Extra-long cycle this time, which if I weren’t charting would likely have scared the beejeebuz out of us, but as it is was just a wee bit irritating. Although I’m still not positive I ovulated, because charting for the past week or so — surprise! — has been a little bit off.
But regardless, here I bleed, proof again I am a human female of fertile age. Not sure why the universe thinks we need so many reminders, but oh well.
I wore my brand new bright red string bikini in massage class tonight, and nearly forgot about it until it came time to strip down to be a body for another student’s practice. Somehow, the existence of a hairy-legged and -pitted menstruating fat chick in a red string bikini and naught else failed to implode the universe, start a riot, blind all who saw, or make anyone swear off women or join a monastery.
I guess the patriarchy isn’t right about everything after all. Who knew?
Once upon a time, before it occurred to anyone that pregnancy was optional even with sex, women would bleed only a few times in their lives. They got married as soon as (or before) they were fertile, spent most of their time either pregnant or nursing, and usually bore children until they no longer ovulated. I’m not sure the universe did set it up to remind us repeatedly that we’re fertile women.
Sorry. I meant to say married or partnered. Of course, through most of pre-history, marriage was a null concept. Once the patriarchy realized that sex led to babies, and decided, erroneously, that women were merely the ground in which men’s seed grew, women became property passed from their fathers to their husbands: the institution of marriage.
I like to believe that now that we know both male and female gametes are necessary to create children, we are developing a more even theology as well as more even relationships.
Well, no, I don’t think the point is actually to remind us of our fertility. :p To have us go at it like, well, humans, maybe!
Although I think it’s an over-simplification to say most women only bled “a few times”; since only about 85% of couples not using any form of birth control will get pregnant in the course of a year, and it generally takes a few cycles to conceive even when actively trying, I think it’s fair to say women used to have many fewer periods, but not just a few.
“hairy-legged and -pitted menstruating fat chick in a red string bikini”
This is awesome! lol