Wait I’m not done with Turning Red, still on my bullshit.
This particular critic, THIS ONE HERE
Has the AUDACITY TO-
*sigh*
Do you know, when I got my first? When I was NINE. Crying sobbing mess on the toilet freaking out because something was wrong with my body I wasn’t prepared for, I thought I was DYING. And did my parents give me the talk? No. Never. Not the period talk, not the sex talk, nothing that had to do with reproductive organs, EVER. Just handed me a comically surplus sized box of pads and told me to figure it out.
When you live in a society where parents refuse to acknowledge things like where babies come from, and you have scholar adults taking science books away from kids because their friends won’t stop giggling at the diagrams of private parts (I’m still salty about that, that was my Christmas gift you *ssholes) a film like Turning Red kicks down doors and makes you face something that shouldn’t still be considered “age sensitive” in this year of the Lord 2022, my god
This advice is gonna be aimed at field LARP rather than indoor games, but the advice is transferable, mostly. A lot of it is also going to seem really obvious, but all the best advice is. So, let us begin.
EXPECTED BLEEDING:
First thing is first - it is okay to cancel on games if you want to. For some people their period is more trouble than it’s worth, and not being in the comfort of their own is going to be hellish. That is a choice you have, and one you can make. You will not be letting anyone down, you will not miss all the plot ever. With that said, here is a checklist for packing if you do want to go play!
Checklist:
Pads/tampons/cup/whatever filling recepticle takes your fancy. Pack more than you think you need, like socks.
Painkillers and any additional meds you may need.
A hot water bottle
Something that comforts you, be it chocolate or teddies or a punchbag.
More changes of underwear than usual.
UNEXPECTED BLEEDING:
You didn’t plan for this and now everything is annoying and awful forever. I’ve been there pal. I feel the need to stress a matching piece of advice to mirror the one above - it is okay to bug out and go home if you want to. This is a hobby, this is meant to be fun, do not force this on yourself etc.
That said, if you decide to stay, you need supplies. If you have a car, you could potentially go do that thing via the traditional means. However, if that is unviable for whatever reason, your first port of call should absolutely be the crew and first aid. In bigger games, there will usually be painkillers and tampons/pad about for crew. In emergencies, refs are usually more than happy to help you out. It may be embarrassing to ask due to SOCIETAL BULLSHIT, but I promise, nobody will judge you for your body being a shit.
GENERAL ADVICE:
Locate the bathrooms. Know where they are. Ladies and unisex loos generally have bins, gentleman’s don’t usually because of SOCIETAL BULLSHIT.
Eat more than you usually would, if you can. Your body is under more stress and you’re doing a physical thing. Beware of feeling faint - if you do, please go chill with a first aider.
Sleep more than you usually would. If you can, find a place on the IC field where you can powernap if you’re afraid of missing out.
If you have an IC bag, try and keep your supplies in it. You will be thankful when you don’t have to trudge back to the OC field over and over.
Cold water gets out blood quicker. Raspberry leaf tea helps with cramps.
It is perfectly within your right to complain constantly, and lie on cushions demanding people bring you wine and/or grapes.
Hi Tumblr! I have embarked on a new project, and it is a book about periods for kiddos. It is pretty straightforward and doesn’t really wax poetic about periods, it follows a little girl named June who asks her mom questions about her period. I’m excited about it, although it has been hard to find time to work on it. Release date will be sometime in 2021.
And if you were thinking, awww man I was thinking of creating a kid’s book on periods - please continue to do so. There are thousands of books about Santa and the Tooth Fairy, so why would we need any less about periods? We need many many books about this topic told from diverse perspectives.
@nikkitajiri I read your beautiful poems last night, by a fire, under the new moon and stars. Your words floored me and so eloquently captured thoughts and feelings I didn’t even know I had.
I didn’t know how much I needed this book. My only regret was that I finished it too quickly, but I plan to read it with every new moon and every period I have.
Thank you for writing this. It is important.”
- Beautiful photo and kind words by @laurencurtain on Instagram
Happy to report that a year and a half later, we have garnered millions of views and over 100 copies sold on Amazon ❤️❤️❤️ With deep gratitude, Nikki
Podcast! The lovely @samamorningstar invited me on her podcast, Writing From The Womb. Listen in to hear poetry readings and discussions about dismantling and cyclical creativity. Plus, I share and read from my newest project for the first time!
Please have a listen wherever you listen to podcasts, and subscribe to Writing From The Womb to hear more from womb-inspired writers. You can also watch the video on YouTube - linked below. Happy listening! ❤️❤️
My soul sister and friend IRL Jenna Longoria (aka the Period Guru) is hosting a Masterclass for Period Solutions.
If you have painful periods or have been diagnosed with a period-related condition like endometriosis or PCOS, I highly recommend that you start following Jenna (@jennalongoriahealth on Instagram) and take this Master Class.
I have personally been working with her over the last 4 months with some of my hormone imbalances, and her awareness of all things hormones is unparalleled. I believe hormone health is something that is not well-understood or supported by standard medical practice, and much of the suffering is quite unnecessary. Jenna’s website is linked below.
Hope you are all in good spirits and undeterred by this current climate. Xoxo Nikki
[So excited to share that Dr Christiane Northrup, a well-known women’s wellness author, shared my book on her Instagram! I greatly admire her, and especially love her book Dodging Energy Vampires. So cool! I sent her the book one year ago, so I was surprised to see her post about it now. Amazing ❤️]
Incredibly fucking crucial information for Americans where period tracking digitally is concerned: DELETE YOUR DATA, DELETE YOUR ACCOUNT AND DELETE YOUR APPS
Like yes, very important, but also…did people seriously not already know and realize this? I don’t mean this in a “you have no right to get angry” kind of why I’m just confused as to why people are acting shocked now. Was this not obvious before?
My brother turns 25 this week. I guess that means he is officially a grown-up. A real one! But it wasn’t the flat, the car or the job that tipped me off. It wasn’t even the dawn of his quarter century. It was a conversation we had a few days ago about periods.
When I was about 12 and he 14, we were watching TV and a Tampax advert came on. It was awkward to say the least. I didn’t 100% understand how periods worked yet and I certainly didn’t think they were something to be discussed, except in hushed voices with the school swimming coach as a way to get out of lengths in the freezing pool… So, we’re sat in front of the TV, not talking, cringing, watching the animation of the applicator until he asks me: “but how does it come out?”
Fastforward 10 years and we’re talking on the phone. I mentioned the work some incredible charities such as AFRIpads are doing to stop menstruation from being a barrier to women’s education in certain African countries, particularly in Uganda. I said it without considering my audience and regretted it as soon as the words were out of my mouth. But I needn’t have. He replied with a considerate response about how periods can cause incredible embarrassment and discomfort for women the world over, especially women who cannot afford sanitary items (sometimes because of the goddamn Tampon Tax), and that this is still a huge issue in the UK. Yes, right at home, where we are “democratic” and “modern”, women are having to resort to stealing sanitary products, or are becoming ill from using tampons for longer than 8 hours (this can lead to TSS) or from not using hygienic products. That’s why projects like The Homeless Period are so important - they’re petitioning for shelters to have an allowance for sanitary products like they do for condoms.
Periods are still taboo but let’s be honest, they are a fact of life for half of the world.
Not only are they uncomfortable and often painful, as well as tear and insatiable hunger inducing, but for some women around the world, periods signify a “child-bearing womb”, humiliation, illness and an end to education.
I’m just so proud to have a brother who is mature enough to respect what periods mean and to acknowledge how they can impact a woman’s life. Just because you don’t share in the experience, doesn’t mean you can’t respect what it means.
