Return-Path: <nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id j6I0nOG24411; Sun, 17 Jul 2005 20:49:28 -0400 (EDT) Date: Sun, 17 Jul 2005 20:49:28 -0400 (EDT) Message-Id: <s2dac42e.069@mailsrv21.gsu.edu> Errors-To: listowner@nifl.gov Reply-To: nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: "Daphne Greenberg" <alcdgg@langate.gsu.edu> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-WOMENLIT:3264] Re: menstruation X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII X-Mailer: Novell GroupWise Internet Agent 6.5.4 Status: O Content-Length: 4619 Lines: 80 I encourage everyone to visit the website Mev mentions in her posting below (http://www.litwomen.org/learnmats/health.html#health) there are lots of great resoucres listed! In terms of rituals surrounding a girl's first period, some Jewish women have taken this on. The Jewish calendar is based on the lunar cycle, and the new month is celebrated in the Jewish religion via prayer. Some Jewish women have taken this celebration to come togther to form "new month" groups. Some of these monthly groups have incorporated celebrations of their daughters' first periods. I am guessing that there are other cultures that have other rituals and I am wondering if this is something that might be talked about/shared in an ESL health literacy class. In any health literacy class, it could serve as an interesting topic to read and discuss how different cultures treat menstruation. Daphne >>> mev@litwomen.org 07/16/05 7:38 AM >>> Hi Daphne I only have time right now to offer a few other quick thoughts. I may add more later. WE LEARN has the title about menstruation you mentioned -- and several others -- in our resource list (http://www.litwomen.org/learnmats/health.html#health). I have not seen the one you specifically mentioned but I'm familiar with the others on our list and would recommend them all. Also, the description of "I call it a curse" on our website has a slightly different, and is perhaps more descriptive. For folks looking for an article, I would also recommend the legendary short piece by Gloria Steinem called "If Men could Menstruate." It was published in MS. magazine many years ago - early on - and is now widely anthologized and easily available. It provides a great deal of insight into the power of women associated with our bloods -- and touches on some of the issues of shame and horror that we have been been historically and generally faced with. I think it's a great article to initiate discussion among learners and teachers. For those looking for "summer reading," I also recommend The Red Tent. This book talks about the community of women created in the menstrual hut during biblical times. The Red Flower: Rethinking Menstruation by Dena Taylor is also a good book that discusses the history and politics of menstruation. Women have been distracted by the negative societal descriptions of our bleeding times: pain, discomfort, bloating (medicate it), emotional, nasty, crabby (go into seclusion of you're on the rag), shame, embarrassment, smell, (use deodorized products & other cleaning devises). as with so many things related to women's lives, as long as there's all this emphasis on negative impact, we cannot attend to the true power, strength and creativity associated with our bleeding time. Perhaps one strategy would be to discuss what's good and powerful about our bloods. Perhaps we would be better served to view first menstruation as a rite of passage into womanhood and celebrate (ritualistically) what that can mean for the benefits of a women (not just that she can now get pregnant or be owned by man/men). I think some cultures may do this and it could be great to know more about those celebrations. btw - I'm tired of my own bleeding -- and looking forward to menopause. It's time for me to enter my crone time! Mev WE LEARN Women Expanding: Literacy Education Action Resource Network www.litwomen.org/welearn.html Mev Miller, Ed.D., Director 182 Riverside Ave. Cranston, RI 02910 401-383-4374 welearn@litwomen.org On Thursday, July 14, 2005, at 09:20 AM, Daphne Greenberg wrote: > Menstruation is not a topic typically discussed in health literacy > classes. I guess this is not surprising, given the taboo it still has > in society (I do recognize that we have come along way). Because of > this taboo, many of us have questions, shame, misinformation > regarding our periods that never get addressed. I wonder whether this > may be even more of an issue for some of our learners who dropped out > of school before they may have benefitted from sex/health education in > school, for those of our learners who could not benefit from written > information given by sex/health education teachers, and for those of > our learners who grew up with mothers who did not discuss it. Compound > this issue with the fact that health literacy classes don't usually > address menstruation, and the discomfort many adult literacy teachers > have discussing this topic. I have never read or heard anyone talk > about menstruation and adult literacy. Maybe we can start here? I am > thinking that cyberspace may!
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