Comments on: Guest Post: Bloodlines

By: Rachel

Rachel — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 03:25:59 +0000

Just wanted to stop over and say how very grateful I am for your words tonight. Brave, bold, honest, beautiful beyond beautiful. Thank you.

By: Annagrace

Annagrace — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 03:01:53 +0000

Thank you, Heather, for sharing your story. Our culture isn’t used to talking about “girl stuff” this way. Frankly, if we’re not sexualizing our experiences in some way, it often feels like no one wants to hear it. I’m convinced that ALL of our stories are powerful. Because they happened. Because this coming-of-age event is the door swinging wide to the rest of our life… And thanks again, Becky. I feel like just telling this one experience has unlocked so many more. And that’s the thing–if we women were used to telling ALL of our stories what else would we know? What else would we notice? What else would we stand up and demand change for/in/etc.?

<3 <3 Ag

By: Becky Knight

Becky Knight — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 21:56:29 +0000

In re-reading your post, this sentence struck me: “Secret things have a way of becoming emotional cysts and scar tissue; sometimes real cysts and scar tissue.” That is so very true. It resonates with Rachel’s post. http://www.livingsexuality.com/2009/09/24/guest-post-tuesdays-underpants-by-rachel-swan/

Thanks again for sharing this Annagrace. Hopefully through our reconciliations with our own bodies and sexuality, we are all learning how to make our kids’ journeys into sexual maturation easier and more affirming.

By: heather

heather — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 02:27:51 +0000

A couple of years leading up to my first period, whenever I’d have a stomachache (usually stress-related) my mother would ask me what part of my stomach hurt. After she questioned me the same way on a few different occasions, I asked why she wanted to know, and she explained that she wanted to know if it might be PMS.

Then one day when I was having a particularly awful piano practice session with my dad, I went to the bathroom and got the shock of my life. Already frustrated at my dad, instantly I burst into tears and called my mother in, who hastily instructed me on how to use pads, and that was almost the complete extent of my education from her. (Uh…thanks Mom.)

Many, many years later (after college!) I discovered menstrual cups and struggled through some pretty long-standing fears to figure out how The Keeper worked. I had never even used a tampon so it was quite a new experience. That was one of the best decisions I ever made–I love it and still use it today, and the struggle I went through to figure it all out was rather empowering.