One quote that I really resonated with was in “Throwing like a Girl,” by Iris Marion Young. It says, “The female person who enacts the existence of women in patriarchal society must therefore live a contradiction: as human she is a free subject who participates in transcendence, but her situation as a woman denies her that subjectivity and transcendence.” When I first read that part, I immediately thought of the menstrual cycle and how living against it impacts us mentally, physically, and spiritually. When we bleed, we are forced to slow down, to rest, to feel, to isolate, and to reflect.
For me, I also feel more connected to nature, my intuition, and psychic abilities. So, when I get my period, I usually look forward to it because I love taking that time to care for myself. I always take lots of baths, eat good food, and sleep a LOT. In this time is where I have had most of my revelations and gotten to the truth of what I was feeling. When I bleed, I also feel what I had been suppressing all month long. In addition to this, I am extremely sensitive, and not just emotionally. I personally have sensory issues in general, so when I’m bleeding my tolerance becomes very low. Unless there is a way for me to regulate myself, I will likely get angry, and this is the case for a lot (if not most) of us.
When we do not have the means to rest and take care of ourselves, whether that be money, time, or resources, we are denied our subjectivity and transcendence. The enormous growth and wisdom we gain is often stunted because we are not in an environment that is gentle and gives us the time to rest and reflect. The biological cycle of someone with a uterus is roughly 28 days; however, we are still expected to feel and perform the same every day. Over this cycle, we actually go through four phases, and I like to think of them as the seasons: winter (menstruation), spring (follicular phase), summer (ovulation), and fall (luteal phase).
Thinking about my cycle this way helped me conceptualize my nature more. I got this idea from a book I read that changed everything for me, it’s called “Red Moon” by Miranda Gray, and it talks about the mental, physical, spiritual, creative, and sexual aspects of the menstrual cycle. After reading this book, I feel so much more in touch with my body, my womb, nature, and other people with this cycle. Now when I can, I am able to slightly adjust my schedule, so I work with my nature. And although this is great, I am ultimately restricted to patriarchal society.
Unruly Bodies 
I really like how you explained our phases of menstrual cycle to the seasons because it ties in with the argument that women should act the same every day. We know that the weather is different every season, so when you compare that to the menstrual cycle and the expectation of women to act the same every day is very demanding and hard to confine to. It is hard as women to act the same as others when our bodies are going through different stages every day. I think this idea can relate to the in-class topic of phenomenology, because periods and the whole menstrual cycle is different for everyone.
Hello,
I really like the way you describe the different phases of the menstrual cycle into seasons (I never thought of that and it makes so much sense). It is difficult at times to stay the same all the time even though we go through these seasons which alters us mentally, physically, and emotionally. I also like how you said you feel connected to nature and your womb and you are able to make changes in your schedule to fit your needs better because menstrual cycles take a lot out of you in all kinds of ways. So, creating a balance allows you to feel connected to your body and go on about your activities for the day.
I completely agree with this mentality! For so long, and even now, my mindset has been to make my period as small and nonexistent as possible. Since I first had mine, the goal was to move on and find ways to keep it pushing. The older I became carrying this perspective hindered me, when my period symptoms became worse and worse. There was no hiding it. I realized that embracing my cycle could only do more good than harm,
I love this topic! I saw something recently explaining how the 24 hour day is built around the male hormone cycle. For people with the male reproductive system, they get bursts of testosterone every day because their hormones follow a 24 hour pattern. For people with the female reproductive system, their hormones follow a monthly cycle. This means we only get that burst of testosterone about once a month. These testosterone bursts can tend to make a person feel productive, confident, and energized. The male hormone system causes a person to feel this every day. People with the female hormone system only get this once a month. Most people with the female reproductive system, including me, have a phase of a day or so where they feel extremely productive and feel like they can get a weeks worth of work done in 12 hours, this is usually when you are getting that burst of testosterone. It’s interesting to see how the 24 hour day aligns almost perfectly with the male hormone cycle, leaving people with the latter to struggle on most days without the help of hormones so often.
Yes exactly!