Men writing menstruation (GRAPHIC DESCRIPTIONS)

Being a man, I have no idea what you're talking about.

Thump, if we told about U KNOW WHAT we would have to kill them and that would be tragic. It's better to let some things remain a mystery.

We could tell the ones we don't like.

I like the way you think, SG!

For some painfully honest period poesy, you need to hunt down some Lucille Clifton and Anne Sexton. Both of these women were somewhat preoccupied with, um, matters endometrial.

This is all taking me back to my Women's Studies electives. Now I feel like listening to Natalie Merchant and earnestly planning the next Take Back the Night rally in somebody's dorm room.

Thump said:

I'll prepare a list >: D

Oh, yeah, I've read some of Anne Sexton back in B.A. times. The Women's Lit class was really fascinating but the only guy who was there left before the second class. Women are expected to study a bunch of old guys but the men don't need to read about the women's experience. Ok, that's a rant for another time Otherwise, my rabit feminisit alter-ego will wake up

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Did you say rabit?

Man, the worst part about periods that most male writer dudes don't know is: blood isn't the only thing that comes out..........

I'm going to offer one, small ray of hope for my gender. (Maybe.)

The creator of the newspaper comic strip "Luanne" is a guy. As "Luanne" *used* to age ... lately she and her gang seem to have entered a slowing time warp... she started off pre-pubescent. As such, when the time came, it was something her creator had to deal with.

He has a section on his website where he talks about this (and about the censorship he had to try and pre-empt) and how he handled the whole subject. When I read it, I thought it was a very thoughtful, understanding approach to the whole thing.

But I'm a guy.

SPMiller said:

Man, the worst part about periods that most male writer dudes don't know is: blood isn't the only thing that comes out..........

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It isn't? What else comes out? Goats?

SPMiller said:

Man, the worst part about periods that most male writer dudes don't know is: blood isn't the only thing that comes out..........

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Eeeeeeeeeow.

IdiotsRUs said:

It isn't? What else comes out? Goats?

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Oh, I don't know... maybe bits of the goddamn uterine lining?

Excuse me while I go lock myself in the bathroom and cry.

SPMiller said:

Oh, I don't know... maybe bits of the goddamn uterine lining?

Excuse me while I go lock myself in the bathroom and cry.

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EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEOOOOOOW.

IdiotsRUs said:

It isn't? What else comes out? Goats?

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You owe me a new keyboard.

In our defense, you don't actually see the other stuff come out, it all just looks like lumpy goopy blood. Your welcome.

Oh, I don't know... maybe bits of the goddamn uterine lining?

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I suppose that's possible. It's not like I check through it so see if there's a stray diamond or anything.

I'd notice a goat for sure though.

jennifer75 said:

In our defense, you don't actually see the other stuff come out, it all just looks like lumpy goopy blood. Your welcome.

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Oh geez, flashback to jr. hi when I started my period. I had NO FRICKIN CLUE WTF was wrong with me, cuz I was pretty damn sure I was supposed to be leaking blood, not red jello.

IdiotsRUs said:

I suppose that's possible. It's not like I check through it so see if there's a stray diamond or anything.

I'd notice a goat for sure though.

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If a goat does someday come out, I'll have to call it off between us.

SPMiller said:

If a goat does someday come out, I'll have to call it off between us.

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Couldn't you consider it a dowry?

I'm not expecting goats tbh. If there was going to be goats, I'm sure they'd have shown up by now.

Thump said:

I'm thinking maybe us ladies should create an encyclopedia about how female anatomy does NOT work But then, maybe it would give too many sisterhood secrets away. We don't want to tip our hands too much but here's some info anyway.

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This is interesting because I know how the female reproductive system cycles, including the interaction of the sex steroids and the pituitary gonadotropins, the interaction of these two sets of hormones (both positive and negative feedback, including one case of concentration-dependent switch), and all of the implications for ovulation, the proliferation of the uterine lining (with the formation of blood sinuses), and the eventual shedding of that lining. I can even go over the whole thing and explain in excruciatingly hormonal detail what happens with a pregnancy, how another uterine hormone helps maintain the uterine lining (and how it is the one used to test for pregnancy), and how birth control pills work into the mix. However, I can not possibly know how the shedding of the uterine lining feels, just as a woman would have a tough time explaining all the internal sensory manifestations of the male orgasm. The authors mentioned screwed up in one way--they didn't do their research. How to do that research? Ask several females and then have them crit the resulting passage. For any woman writing a male orgasm, I'd suggest the same thing.

As a note, I am blown away each year when I teach the female cycle to college students--by how many of both males AND females don't know what is really happening and why.

Your biological functions are not magical or confounding, but they should come with an instruction manual--written for both males and females. And, if I ever want to write about some female specific sensory experience, I hope y'all will be willing to provide solid information and a crit of the result.

As a addendum, a special rep point to any female who can explain why when a man is kicked in the scrotum he feels a dull (and intense) achey pain in the lower back, up around the kidney region (in addition to the acute pain in the area of contact).

jennifer75 said:

In our defense, you don't actually see the other stuff come out, it all just looks like lumpy goopy blood. Your welcome.

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IdiotsRUs said:

I suppose that's possible. It's not like I check through it so see if there's a stray diamond or anything.

I'd notice a goat for sure though.

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JoNightshade said:

Oh geez, flashback to jr. hi when I started my period. I had NO FRICKIN CLUE WTF was wrong with me, cuz I was pretty damn sure I was supposed to be leaking blood, not red jello.

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Um.. stop. Please. Low threshold for icky stuff here. Esp after eating. *urp*

I research to make sure my details are accurate. Whatever the topic. You're lumping us together again. Sigh.