Menstrual Camp Notes

Posted 6:19 PM by heather
TRANSITIONS: MOTHER - DAUGHTER MENSTRUATION WORKSHOP
Designed for : Girls, grades 6 and up. Also available for faculty and administration.
"Am I normal?"
This is the most universally asked question of the young adolescent. Fears and anticipation about growth, development and the onset of menstruation preoccupy girls as they desperately want to be like their friends.
In this workshop, the physical changes and the process of menstruation are demonstrated, including a review of female reproductive anatomy. Different brands of menstrual products are compared and rated on packaging, ease of use, absorption, comfort and price. Mothers and daughters become more comfortable talking about body changes, menstruation and beginning sexuality issues. A bibliography and activities to continue at home are included.
Our goals are to help students :
Describe physical and emotional changes of puberty
Identify female reproductive anatomy and physiology
Evaluate various feminine hygiene products and become familiar with their use
Feel more comfortable discussing their bodies and sexuality issues with each other
Average length : Workshop : 2 hours
Recommended number of participants : 8 - 12 mother/daughter pairs

Menstrumonials 2001
Professor Elizabeth Kissling at Eastern Washington University is hosting her second Menstrual Monday Party, and writes: "As a scholar of communication and taboo (focusing on menstruation) and as a feminist, I love seeing this kind of public (and positive!) discourse about menstruation."

Feminists for Change at St. Olaf College in Minnesota (the self-proclaimed "Menstrual Monday Capitol of the World") are also having their second Menstrual Monday Celebration, as is the "Politics of Menstruation" class at "Floberlin" College in Ohio. Hope everybody liked their bumper stickers!

On Sunday, April 29, in Fairfax, Virginia, Kristin and her group held a "Stich'n'Bitch" pajama party. She described it this way: "We are having a menstrual monday slumber party this sunday night (april 31st?), and we will send you pictures and an article to go with it afterwards. we're gonna have a stitch n bitch (sewing cloth pads) and play old school sleepover games like truth or dare while celebrating in the spirit of grrls and our bloody cunts. i got the video [Molly Strange's flofilm "In Search of Juan Colorado"], so we'll put it on and then i'll send it back to you-thanks mucho! *love*kristin

On May 4 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Vanesa Littlecrow Colon-Ortiz hosted a "Whatever Happened to Friday Night...It Turned Into Menstrual Monday" art event, as part of a weeklong Process Event. To read more, go to Vanesa's website. She'd emailed the other night as follows:

"I wrote the uncensored positive and negative comments about "In Search of Juan Colorado" [the Molly Strange flofilm] from our mixed gender audience during the flofilm screening. It was very interesting to observe. I am sure you will find it interesting too..."

M: "Oh my God, it's crayons! The diagrams are made out of crayons."
F: "I told you this was like a twisted after school special."
F: "Man, she's sure butch."
M: "Hey, I like butch!"
F: "I used to be a tomboy, but look at me now. Man, where did I go wrong?"
F: "Linda Blair should be in this"
F: "She hasn't had her period yet."
M: "Turn it up! I got to hear every word."
M: "They are seriously trying to be artsy."
M: "You do know what the English translation of Don [sic] Juan Colorado is, don't you?"
M: "More blood! Yeah!"
M: "The cheese factor in this is outstanding."
F: "The theme music is stuck in my head."
M: "We got to get a big screen and surround sound to enhance the badness of this film."
M: "Not true [what they said about Emily Dickinson.] Emily was a very saucy lady."
M: "The clean blue pool of water will be dirtied by her blood. BWHAHAHAA"
F: "She's going to her other world."
F: "I don't think I dreamt about [my period.]"
F: "I thought I had gotten diarrhea when I had my first period. But my grandma explained."
F: "She's like all embarrassed."
F: "It smells like the earth? Ewye!"
M/F: "Yuck! Now they're all smelling it together."
F: "Did they paint their foreheads with the blood? Ugh!"
F: "Some cultures actually do that as a rite of passage."
M: "They have a "D" for Don [sic] Juan Colorado."
M: "This is just messed up, this is just weird."
F: "Are they going to form their own cult?"
F: "It's like Lord of the Flies."
F: "'Goodbye blood, have a safe trip to the sea.' That's the quote of the evening!"
[My favorite line also! -- GMK] M: "You're going to have much more special blood honey."
F: "I hate to ride my bike when I wear a pad too!"
F: "I like the way how she's not rail thin in this movie. She looks healthy."
F: "All the kids in this movie look much more normal and healthier than the rail thin girls in films today."
F: "No farting!"
F: "Arrrgh! She has her bloody panties on the wall."
M: "This is the best thing ever. I wish this was a full-length film. My friends would love this."
F: "Molly Strange sure lived up to her name."
M: "It's so cheesy, it's good!"

Cheers, Vas"

Both Kristin and Vanesa have already sent in photos, so hopefully (sometime in June, after I've finished writing a paper for a conference!) we'll have everybody's photos and accompanying articles on site.

Fran in Missouri wrote:

"I received my two Menstral Monday Celebration kits today and LOVE them. Thanks for all the hand made goodies and the time you take to put them all together. I work in the Women Studies program at the University of Missouri and we all loved the kit. I actually started my period today so I am wearing the Power egg as a corsage and we hung the menstral drop and splash in our doorway as decoration. The ovum fan really came in handy as we are having a real heat wave here in the mid-west this week. So glad I found your site and info. Hope to have a party this year...but it is during finals week so I might postpone it a little. Thanks thanks thanks thanks thanks!!!

-Fran

And from Jennifer at Bowling Green State University, who had their event way back on April 5:

"Hello:)

I've been meaning to write. . .we had a GREAT turn-out (at least that's what I think, as does the rest of the group!) We had about 25-30 people for the red-bag lunch and discussion. . .that went well! Everyone enjoyed the film. . .we cut it a little short by starting in the middle of the film--and it started some interesting discussion of myths and our own experiences with menstruation, and keeping it quiet! The open house then started to pick up--it was busiest from about 1:00 to 4:00. I would say we had about 100 people or more walking in and out! We had some great menstrual art! I may send you a few of the art pieces people made--very creative. I think my favorite as far as creativity went was a Pan-flute made out of tampon aplicators (made by a male:). We had some other really great art pieces as well. Let's see what else did we do. . .we had a tampon toss--that was great! Then the tampons were reused for the menstrual art:) We had some sidewalk drawings done, with sidewalk chalk--there was a great power egg that was drawn! People really found the information quite crazy. . .i think the most shocking information was what other cultures did and how they viewed mensturation. Also, the alternatives to tampons and pads blew a lot of people away as they had no idea that alternatives even exsisted. Everyone enjoyed the chocolate and steam-hut. . . The women's center was the perfect place to have it--we were allowed to rearrange it some and it turned out great for the day--many people just chilled out on the couches discussing and reading some books we had set out.

Even though the event is over. . campus has not forgotten about it. I wrote a letter to the editor--hoping it would get published the same day as our party. I don't know if I told you how we had had problems getting some of our fliers approved--but the office of Residence Life on campus, censored our posters and would not let us put up signs with the word menstruation. The letter did get in the paper the day after our party--and it raised quite a bit of an uproar on campus about censorship. This week there was an apology letter in the paper from the director of Residence Life, and sometime next week I believe there is going to be an article about censorship--which I have already been interviewed for. So not only did we raise a lot of issues about Menstruation to those that came, but we also raised some issues about freedom of speech across campus.

I will get that video out to you on Monday. Thanks again for all of your help! It would not have been as successful without it! I hope you have a great weekend!

THANKS,
Jen:)

And from Sera at the University of Montana: "i'm writing from the university of montana's orgainzation STUDENTS FOR CHOICE to let you know we are having a party on menstrual monday to honor the significance of our monthly power surges! this is our agenda:

a healthy menstruation workshop
art projects with various anti-woman "sanitary protection" devices
a sharing circle to value one another's monthly menses
an honoring ceremony for the young women who have not yet started bleeding every month
and much much more!

thanks for the flyers and the fun stuff you sent our way! we just wanted to wish you and yours a happy, healthy, menstrual monday!

~sera
UMT, students for choice

We hope you will find inspiration to create your own "MM" celebration -- we are already planning a big postcard mailing for the upcoming Halloween holiday, suggesting a Menstrual Monday theme for costume parties -- i.e., get dressed up as Juan Colorado, Emily Dickinson, or Tampon Man; Aunt Ruby, Popeye the Sailor Woman, the Duchess of Chocolate, or Aunt Fa-Lo; your interpretation of Kirstin's Queen Periodia, and so on. Think of it this way: Blood is an important element of Halloween -- why not make it menstrual blood this year, and celebrate Falloween (as in fallo-pian tubes, get it) instead? Or dress up in a flow-dyed t-shirt and headband, like you're on your way to "Bloodstock" Music Festival!

Let the good times flow!

Adult Parenting
This two hour mother/daughter workshop facilitates the discussion about this important life cycle. A bibliography and activities to continue at home are included. Suitable for girls ages 9 12.

Instructor: Connie Poor, R.N., sexuality educator at HiTOPS.

Bramwell Living Room
1 session (2/26)
10-81616 Wed.6:30-8:30 pm
$25 per couple member
$35 per couple non member