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Date Posted: 1/05/07 2:50:57am
Author: Madam K
Subject: Menstruation... yes I'm talking about blood from the womb!

Hi Everyone, this post is specifically for women. Women who have at an earlier time in their life, are at that time in their life or will enter into a time in their life when they menstruate.

I wrote this email the day after I had attended the two day Starfire workshop with Katherine Cunningham. I wrote it to witches and muggles, hippies and conservatives old and young women in my life who I felt lovingly compelled to share some of the wisdom I had reclaimed during that weekend. So please understand why I use the word confronting quite a lot in this email.

As many of the women I have sent this to have passed it onto other women, I thought I would post it here to share with both men and women.

This is not a rant against men. This is an expression of woman. All of the women at the workshop vocally encouraged men to explore their own issues in their own way. Katherine even suggested a Semen workshop... however that is mens business for men to produce.. this however is women's business for us women. What the men do is their own mystery to be shared by them with us if they choose.

*****


OK ladies, take a deep breathe and open your minds... open them nice and wide and read the short summary of some women's wisdom I received this weekend. I couldn't help myself and found I had to contact the women I knew to share
this little seed of knowledge. If it's not your cup of tea I understand, but if anyone finds something in this to run with then I'm glad I did it.

Have you taken a moment to consider your menstrual blood? The blood that EVERY human on this earth was nurtured with whilst they were in their mother's womb? This weekend I spent two days working with other women learning more about our monthly blood and exploring all of the politics, meaning and ramifications of the way we as women have been manipulated and taught to view this beautiful source of power and womanhood.

Now some part of us, no matter how liberally minded we may or may not be are probably thinking yuck! This is exactly what I am talking about. The blood is not diseased, it's not unnatural and it is not a curse. Without our monthly flow our vaginas would not be well maintained and our body and being not ready for birthing.

Why is it we feel ashamed, and are dead scared of having someone see us bleeding? God forbid anyone should see a stain on the back of our pants or skirt or a tell tale dark mark on a seat. Even the most powerful CEO who has made the company a billion dollars would not feel comfortable enough to stand up and turn around in front of a boardroom of people if she thought there was even the slightest possibility she had bled through her clothing.

Why this fear and shame? It's not like we did it on purpose or in a vindictive way, it's not harming anyone, it can be cleaned up. When the leader of the free world left a stain on a woman’s dress he was idolised. So why do we need to be ashamed if we leave a stain on our own clothing?

Have you thought about where your ideas on menstruation and your monthly blood is formed? Who is it that sponsors menstrual education in schools? Who is it we rely on for our knowledge about menstruation? Have you read or seen any information that isn't produced by the people who make and profit from the products you buy to use during your blood?

Proctor and Gamble as well as Johnson and Johnson, two of the worlds leading tampon and pad manufacturers, sponsor and provide menstrual education in schools and proudly say so on their website. We are taught to view our menstrual blood as dirty and something that needs a "Sanitary" napkin or absorbent tampon to keep us clean? These products, tampons included, are rarely sterile.

To give you an insight into the machine perpetuating the disgust of women toward their own body I'll briefly describe an incident that took place between 1975 and the early 1980's. An investigative journalists in the US found the paper trail that revealed that Proctor and Gamble new full well that their product "Rely" could kill women. Yet they released the super absorbent tampon anyway as the profit would far outweigh any lawsuit they would receive. 55 women died as a result of using their "Rely" tampon.

How can we trust companies that were ruthless enough to not only risk but take lives in order to make a profit to educate us and inform us about our menstruation and bodies. Our shame is their gain. We buy their products in response to a fear their education and marketing perpetuate. An education given to us in our formative years as a woman, during our adolescence and teen hood.

When have you seen a tampon or pad ad marketed at a woman in her 30’s or older? Does anyone else roll their eyes when they see those young teenage girls talking about an ultra slim pad that makes them feel comfortable enough to wear tight white pants... who here wants to wear tight white pants during their period or at any other time anyway?

There is also an environmental impact. Our used pads and tampons which we are told to place into "sanitary" bins are packed into toxic waste barrel and buried in the earth. They are too toxic to burn and too toxic to allow to decompose in open landfill. So how is it these items that are too toxic to burn and inhale or to decompose into the earth are fine to place into the most absorbent part of a woman?

There are so many more health issues related to the way we treat and view our bodies during menstruation. There are also a lot of spiritual and feminist issues related to menstruation and I encourage everyone to explore it at a pace they are comfortable with if at all.

Change is confronting and isn't for everyone. There is no shame in not changing your perception, but I hope that you will now at least have an alternative view to the one we have been indoctrinated with by advertising and media and the corporations who produce the goods.

But don’t fear. There are alternatives. You can check out www.thekeeper.com.au or www.radpads.com.au for some of these. I do warn you that they may be confronting. Many women who have been down this path will tell you, there is no shame in this. You aren't failing a sisterhood or conforming by choosing to use the pads and tampons you are accustomed to, I just feel you deserve a chance to know more about your menstruation in the hopes it will be of benefit to your health and well being.

You can also use http://www.redwebfoundation.org and keep an eye out for this workshop http://www.wytchyways.com/starfire.html . That’s the one I just attended and I have to say I am a new woman! There were women from all walks of life from corporate to alternative in attendance, but by the end of it we were all more open to a new way of looking at our menstruation. The facilitator of the workshop Katherine Cunningham is also a fantastic resource and although she is in Melbourne she is in Sydney from time to time and is able to perform one on one or group workshops if you also have friends interested. Her email is madrone@myway.com

I have also just found this on a google search about Tampon Awareness week happening this year. http://www.tamponalert.org.uk Please feel free to forward this email onto any friends or women in your life who you want to offer another perspective on their menstruation.

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