If any of you’re interested in what I have to say about the public and private discourse of menstruation, it’s your lucky day, because I’ve got a post up at Persephone this afternoon on just that! Between that and the pole dancing bear, it’s a bit of a grab bag today.
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An, “awesome grab bag,” you mean.
for some reason i cant log onto the pm site to comment on your post, so ill do it here (and if you want to post it on pm for me, id luv ya
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first i think its great you highlighted this issue. i remember in high school, being in class and having to get a pad out of my backpack and into my pocket without anyone seeing. stealthy. but then in university, i decided, f*** it. there was nothing to apologize or be embarrassed about being on my period. and if someone had issue with seeing me take a pad from my bag, then that was their issue and i didnt need to bother with them. lets hope there will be a shift in thinking and talking about this!
secondly, i remember visiting a mosque once and there was a list of rules before entering the main prayer hall. it did list that women menstruating were not allowed, which of course threw me for a loop. im not expert on the religion, but i do believe that this school in toronto is simply following the religious tradition, not creating this segregation for the sake of it. perhaps we can invite someone who knows more about this topic to explain why. and like katie said, its not just islam, there are religions and cultures the world over who have their own perspective and regulations when it comes to menstruation. i remember my antrho prof told us of this one tribe (it was first year, so youll have to forgive me for not remembering specifics), where the women go to a hut and rest there for the week. they chat with the other women, get a break from housework and child minding. so while it was a segregation, for many of the women they welcomed this as a mini break from their usual heavy schedules. much like katie said here, about self-segregation.
just some things to throw into the discussion
I’m going there right now. I love talking about menstruation! Really, I do.