The other night I was watching “Knocked Up” starring Seth Rogen and Katherine Hiegl, and I found myself thinking a lot about childbirth. I don’t know if it was the arguing between the couple or the graphic birth scene, but I it had me up until 2 a.m. thinking about childbirth.
My late night cinematic experience carried over into office discussion at work the next day. I told my female co-workers about my experience and it provoked a series of discussions. Before I knew it we had been talking for an hour, and I was sitting with a note pad taking notes about periods and menopause.
I now know about toxic shock syndrome and how the cycles of girls that live together sometimes become synced. I was blown away by their courageous stories, and ended up speaking about periods to every girl I encountered for the rest of that day.
I learned that this time sometimes is not that “special”. There are cramps, mood swings and diet changes. You get angry for no reason, Aunt “Flow” won’t stop talking and you still have to function in society. It’s like that cousin that you never want to come over, but you know they’re coming.
They annoy you for three to seven days, and then leave your bathroom smelling. On top of all that you’re expected to push babies out. And once you’ve had five kids and stretch marks, menopause hits to remind you that you’re not as young as you used to be.
I salute you females. I had no idea. I was such a silly male thinking that tampons had wings. I was once lost, but now I’m found.
I propose a Period Awareness Day where people around the globe unite in period appreciation. We could all come together and listen to period testimonials, which always prove to be interesting stories. We can learn how women in other cultures deal with their periods, and we could give boxes of tampons to homeless women that cannot afford them.
We give Martin Luther King a holiday for civil rights and Christopher Columbus was a farce and an inhumane jerk. Last week everyone wore green and got drunk, and you mean to tell me that we can’t honor something that happens to over half of the worlds population once a month?
People, we’ve been taking periods for granted. Economic crisis and wars will come and go, but periods are forever. They were here before your mom had her first one, and they will be here when you hit menopause.
I may not be a woman, but that doesn’t mean I don’t care. I am a man. One that understands, and wants to learn more about what happens in the female body.
I’m going to have a daughter named Gabriela, and she’s going to have a period one day. It would make me proud if when she asks her mother about the changes in her body that her mom smiles at her with comfort and says
“Go see your dad, Mad Brad. He knows all about it.”
If you believe in my quest for Period Awareness e-mail me at lordbradleyb@gmail.com. Help me help you. We all have to encounter this delicate subject. And that’s Period.