The New York Times
Friday, April 20, 2007
The Story
The Summary: A company has released a birth control pill cycle that eliminates the placebo pills, as well as periods.
There were a suprising amount of women who embraced the idea of a period. I've hated it since I got it. Honestly... I think it's nasty.
Since "the pill" came out in the '60s it has freed women. It was the first step in women enjoying sex the way a man does... with out worry of a child. But as research went on, they found other benefits of oral contraceptives, lighter "periods", clearer skin, it lowers the risk of ovarian cancer, and they found out they could skip their periods.
Think about how much of our money goes to personal care items... and we're lucky that tampax hasn't decided to randomly jack up their prices. They could, you know. All the personal care companies could increase prices, and what are we gonna do about it. Nothing! (well, there is the diy version... but I don't think I'd want to wash my reusable maxi pads with the rest of my clothing :S)
I'm actually surprised there's so much opposition. Most people have a "that's fine for you but not for me" attitude, but a few are questioning it. The maker of the documentary "Period: The End of Menstration" Is worried that it's women giving up control of their bodies to a drug. But I see it as taking control away from me. Traditionally, women didn't have many periods in their life time, because they were either pregnant or nursing... say that process is about a year (nine months for the pregnancy, a few more until the baby starts to eat food) and then she would have her period again, once or twice, before becoming pregnant and starting everything over.
Back in the days of the Comstock Laws, it was techinically illegal for a woman to know that sex = baby (well, for a man to tell her that) because that was contraceptive information.
I'm not trying to get uber feminist here... but menstation is one of those uber feminist things. It's strictly feminine... like prostates are strictly masculine. A period is something that controls women, and oral contraceptives are something that turns the tables.
Dr. Constantine cited company-financed research indicating that women often feel less effective at work and school during their periods. They limit sexual activity and exercise, wear dark clothes and stay home more, resulting in absenteeism, she said.
Menstrual suppression may be particularly appealing to women who suffer severe pain, heavy bleeding or emotional problems during their periods. A study by Canadian researchers found that women afflicted by heavy menstrual bleeding give up $1,692 a year in lost wages.
One of the things that makes us ultimately feminine is so gross and makes us feel very unfeminine and disgusting, and smelly. Even pregnancy is gross... too many uncontrolable body functions. We've been taught that body functions (by anyone) are rude.
Women are women because of who they are, not because they bleed every month. Periods are a little earthy/hippy for me. I'll stick to my chemical induced world.
