my results come up weird when I get professionally measured) or sometimes breasts are kinda lopsided or crooked-like, most people can't get a bra that actually fits the way they need for it to look AND feel good. And, like, we should embrace the uniqueness of everyone's breasts, not try to fit them all in the mold of what is judged to look good by society.

    Bras are awkward to wash. Like, hypothetically, you're supposed to hand wash them or put them on a delicate cycle. Not doing so can cause them to have a shorter life, meaning you need to buy them more often, which means you're wasting MORE money on them. It's probably a conspiracy by Big Bras to keep you in a never-ending cycle of wasting dozens of dollars on bras.

In short, bras are basically just another form of oppression of women. Fight the patriarchy by not wearing them. Donate them to charity for women who can't afford to spend so much on bras, but still feel societal pressure to wear them even in the face of homelessness.

Or wear them anyway. Like, I can't tell you what to do.

But, most definitely, please do NOT burn them. That's like a weird thing that can put chemicals into the environment.

xx,

Sienna

The Fierce Feminist

#foodforthoughtfriday Reusable Menstrual Products

#FoodForThoughtFriday

How switching to reusable menstrual products forever altered my relationship with my body.

So, earlier this year, I made the switch from my old standard Kotex and U by Kotex period control products to a more eco-friendly option: reusable cloth pads. 

I know, I know, it sounds kind of gross, but it's actually so much easier to deal with for me. Like, yeah, I have to carry around a little bag in which I can store my wet pads when I'm out and about, and yes, I have to rinse and wash them between periods, but I have saved so much money and also reduced my monthly period waste to nothing. 

I was never into tampons (like why would you choose to shove a cotton stick up in your vagina? especially if that cotton stick is, like, bleached and has weird chemicals and stuff in it?) I mean, this is a very sensitive area which absorbs stuff through its mucous membranes and that goes straight to the bloodstream.

Since I first got my period at age 14, I've always been a pad kinda gal. Tampons were a necessary evil for things like lifeguarding at summer camp and, well, nothing else. Just for lifeguarding. 

But even most pads on the market contain chemicals that are no bueno for your vaginas, ladies.

Plus, cloth pads last for, like, years before they need to be replaced, so you save money on 12 periods a year x 4-6 years = 48-72 periods. That's like, a box of tampons ($5-$10) or pads ($4-$12) for each period that you don't have to buy (I used Target's prices for these ranges bc who doesn't love Target?). It adds up (specifically, it adds up to $192-$864).

Getting into cloth pads for the first time:

For my first endeavor into eco-friendly periods, I did a google search for "reusable cloth pads" or something of that ilk, and the first few results included:

1. Gladrags

2. Lunapads

3. Party in my Pants pads

So, naturally, I got a few of each. Gladrags does this great thing where the first time you go to their website, you can get a free "pantiliner plus," which is my favorite of their pads and I now own like 8 of this particular cut. Lunapads are a bit pricier, but with good reason: they offer pads with changeable inserts so you can freshen it up throughout the day. Party in my Pants offers pads in fun patterns (it truly is a party in your pants, y'all) that are virtually leak-proof in my experience.

My first orders were:

From gladrags: the free pantyliner plus and a moon cup in size B (the smaller size--more on this later)

From lunapads: 1 mini pad with insert

From Party in my Pants: 2 medium pads

Obviously, this is not enough for a full period, but it gave me a chance to get to know each brand and figure out what I like and don't like.

After the first period with these pads, I had a strong preference for the lunapads and gladrags (these are softer), but since I've shifted to really liking the Party in my Pants ones because they're thinner and don't run the risk of leaking if you forget about your period (which is totally possible with these because they don't feel like pads).

My current favorite reusable pads are the gladrags pantyliner plus and the Party in my Pants medium pads. Lunapads are nice, but if you're using the inserts, they are a bit thick which can get uncomfortable.

About the menstrual cup:

So, as I mentioned above, in my first order, I purchased a Moon cup menstrual cup from gladrags. These are great for many people. I am not one of those people. In fact, I don't know what possessed me to even get one as someone who did not use tampons before because they always felt too big inside me. When I got it and opened it, my first thought was actually something along the lines of "there is no way that is going to fit in my vagina," which turned out to be extremely true. Luckily, customer service at gladrags is top notch and while they couldn't take it back once I had even attempted to use it (for obvious reasons), they were able to refund me with credit to get more pads.

But don't take this as a reason not to get one. Lots and lots of people love their menstrual cups and they're really practical for things like travel and work and life in general because it's something you can use all day and you just have to wash it out when it gets full and put it back in so no carrying extra stuff around.

Period Underwear, y'all:

So after a few months with cloth pads, I heard about THINX underwear, which is underwear designed specifically for people with periods to wear during menstruation. And, 6 months after ordering my first cloth pads, I placed an order for a bunch of these underwear (which my mom kindly paid for as a birthday present to me--happy periods for a happy birthday).

And let me tell you, these babies are FABULOUS.

They're super comfortable. They absorb your menstrual blood quickly, easily, and without feeling wet. And you can wear them for up to 12 hours. AND you can pair them with internal period catching means (tampons or menstrual cups) if you have a heavier flow OR wear them with nothing else if you have a lighter flow. 

They come in different styles, with different absorption capacities (ranging from the thong at 1/2 tampon's worth to the hiphugger at 2 tampons' worth). I selected 8 pairs for this first order:

3 pairs of hiphuggers, 2 in black, 1 in beige (think the color that everyone refers to as "nude" when talking about underwear despite that probably no one has that as their actual skin color)

2 pairs of "sport" underwear in black

1 pair of high-waisted underwear in black

1 pair of "cheeky" cut underwear in black

1 pair of boyshort underwear in black

The only color options currently available are black and beige, but that's okay because they're super cute in black and acceptably cute in beige.

So...how did this change my life?

Right, so I started this post to discuss how these products have completely changed my relationship with my body (and thus my life).

To start with, I now kind of look forward to my period each month. I know that sounds completely bonkers, but using these pads and underwear is like a treat to look forward to every 5 or 6 weeks (yeah, I have a long cycle).

On top of that, I used to be kinda embarrassed about my period, but now I'm just like "yo guess who's on her period this week! That's right, it's me!"  And I snapchat pictures whenever I order new pads because they're super cute! Which makes me feel cute when I'm on my period, which makes me excited about my period!

Plus, the companies I've mentioned above each have like regular newsletters about their products and about outreach they do and stuff like that, so it has been an educational experience as well. Like, I get weekly emails from THINX (which I signed up for) about feminism in pop culture and about organizations doing good for people with periods and stuff. The whole eco-friendly period community is such a great thing, and it's a great way to feel good about your reproductive system and period and hear from others who love their cuteruses too.

In conclusion (tl; dr)

Reusable menstrual products are great! I would say that everyone should get them, but I am aware that there are some people out there for various health reasons (very sensitive skin, prone to infections, etc. might make it difficult to go reusable). But if everyone who could switched to reusable products, imagine how much waste cut-down that would be!! I once heard that the average period-having person will use about a tractor-trailer's worth of pads and tampons in their lifetime, and that's completely ridiculous and super wasteful (not to mention v. expensive). Whether or not that's accurate (I mean, I fully trust the person who told me, but I didn't do research about it myself) wouldn't we all benefit from saving a little money on tampons/pads in the present, and won't our children/nieces and nephews/other people in future generations benefit from us not throwing away tons of disposable products? I think so.

xx,

Sienna

The Fierce Feminist