j00wish[dot]com: Girl Stuff

Girl Stuff (March 29, 2005)

I'm cramping and bleeding. There, I said it. When I was growing up 'girl stuff' was strictly for chicks to talk about. Nowadays it's a topic everyone deals with. The other night I was fussing about not feeling good. Bane asked me what was wrong. Out of habit I hesitated... only to have him say, "Are you cramping?" It made me smile. I keep forgetting how comfortable people are with normal bodily functions these days. Some say it's being brought up with girls, or dealing with their mom... but I think it's something more. I believe we are more open about it in our classrooms and with each other.

When I was 10 we had a sex ed class. They shuffled the boys into one room and the girls into another. From there we watched an old film on how our bodies are changing. They lightly touched on the boys changes, and when the film ended we were shuffled out again, no Q&A session offered. The boys were talking about how girls change when their breasts get big. I was already a B cup so all eyes were chest level at me. Lovely... I got my first dose of what would be the typical introduction stare from the male gender.

You can stop here unless you want to read embarassing girl stuff. Two weeks later my dad took me whale watching. I started feeling sick and headed for the cramped bathroom. Back then toilet paper consisted of folded over sheets, about the size of two crackers. I had started my period and was stuck in the bathroom for most of the trip. When I told my dad he started getting teary eyed. "My baby's becoming a woman." I wanted to die. He took me to the market and had me buy a box of Stayfree pads. The package was huge! I could slap on 4 wheels and make a go cart out of it. He made me carry it all the way to the front, which was torture. I was redfaced, and just wanted to go. I told dad not to embarass me. Fat chance. When we got to the cashier he blurted out, "My baby started her first period. She's becoming a woman!" People at checkstands on both sides of us looked over, and I wanted to crawl under the stand and die. The checker gave me a smile and looked a little sad. Now I know why.

And to complete the humiliation on me: Three months had passed and my mother asked where all the pads where going. What I wasn't told was when my period ended I was supposed to stop wearing them. Needless to say, I felt like a complete moron when she started taunting me about it. My dad tried cheering me up about it... but his giggling only made it worse.

Back to the present. I look forward to the stress of worrying about my job to be over so I wont be bleeding every two weeks. Oh yeah, and will someone please tell my boyfriend that trying to make me feel better by saying it might be pre-menopause is NOT going to help. KTHXBAI!!1

Posted by Diva at March 29, 2005 12:19 PM