When I was nine, I would pray every afternoon that I would never get my period.
I was so terrified of womanhood and what it meant.
All I knew is there was something…distasteful…on the other side.
But even to my very uninformed and scared young mind, a period signified “woman.”
To bleed was to be a woman.
There is something problematic in this, in that not all women have periods and not all women bleed.
Womanhood is more vast than a period and includes trans women, post-menopausal women, and other women who don’t bleed for one reason or another…
But our cultural myths often tell us that a period is synonymous with becoming a woman…
And because of this, I’ve seen over and over again that how we treat menstrual bleeding often goes hand in hand with how we treat women in our culture.
How does the mainstream treat period blood?
It’s gross – mysterious – meant to be hidden – a medical issue/problem – needs to be “sanitized” and kept clean – not incorporated into the greater cultural conversations – dirty….
Hmmmmm….sounds a lot like how we treat women and “femininity” in general.
Like there’s something wrong with you that needs to be sanitized and kept hidden.
BLEEEEECCCHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.
So, changing how you relate to your own period or anyone else’s period is a FABULOUS way to change how you think about womanhood.
What if, instead of menstrual blood being gross, unsanitary, and meant to be hidden…
Blood was beautiful, natural, and meant to be celebrated?
What if women were beautiful, natural, and meant to be celebrated?
What if their bodies weren’t weird medical issues to be sanitized….
But temples of awe to be respectful towards and grateful for?
All of this is to say that having sex on your period can be quite radical and empowering.
It can change the way you feel about your body and your womanhood.
Or, if you have sex with a woman who bleeds, it can change how you view her.
Or, if you don’t bleed yourself, celebrating periods and period sex can change how you view women who do bleed.
Any way you look at it – it’s liberating.
So this week, we’re talking about period sex: why it’s so amazing and why it needs to be celebrated.
Discover 3 exquisite benefits of sex while menstruating below.