And now for something completely different: via Ann Althouse comes this article on a pill that suppresses menstruation. Of course there are the usual stupid objections -- "but that's unnatural!" Eg.: "We don’t want to confront our bodily functions anymore." And “Women are not sick... They don’t need to control their periods for 30 or 40 years.”
Well, fuck you, lady, what do you call feeling like shit five days out of every freaking month of the year? I call that being sick, and no amount of propaganda from the Womb Fanatics will change that. And to answer Althouse's question, hell yes I'd jump on that pill -- if I could be bothered to go to the doctor, and could afford to pay for it every month. I doubt that birth control -- which is all this is -- is covered by my medical insurance. It wasn't back in 2000, which is when I started taking the Pill, and did so for about a year until I broke up with my fiance and went back to a sex-free spinster life. And if you must know, that pill -- I forget which one it was now, one of the common ones with the five placebos you take one week so you'll have a period -- did calm my cramps down, and made my usual gusher of a menses into a demure trickle. However, it also made me fat and weepy, so there was a trade-off. Now I am only weepy one week out of the month, but boy does that week suck. And it's getting worse the closer I get to the Change... this last one was the worst, seven straight days of cramps and clots and emotional disturbance. I may actually make that doctor appointment, though I'm afraid he'll want me to get a bunch of tests first involving various cold metal instruments being poked up my hoo-hah. That's not as much fun as it sounds.
Back to the Womb Fanatics: my favorite quote is the Anne Frank one. Girls, Anne Frank called her period a "sweet secret," so how can we dare diss it?
Comments (6)
But, but Andrea - periods have never been a hassle for *me*, and *I* don't see any point to taking period-suppressing pills, so obviously your negative attitude is the result of the patriarchy doin' a number on your weak little mind. Because all women think alike and feel alike. (Of course, there is the possibility that I'm such a belligerent little crab by nature that any periodic increase in such tendencies just gets lost in the noise.)
Posted by Moira Breen![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://victorysoap.us/blog/nav-commenters.gif)
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April 22, 2007 1:53 PM
Posted on April 22, 2007 13:53
You sound like you could do with a really thorough gynecological workup: check for uterine fibroids, polycystic ovaries and all those other misery-inducing conditions that women are heir to. Given that you're past 40 and celibate there could be some meds (not necessarily birth control related) that will bring the situation under control.
Failing that, there's always the full-bore hysterectomy. I had one last year (at age 54) and glad I did. No more debilitating Johnstown-blood-flows anymore, and no more ruined clothes and bedsheets.
Posted by Annalucia![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://victorysoap.us/blog/nav-commenters.gif)
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April 22, 2007 3:40 PM
Posted on April 22, 2007 15:40
Anne Frank also said "people are really good at heart." Poor thing.
Posted by Kathy Shaidle![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://victorysoap.us/blog/nav-commenters.gif)
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April 22, 2007 5:22 PM
Posted on April 22, 2007 17:22
I went into peri-menopause in 2000 (I was 44), still had periods for awhile, but with prempro they were easy. 3 years ago that quit altogether, but I'm still on HRT because it makes me a pleasanter person to be around...and helps me stay "physically fit" to continue my relationship with my husband.
If I could've suppressed my periods, I would've. I didn't hate them, they weren't much trouble, I just like not having 'em. Hell, I had my tubes tied after Lovely Daughter was born so I wouldn't have to remember to take a pill! I like simple when it comes to taking care of myself.
Better living through hormones!
Posted by prairiecat![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://victorysoap.us/blog/nav-commenters.gif)
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April 22, 2007 6:57 PM
Posted on April 22, 2007 18:57
I'm not sure it can technically be being "sick", as it's normal behaviour for a healthy (adult, female) body.
On the other hand, just because it's "normal" is no reason to not want to change it; the cult of the natural-as-perfect is stupid.
Posted by Sigivald![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://victorysoap.us/blog/nav-commenters.gif)
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April 23, 2007 3:46 PM
Posted on April 23, 2007 15:46
As Tim Blair noted in a recent column, those who want natural, drug-free childbirth (substitute other "natural" things to make the analogy a little closer) don't seem inclined toward natural, drug-free dentistry.
Posted by Ken S, Fifth String on the Banjo of Life![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://victorysoap.us/blog/nav-commenters.gif)
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April 23, 2007 9:39 PM
Posted on April 23, 2007 21:39