Have you heard of Free Bleeding?
I hadn't...until I read an article posted by someone on FB last night.
I ended up getting sucked into following link after link and article after article...
I read more than I needed to and found my self all aggravated with no one to
talk with except my teenage boys...that wasn't going to work! They'd throw up.
Go ahead...read the article right now if you want.
I'll wait....
Que elevator music...Lalalala Lala. La. lalala Lala. La. La. Laaaa...saxophone solo....Lala.
Okay, you're back. Great.
So...what did you think?
Here's my thoughts on this completely disgusting, lack of common sense phenomenon...
....let's call this.....
10 More Things You Need to Know About Free Bleeding.
1. Women in third world countries free bleed because they have NO choice!
I know people who sewed reusable pads for girls in Africa and they were
very grateful to receive such a gift.
2. Periods are not a hush, hush situation in this country.
Turn on any television set and I can almost guarantee you will see a sporty woman
having fun in a tampon commercial. It's discussed...just privately..amongst women!
Who exactly do the women writing these articles want to have period discussions with?
3. My husband would rather have his leg chopped off than discuss my period let alone another woman's.
4. "Mommy, why does that lady have blood dripping down her legs?"
Oh, she's just free bleeding sweetheart. - Not a conversation I want to have with my little boys.
5. Anyone who decides to free bleed will NOT be welcome in my home or car during their monthly cycle.
6. The free bleeders say it is natural...well so are bowel movements and urinating.
Is the next step relieving ourselves wherever and whenever we need in the name of being "Natural".
7. Throughout history women would free bleed...because there were no other options!
How thankful I am to live in a day and age where we can make a choice about
how to stay clean during our periods.
8. Under Mosaic Law, you couldn't even sit where a menstruating woman sat...
she was considered unclean until the end of her cycle.
{Not that we follow Mosaic Law. I was just going as far back as I could to show that
even long ago cleanliness was important.}
9. What about the mess you make? How many loads of laundry will you be washing?
Obviously you be staining things? How much money will you spend replacing
your stained clothes? Furniture?
10. What will you do with all of those stained clothes?
Throw them away..hence creating more trash for Mother Earth and
completely contradicting the whole "save the planet by not
throwing away feminine products" goal you are trying to achieve?
Or..will you donate to the Goodwill? Who will buy your free bled clothing?
"Oh Look! I found new period clothes!" ...not a likely story.
Okay, well, that's all for today.
So tell me...will you ladies be Free Bleeding?
What do you think of this.
Happy midweek to you.
XxOo
I am agreeing with your #5 comment.
ReplyDeleteI don't get the free bleed.
Gag.
Nuf said. . .
I meant #4 comment.
ReplyDelete6. Yes. Exactly. Actually, in some countries, they do just that. They also have higher rates of disease because of lack of cleanliness.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I never researched it, but why would menstrual blood be any safer to have just anywhere than regular blood? People are pretty finicky about coming in contact with blood from wounds. How is this different?
If you are really worried about the environment, there are reusable pads and period underwear. Still isn't something I am interested in, at least not at this point, but so much better than free bleeding.
Snot is natural. Where's the movement to let snot run down your face, huh? Do you want to date the man who free pees and free poops? No.
ReplyDeleteBeth
Akkkk, just no!
ReplyDeletelaughing so hard at Beth's comment.. free pees and poops!!!
ReplyDeleteand is this what was happening yesterday during your piano lesson? ;)
ALL I can think about is the mess. I dislike doing laundry anyway! Free bleeding is like having your worst nightmare come true and showing everyone. Gross.
ReplyDeleteI think you're turning a mountain into a molehill. Most feminists don't really care and don't do this. Yes, if your blood ends up in public spaces, that is probably a biohazard. We're not really talking about that. We're mostly talking sometimes women come home and change into ratty pants and let what will be, be, and we're talking about a couple weirdos. There's a guy who walks around my college campus barefoot, all year long. A few other students in the library where I work walk around barefoot and put their feet on the furniture. That doesn't mean I'm going to get all worked up that there is some "free feet" conspiracy to force us all to accept gross bare feet and walk around barefoot.
ReplyDeleteNot every woman's period is a waterfall of blood for 7 days. The other day, for example, on about day 3, I was in a hurry to get to the gym, and I realized I didn't have a tampon. My gym, despite being for women, doesn't have a sanitary product dispenser. I'm sure I could have asked around and found a tampon, but I am kind of picky, as I have very sensitive and painful ladyparts--can't do "supers" or scents, prefer organic cotton. I decided "screw it, I'll work out without a tampon." And guess what--even after an hour-long strenuous sweaty workout, there was not even a stain in my underwear. So maybe y'all just chill out instead of freaking out over something like .001% of women actually do on purpose.
The marathon runner may have been a weirdo, I'm definitely not disputing that, but people also CRAP THEIR PANTS during marathons and keep running. So. Let's keep some perspective, shall we?
I'm sorry you married a man who'd rather lose a limb than talk about a natural body function that literally half the world has--doesn't that precisely undermine your point #2, though? I mean, you are presumably intimate in many ways, and he can't talk about your period without the "Ew, cooties!" response? Most young men I know, while not exactly celebrating periods, just don't think of them as a big deal. Because honestly, they're not.
They really tried it--->DIS-GUST-ING.
ReplyDeleteJudging from the number of comments here, you sure hit a nerve with this subject! (And in one case, got ON someone's nerves! ha ha!) :)
ReplyDeleteMy grandmother, born almost 100 years ago (USA), once told me that re-usable cloths were used by women during monthly cycles, before the time of disposable products.