Quickie post:<\/p>\n
A while ago there was a post on Alas about whether or not the use of birth control pills to suppress menstruation was pathologizing womanhood and moving women away from a more “natural” state.<\/p>\n
I have irregular periods. And incredibly painful periods. So I’m with those who vote that no, using these pills to suppress mensturation is not pathologizing womanhood. Some of us have periods that really, really suck. And you can say we’re weird people, and that people with “normal” periods shouldn’t be worrying about bleeding in that way — and maybe that’s true. I believe that some people have lovely, normal periods that aren’t horrible and painful and debilitating, and there’s no reason why their mensturation should be treated as a disease.<\/p>\n
But you know, I’ve known a lot of women in my life who, like me, are really knocked out by the pain and cramping of our menstruation. Our cycles may be abnormal and not representative of womanhood as a whole, but there are a lot of us, and consequently, I appreciate medical research that looks into alleviating our problems, even if it doesn’t feel natural to people who aren’t afflicted with painful periods.<\/p>\n
Anyway, I didn’t bring this up just to harp on that particular old debate… I brought it up because, during that thread, I mentioned that I’d been informed by my gynecologist that it is necessary for women to sometimes purge their uterine lining, because the rapidly growing cells can become cancerous if they’re left to divide and divide. Someone, I believe it was Mythago, told me that I was wrong and had misunderstood what my gynecologist said. Well, I wasn’t wrong. I am currently under medical treatment to induce a purge for just those reasons.<\/p>\n
I’m sure it’s fine if women don’t menstruate for the periods of time that are orchestrated by the pills under discussion. If you menstruate four times a year, I guess that’s fine. But if your uterine lining does seem to be growing and growing, but not purging, that’s not healthy.<\/p>\n
I didn’t bring this up to bash on Mythago for mistakenly saying I was wrong, ‘cuz whatever. Old discussion. No big deal. But at the time, I started to really doubt myself and my memory. And just in case anyone else who has a weird menstrual cycle was reading and believed the incorrect medical information that was left in that thread — I just wanted to mention that Mythago’s claim was incorrect. The uterus does need purging, and even the so-called “fake” periods stimulated by birth control pills or progesterone pills will do.<\/p>\n
Comments are feminist only, cuz really, some anti-feminist’s take on my uterus is the last thing I want to hear. If you feel moved to comment, please don’t be a jerk about my personal medical problems.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Quickie post: A while ago there was a post on Alas about whether or not the use of birth control pills to suppress menstruation was pathologizing womanhood and moving women away from a more “natural” state. I have irregular periods. … Continue reading