In praise of freebleeding.

Photo source: The Independent.

When I read about badass businesswoman-artist-musician Kiran Gandhi running the London Marathon without a tampon, I was like, “Oh! You can do that?”

And ever since, during my period, I just sit on dark towels, and it is the loveliest thing.

I find that it “works” even though I’m a really heavy bleeder. That most of the blood just comes out when I go to the bathroom anyway. That I really dig not having to stick anything up inside myself, especially when they’re expensive (tampons) or give me yeast infections (Divacup). I just get to let my body work the way it’s designed to work.

Granted, I’m at home most of the time, so it’s not like I’m risking a lot of social stigma here. And I do still wear a tampon when I go to the gym. But when the entirety of the “feminine supplies” industry is built on the assumption that there’s something inherently wrong with our bodies, I notice that freebleeding is just another, tiny, deeply satisfying way to say, “No there’s not.”

~

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