free bleeding: fact or myth?
Image: Wikimedia Commons/ Danny C. Sillada
The latest trend that’s been heating up Twitter, blogs and online articles alike is something called ‘free bleeding.’ It’s a ‘disturbing new trend … in which a woman who is menstruating chooses to use feminine products no longer, in exchange for allowing her blood to flow “freely” out of her body, staining her clothing and running down her thighs to wherever it may end up.’
Yeah, that’s right. I did not stutter there.
There are apparently ‘two ideas behind’ the trend. The first of which is that a woman’s time of the month ‘should not be considered something unclean and unnatural, something to be hidden and cleaned up hastily.’ Secondly, feminine hygiene products oppress us as women because they are ‘man made inventions [which further our] victim status as a woman living in a world by men.’
Indeed, men did play a big part in the invention of modern-day menstrual products. The first known product was called a ‘womb veil’ and was invented thanks to ‘Charles Goodyear who invented the technology to vulcanize rubber’ in 1839. Later, the Johnson & Johnson Company made the ‘first commercial sanitary pads … named for Joseph Lister, a pioneer in sterile surgery.’ Dr Earle Haas filed ‘for a tampon patent’ in 1931 and his ‘tube-within-a-tube design [is] still used today.’ However, women were also involved – WW2 nurses in France started using bandages they were applying to wounded soldiers ‘for their own flow’ because the bandages ‘absorbed blood much better than plain old cotton.’ And in 1933, Gertrude Tendrich was actually the first person to purchase a patent for a tampon, out-doing Dr. Haas and even using his ‘compression machine’ to make ‘tampons at home.’
But back to modern times.
Adora Bull, who has written probably the best article on the subject of free bleeding (more about that in a bit) goes on to say that ‘by letting it run freely, is the way nature intended us to deal with our’ monthly cycle, but ‘for any normal woman, however, this idea is horrifying.’ Her article goes on to criticise the movement and it’s association with feminism. She worries that if this is indeed something feminists want women to do then their ‘true motive is to set the progress of our species backwards, not forward.’ She urges her readers to ‘disregard and reject this new hardcore feminist trend, both for your own health and the health of those around you.’
Agreed, Ms. Bull. Yet, there is one problem. Free bleeding is not actually a huge trend. It’s a concept that has been around ‘online since the early 2000s’ and was first discussed then by a ‘women’s reproductive health blog. ‘In February 2014 [it was] promoted by members of 4chan as a prank to convince women that feminine hygiene products were a form of patriarchal oppression.’ What is 4chan, you ask? Well, they are home to what Foxnews calls ‘the most powerful people on the internet,’ all of whom ‘lack a social conscience’ and are the makers of such memes as LOLCATS and Hamster Dance. They are a group of guys who claim that their blog is ‘a place beyond sanity, wild and untamed.’ And they’ve launched ‘a couple silly hashtag trends’ in order to ‘manufacture enough fake social media outrage over the use of sanitary pads that news and organizations and feminists fall for it.’
So how about that for patriarchal oppression?
Free bleeding is actually real. You can do a little bit of research to find that out. It’s a topic of a few feminine hygiene and health blogs, and is stated as something that you can deal with ‘if you have a light enough flow to not really need anything.’ But it’s not something a huge bandwagon of feminists has jumped onto. It’s just a prank, and one that has gotten women and men alike all fired up.
That leads me onto my final point, which if I daresay myself, may turn into a bit of a rant. (You were warned.)
Gary Demar has written a response to Adora Bull’s article, titled ‘Crazy Feminists Want Their “Period” to Bleed “Freely” and Feminize Wikipedia.’ He blatantly ignores what Bull is actually trying to say, which is that calling free bleeding ‘natural’ is actually ridiculous and goes on to say ‘What’s “natural” is not always a sought after normative state for humans. We were born into this world naked. Should we shun clothing’? And then finishes off his piece stating ‘Consistent feminism is impossible. The only way these new trends will gain cultural traction is by the force of law. That’s what scares me.’
Just, wow.
So, to sum it all up, don’t initially believe anything you read on the internet – especially if it’s going around saying that feminists believe in something that a group of male hackers have placed onto the internet to prank all of us. That’s just all sorts of wrong. I’m going to go back to normal life now, I’m going to go bleed and clean up after myself as I please and not let anyone in the world tell me how or why I should do it. And that’s how I think we as feminists can stick it to ‘the man’ and take control of what happens to us every month. Choose to free bleed, choose to use tampons, choose whatever is right for you.
Who would clean up the mess after them? They certainly wouldn’t and if they did it would get boring rather quickly, and blood sure as hell wouldn’t come out in the wash so I really don’t think any woman would consider doing this.
Blood doesn’t come out in the wash? Really? Not even if you wash by hand in cold water? I must have been living in an illusory parallel universe all my life…it happens for me all the time!
sassy
It may come out in the wash…but this practice is nasty and any woman with decency would not do this. Some could argue that Feces and urine should flow freely….however, when you know better you do better. Menstrual blood has an odor when air hits it…as well as blood being unsafe to others exposed to it….this is nasty and any woman who practices this is a deranged, filthy, trash bucket.
At the risk of outing myself as patriarchal . . . AMEN!
So I have a screengrab as proof of the whole thing being a massive 4chan prank.
I have to say, Adora Bull describes herself as ‘possessing keen observational skills’. . .surely someone with said skills could easily see this as a raid.
Anyways, dunno if I can post a jpg here but lemme know if you want the evidence, taken straight from b’s board.
is this really serious? why would any woman want period flowing down their legs? you would have to buy new clothes every month. its just weird. if i personally was a girl i would just shove a tampon up my vagina its not hard. i dont want to be walking round the streets with everywhere covered in dots off blood, thanks.
Just so you know, Adora Bull’s article is satire, a joke, not an actual response to anything.
Pingback: Menstruation: How should it be seen? How should it be understood? | lip magazine
This is hilarious! However, there are some free bleeding products out there without the mess. They’re called Menstrual cups. So much better than absorbent products.
Pingback: Tampons et serviettes gratuits : pourquoi les règles devraient être l’affaire de tous | Sans Compromis
Okay, let me just say the act of abstaining entirely from feminine products is an untrue rumour and even if it was true that is nasty.
But my experience with freebleeding is this: oh look i have nothing to do today, i’m literally just going to stay home all day in my pjs. oh i’m on my period? you know what i can’t be bothered wearing a pad/tampon today i’m just gonna wear black pants and underwear for today’
it wasn’t going outside and contaminating things with menstrual blood or letting it ‘run down my legs’ it was lazing around all day in my home.
What about the furniture you sit on?
Honestly it doesn’t just gush out constantly like an open wound. You go to the bathroom, wipe everything off. If you’re not being active and just sitting around the house, it more or less sits inside you until you get up and move around a bit or go to the toilet
lucky you! every womans flow is different. I certainly couldnt do that lol biiig mess
Gross
Agree, dark clothes, days at home big deal. And for the people who say tampons?? Well totally uncomfortable even after two children, and pads cause irritation to the thighs. There is a time and place to relax!!
Agreed! ‘Free bleeding’ on a lazy afternoon in the house is something I’ve always done, way before it was even a thing. I personally prefer it to wasting uncomfortable pads and tampons.
Free bleeding is the most stupidist thing I ever heard. Especially if you have hepatitis or HIV or AIDS or other contagious diseases that spreads by bloody contacts.
Dumb as hell
I’m not trying to hurt anyone’s feeling but if you feel like you shouldn’t use pads and tampons because it’s man made then you are being a hypocrite. Because your house your living in I’m sure man made it how about your car or your phone your using or your computer or the internet. The list goes on and on. Also things gets transmitted through blood and if your free bleeding and u sit down in public and leave a puddle and someone else sits on it with out looking? How is this sanitary? Also all this is doing is giving people more reason to not let women have more rights, it’s making us look crazy. But how I feel is that we women are the bigger person and we don’t need to do things like this to make us have more power over ourselves. We are woman and we are strong and independent and if you have to do things like this to tell yourself that then I’m sorry for you.
To the girl talking about the menstrual cups, who’s vagina is big enough to fit one? I bought them and they still sit around. They don’t fit because they’re too big, they have rough plastic and I couldn’t even get it in to tell you if it was ok once in or if it worked
Lady Luger, what brand of menstrual cup was made of rough plastic? They’re usually made of medical grade silicon, sometimes natural rubber. There can be quite the learning curve with inserting it and working out when it’s in properly, but trust me, IT WORKS. I could jump up and down all day and it won’t move or leak (unless it’s over full). You should watch some you tube tutorials (which usually feature champagne flutes in place real vaginas in case you’re worried :-P) And give them another chance. Maybe buy a different brand?
Ive heard this before…have you never had sex? If a normal size penis can fiz in there than a cup can. It’s amazing once you get the hang of it. Ive used one for 4 years!
I mean, seriously? A BABY fits through down there 😉 and a Penis. And whatsoever.
As for a menstrual cup, you fold it so it’s about same size as a tampon, then you insert and it “plops open”. No danger of leaking and it can stay up to 12 hours. No drying out of your Vagina, no irritations whatsoever, no small pieces that stay inside etc. No dangerous chemicals… the list goes on. Many women even state less/non at all pain/cramps when using a cup instead of tampon.
I for example never was able go use tampon. Very uncomfortable feeling… nowadays the cup, you don’t feel it at all when it is the right size for you. I even have to set alarm to not forget to empty it after 12 hours. I forget that I am on my period as yield feel just as fine as on other days. When I still used chemical products however, I could barely move 1-2 days…
It’s important to our research and to get to know which size is needed (depending on how strong your Beckenboden is and how low/high your Muttermund gets. -sorry I don’t know the English words) by then it’s heaven on earth.
Oops
Auto correction…
If you cut yourself would you let it bleed freely? Of course not, you’d put a band-aid on it, so why would a woman let blood flow freely from her vagina? Besides, after a while the blood would dry out and stick to her thighs, which in turn would attract flies, I very much doubt any woman wants that.
I’ve been PROUDLY free bleeding with my wife for 3 years now! =D I actually like the blood “stains” on my clothes. I see them as badges of honor given to me for being a warrior in this oppressive world for women!
Rawr!
I don’t know about all of you women, but if I did this, it would be a huge mess. I bleed constantly and it is always heavy. I stain my clothes wearing both tampons and pads after about an hour. If I walked around all mushy pantsed, then there’d be a trail from my house to wherever I go. I can’t imagine a woman like me out there bleeding all over the place. There’d be pools. No one would let me in their buildings.
There are moon cups that have different sizes to fit most any woman. I am going to get one as soon as I am done with having babies. After you have a baby things constantly change for about a year afterwards. So, once I am a year post partum my last baby I am going to purchase a moon cup. here is a link which describes it and what sizes there are. In the meantime I am okay with tampons and pads. There is nothing wrong with using those things to help you stay clean and fresh. I however don’t use scented crap as that crap can cause infections or worse toxic shock syndrome. Anyhoo here is that link. http://www.mooncup.co.uk/about-the-mooncup.html
Well. It’s already a good start. But it should be mentioned that there is a range you different cups. Not only moon cup.
And the size explanation isn’t correct -unfortunately it often isn’t correct as companies would never say that people may need another’s company’s cup.
I don’t know the English terms for the German words “Muttermund” and “Beckenboden”. You can check it out when interested.
However it’s very important to know how much your Muttermund moves and where is its highest/lowest position during your period. You messure this one or two cycles before getting a cup.
Because: if your Muttermund sits high and you buy a too short cup, it risks to move itself up too high for you to reach it. This can end in an exhausting/painful try to remove the cup or even a doctors visit. On the other hand if your Muttermund sits low and you Gervais long cup, you would likely pass by next to the Muttermund with your cup and it would sit next to it instead if below.. in that case blood can’t get collected… some women have their Muttermund situated at 6 or higher and for some it comes down to up to 2 cm or so… so it’s very important to know how long/short the cup needs to be.
Then it’s important to know how strong your Beckenboden is. If it’s rather strong and your cup too soft, the Beckenboden muscle would risk to squeeze it, which results in the cup leaking. On the other hand, if your Beckenboden is rather weak and your cup too firm, it may hurt you or move involuntarily which makes it leak also.
It’s not so much about whether having given birth. Sure, giving birth can make your Beckenboden weaker but not every woman has a weak Beckenboden after given birth.
There are many young women using the bigger size and many older women or who have given birth that use the smaller size it’s pretty individual.
As soon as you know which length is needed and about how soft/firm you can check a list of all cups and find a fitting get one free you. Once you found a cup which is firm/long/soft/short enough, it also depends on your flow. If you bleed a lot you chose the bigger size of that cup and if you bleed less you chose the smaller size.
On fb we have a group “menstruationstasse” where there are some people who help you chose the best cup for you.
As an alternative to the usual cups, it also exists the femmycycle in defferent lenghts (fitting to the position of your Muttermund) where the ring is firm but cuts body very very soft. It’s body doesn’t need to open, only the ring. So for that cup, the Beckenboden doesn’t matter.
I read about this in a book called Cunt by Inga Musico, and i see the thory behind it, and its something i do during the nighttime (i use a dark towel) and during the day towards the end of my period, if at home. I wouldnt do it outside the house.
It feels more natural to me, each to their own.
Women were not meant to deal with cycles much at all, built to be pregnant, then nursing exclusively, which does keep cycle down, and then pregnant again.
So it was only rarely that I woman would have a heavy bleed other than post-childbirth
I heard Marilyn Monroe was a free bleeder. She would stay home in bed naked and just bleed all over her sheets.
It isn’t entirely false.. Or new.. I dated a “free bleeder” in the 90s, who also eschewed shaving and deodorant, but did shower thrice daily (sans soap) to stay “fresh”..
Er, i dated.. Bad autocorrect 🙂
So “free bleeding” isn’t just letting it all out. It’s actually training your cervix as a sphincter. Then you can control when you release the flow. I haven’t done it myself, so I don’t know if it can be done. But it’s not what this post claims.
No. This is just no. The cervix can not be voluntarily contracted or expanded, there are no muscles connected to the opening that react to willpower, only hormones. Where did you even come up with this?
Katie explains the idea behind free menstruating. I know several people doing it successfully. nly because for you it doesn’t seem possible doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist 😉
Let us clarify “it”… are you suggesting that your friends can control the cervix? Or are you saying your friends free bleed?
I know free bleeding can happen – all that is is not using feminine products. An “inaction” if you will.
Controlling the cervix though? Sorry, nope. It works like a heart beating or a liver filtering or intestines moving food though the body. Automatic function.
Else there’d be no cab-born babies 😉 Or heck, unwanted pregnancies for that matter, if you could just seal off your cervix, eh? No untimely periods, you could just hold that stuff in until it was convenient.
😉