{"id":3450,"date":"2020-06-30T13:36:00","date_gmt":"2020-06-30T13:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vulvani.com\/interview-ich-bin-in-meine-periode-verliebt\/"},"modified":"2022-11-03T04:11:13","modified_gmt":"2022-11-03T04:11:13","slug":"interview-i-am-truly-in-love-with-my-period","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vulvani.com\/en\/interview-i-am-truly-in-love-with-my-period\/","title":{"rendered":"Nowadays I\u00a0am truly in love with my period"},"content":{"rendered":"

Menstruation Around the World<\/a> is a series from Vulvani that attempts to show the diversity of menstrual experiences around the world. We portray people from different countries with their personal stories. Let us explore the wonderful and so diverse world of menstrual experiences together. And who knows, maybe soon we will all be saying: \u2018I am in love with my period\u2019.<\/p>

As a teenager, Katharina<\/a> eagerly awaited her menstruation and was full of anticipation for her first period. Since then, she has experienced a rollercoaster of emotions towards her own period: from anger to indifference to gratitude, she has felt them all. Today she has turned to cycle awarness and is proudly saying: \u2018I am in love with my period\u2019. And she thinks we should all talk much more about our periods.
Katharina<\/a> has spent months researching for her master\u2019s thesis on how the media talks about menstruation and the period taboo. The impressive final result is her documentary \u2018Menstrual Taboo?\u2019<\/a>. Dear Katharina, thank you so much for your important period documentary and for actively fighting the period taboo.<\/p>

Personal Information<\/h3>\n\n

Name: <\/strong>Katharina
Age:<\/strong> 25
Gender \/ Sex: <\/strong>female
Country of birth: <\/strong>Germany
Home:<\/strong> Magdeburg, Germany
Job: <\/strong>Journalist
Age at first period:<\/strong> 13
Favorite period product: <\/strong>Menstrual cup
Cost per menstruation: <\/strong>20\u20ac last year for a menstrual cup<\/a> that finally has the right size and fits my body
Contraception: <\/strong>IUB (copper bead ball)<\/p><\/div><\/div>

1. How is menstruation seen in your family, culture or even country?<\/h3>

My mom, being the esoteric yogi she is, was super excited for my sister and I to get our periods and talked quite openly about it to us.
My social environment on the other hand had strict bounders<\/a> when talking about periods. You were one of the cool kids, when you had it and complained about it. Because that meant technically you were old enough to have sex (at least that\u2019s what we thought). It was a sign of growing up. Apart from that, no one would talk about it. You were supposed to buy tampons (because pads are gross and for old people) and use them in silence. Don\u2019t get blood anywhere. That\u2019s it.<\/p>

Period blood is still a taboo<\/h3>

Even though things are starting to look up now in 2020, periods are still a \u201cthings between women\u201d and people as well as commercials show very clearly, that menstrual blood<\/a> is something that strictly needs to be hidden.<\/p>

2. How and by whom were you educated about menstruation?<\/h3>

When I was a girl I learned about periods and sex education in fourth grade. We used colorful silk cloths to build a giant uterus on the floor and learned about our cycle<\/a> and what happens if you get pregnant and if you don\u2019t. The entire class showed a clear emphasis on how to not get pregnant and how sex is about the penetration of a vagina. Things like oral, anal or gay sex, were not a topic. There was also no education on the vulva<\/a> and female pleasure.
Back then I thought, I know everything and now that I do, there\u2019s no need to talk about it any longer.<\/p>

I was keen to get my first period. Now looking back on that moment, I\u2019m pretty proud of my menstrual excitement.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>

3. Tell us a little about your first period.<\/h3>

I think I was 13 or 14\u2026 honestly I don\u2019t remember. I was keen to get my first period<\/a>. Now looking back on that moment, I\u2019m pretty proud of my menstrual excitement. Most of my friends already had their period. And while the rest of my body was in full on adolescence mode, my uterus was a bit behind. Whenever I had the slightest feeling of mucus coming out of my vagina, I ran to the bathroom to see if it was finally time for my menarche. Trust me \u2013 it never was. When it finally came, I had no idea until I went to the bathroom. My mom was even more excited than I was, when I told her about it. We went shopping that weekend to celebrate. That\u2019s all I remember from my menarche.<\/p>

4. How do you feel about your own menstruation? <\/h3>

My feeling about my period has changed from excitement to annoyance to indifference and finally to total cycle awareness<\/a> and a new found love for my period and thankfulness for what my body is able to do and how I can tell my personal stress level from my period blood.<\/p>

Today I am in love with my period<\/h4>

I used to be so careless with my body. Trying really hard to be \u2018normal\u2019 and act as if my menstrual cycle had no impact on my body. After a time period of 7 years of taking the pill, going off it, taking the morning after pill once, which messed up my cycle for 6 months, and then taking the pill again \u2013 I finally decided to stop taking artificial hormones and learn to read the signs my body gave me. It\u2019s been a long way coming, but I am now in awe of my reproductive system and truly in love with my period.<\/p>

My feeling about my period has changed from excitement to annoyance to indifference and finally to total cycle awareness and a new found love of my period and thankfulness for what my body is able to do.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>

5. Which menstrual products have you already tried? <\/h3>

I started by using pads, because I was terrified of tampons. I was really ashamed of that, because it seemed like using tampons was the only cool thing to do\u2026 At age 16 I finally started using tampons. They left my vagina insanely dry and in combination with the pill, it only got worse. But I simply ignored that fact for years.<\/p>

The long way to finding the right menstrual cup<\/h4>

When I was 22 I used a menstrual cup for the first time\u2026 it was horrible, because I did everything wrong. And I didn\u2019t try it again until almost a year after that. I took me a while (1.5 years to be exact) to find the right cup to fit my body.<\/a> But I\u2019ve been happy using the menstrual cup ever since.
I also own two reusable organic cotton pads. They were a gift. And I use them when I don\u2019t feel like using the cup yet or at the end of my period. I am currently considering investing in enough pads for an entire period and maybe stop using the cup at all. To just let things flow freely.<\/p>

\"\"
Photo Credits: Katharina<\/a> by Paul L\u00fcder<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>

6. What do you like to do when on your period?<\/h3>

This depends on how my life has been going for the past 2 months. My cycle is very good at suspecting stress and showing me, whether I need to take a few days for myself or not.
There are times when I\u2019ll feel the need to stay home, take a bath and just lay in bed for the entire duration of my period. And then there are times when by day three I can hustle all day, go for a run and only have to empty my cup every 8 hours.<\/p>

7. How are you feeling when menstruating? <\/h3>

When my body decides to power down during my period, I feel very exhausted on the first few days, especially on the heavy flow days. I\u2019m sweating and feel very bloated. Period diarrhea is my constant companion.
I\u2019m a big fan of using a heating pad<\/a> for cramps and wearing soft clothes to not put extra pressure on my uterus. Thankfully, even though I have an IUB, which can increase bleeding and cramps, I don\u2019t have insanely bad cramps or anything. It\u2019s a pain I can tolerate and try not to numb down with pain killers. To me the menstrual pain I experience is a good kind of pain. Because I know where it comes from and that my body is just extracting uterine lining and blood to get ready for a new egg.<\/p>

8. Who are you talking to about menstruation?<\/h3>

Since I started researching on how menstruation is being discussed in the media for my masters thesis<\/a>, I\u2019m talking about menstruation to everyone. Sexist or disrespectful comments about periods or menstruating people<\/a> are being met with basic facts by me. I\u2019m so annoyed with people calling periods useless and menstrual blood disgusting, that I have 0 tolerance for period shaming.
My boyfriend is very aware of all my ups and downs during my menstrual cycle, which makes it easier for him to show more empathy and understand my feelings. I love how interested he is in this subject. And I think we should all talk about periods a lot more.<\/p>

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