I tried to download a software update last night while writing this site; it produced an error message that blocked any further computer use until a woman from Apple - I use a Macintosh, as a proper graphics guy would - solved the problem this morning over the phone. But I lost many files, including my mail. I know, I know, I should have backed it up.
She likes the site and menstruation . . .
Hello! I'm [I deleted her name], a college student from Stanford, California.
First of all, I'd like to tell you that you have a wonderful Web site!! It is extremely informative and fascinating. I had always wondered what women wore before adhesive pads and tampons [for example, a belted pad] and am excited that you have taken initiative to offer what is usually such secretive information to the public.
As to the question, would I stop menstruating: I would have to say no. For some women, the end of menstruation would put an end to mood swings, sensitivity, horrible cramps and headaches. In this case, I can see why anyone would want to get rid of it! However, I have had bad cramps only a handful of times, and rarely experience large mood swings or other related symptoms. I see my period as an integral part of my body and I don't think I would feel right without it (despite the money I must spend on tampons). Another reason I would not get rid of my period is that it conveys information. Every month I get my period I am happy that I am not pregnant. And someday when I wish to be pregnant, I will be happy not to have it!
Thanks again for your Web site!
. . . and he doesn't, the site anyway: "You need a life" [Caution: you're about to read bad language, in more ways than one]
Your a fucking dork man. Your Web site is fucking stupid and your a fucking moron. You've probably never even had a women and you live in your run down dirty ass apartment with your mother while trying to dream up ways of making yourself famous. Fucking twat.
Talk about stopping menstruation! See the play Even the Queen, in New York
I was looking around your Web site today and loved it. I found it by typing "menstruation" into Yahoo! :) I just wanted to let you know about this event and if you could post it on your site it would make me a very happy girl! If you're in New York City I'd ; love it if you attended.
Even the Queen, a dark red comedy by K. T. Bradford, presented by The Little Gem Theater Company, directed by Nicole Bischoff. Pantheon Theater, 303 W 42nd St. (@ 8th Ave across from Port Authority) 2nd floor.
Thirty years in the future women have achieved what some would consider the ultimate goal: the elimination of menstruation. But in this world where personal freedom is not only a right but protected by law, a girl struggles to rebel by doing the only thing that will get everyone's attention: having her period.
March 21st @ 7pm, March 22nd - March 25th @ 8pm, March 25th @ 3pm.
www.RoyalFortress.com for more info. Admission is free.
[Read Would you stop menstruating if you could? to consider others' ideas about this, even men's! And two e-mailers to this site have mentioned a short story with the same name and theme; it has to be the inspiration for this play.]
Book about menstruation published in Spain
The Spanish journalist who contributed some words for menstruation to this site last year and wrote about this museum (MUM) in the Madrid newspaper "El País" just co-authored with her daughter a book about menstruation (cover at left).
She writes, in part,
Dear Harry Finley,
As I told you, my daughter (Clara de Cominges) and I have written a book (called "El tabú") about menstruation, which is the first one to be published in Spain about that subject. The book - it talks about the MUM - is coming out at the end of March and I just said to the publisher, Editorial Planeta, to contact you and send you some pages from it and the cover as well. I'm sure that it will be interesting to you to have some information about the book that I hope has enough sense of humour to be understood anywhere. Thank you for your interest and help.
If you need anything else, please let me know.
Best wishes,
Margarita Rivière
Belen Lopez, the editor of nonfiction at Planeta, adds that "Margarita, more than 50 years old, and Clara, 20, expose their own experiences about menstruation with a sensational sense of humour." (Later this month more information will appear on the publisher's site, in Spanish.)
My guess is that Spaniards will regard the cover as risqué, as many Americans would. And the book, too. But, let's celebrate!
Two weeks ago I mentioned that Procter & Gamble was trying to change attitudes in the Spanish-speaking Americas to get more women to use tampons, specifically Tampax - a hard sell.
Compare this cover with the box cover for the Canadian television video about menstruation, Under Wraps, and the second The Curse.
An American network is now developing a program about menstruation for a popular cable channel; some folks from the network visited me recently to borrow material.
And this museum lent historical tampons and ads for a television program in Spain last year.
Now, if I could only read Spanish! (I'm a former German teacher.)
If you had a party or created a ritual to celebrate your first period, we would be interested in hearing your story and seeing your videos, pictures.
This would be for possible inclusion in a television documentary called
Reinventing Rituals, Coming of Age in a Modern World for Vision Television, in Canada.Series consultant is Ron Grimes, internationally recognized expert on ritual and the author of numerous books on ritual including his most recent, Deeply Into the Bone, Reinvented Rite of Passage.
These three one hour specials, Coming of Age in the Modern World; Marriage Separation and Divorce; and Birth and Death are co-production between Northern Lights Television in Toronto and Ocean Entertainment in Halifax for Vision Television Network. They will air on Vision TV, a Canadian specialty channel whose mandate is to cover multi-faith, multicultural stories about the human spirit.
Reinventing Rituals will explore exotic cultures and ceremonies that may, on the surface, bear little resemblance to the hallmarks of our own lives. We will witness dramatic initiation ceremonies from Africa, complex funerals from New Guinea, and elaborate wedding and courtship rituals from South America. Viewers will become acquainted with traditional rites from many different cultures, contemporary and historic.
However, at the core of this series are the North Americans who are exploring new ways to mark transitions. We'll meet parents who are preparing to spend their children out in the mountains to spend grueling days and nights in initiation ceremonies; individuals who are approaching the end of life determined to design all aspects of their own funerals; and expectant couples who are redefining appropriate behaviour in the birthing room. This series is about these men and women and their quest to reinvent traditional rites of passage; but it's also about the connections that can be drawn between these modern pioneers and their counterparts in other times and places.
Program #1 The Bridge: Coming of Age in the Modern Reinventing Rites of Passage.
Reinventing Rituals is a compelling series of television documentaries that explore the dramatic resurgence in ritual and how it is being interpreted or recreated in order to give meaning to our lives.
From first menstruation ceremonies to vision quests, traditional societies have used ritual to help young people mark and make the transition from adolescence to adulthood. All but abandoned by Western culture, initiation rituals are suddenly becoming more popular.
The increasing profile of street gangs, drug wars, and teenage promiscuity in our communities have contributed to rising the popularity of the coming of age rituals. Many parents fear that if they do not provide an initiation scenario their children will initiate themselves using sex, drugs or dangerous behaviour. By enrolling their children in complex and often dramatic initiation rites, families can help young people make the difficult transition to adulthood. In this program we meet youth at the National Rites of Passage Institute in Cleveland Ohio who have spent the past year in a coming of age program. And then we'll join up with teenagers who've enrolled in a 10 day-long program outside Calgary, Alberta as they prepare to spend three World
If you are interested and/or need more information, contact
Deannie Sullivan Fraser
reinventing_rituals@hotmail.com
902-423-9056 phone
902-423-9058 fax
SNAIL MAIL: Ocean ENTERTAINMENT, SUITE 404, 1657 BARRINGTON STREET, HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA, CANADA B3J 2A1
Irregular menses identify women at high risk for polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), which exists in 6-10% of women of reproductive age. PCOS is a major cause of infertility and is linked to diabetes.
