Not so bad close up (Medicozz via Flickr)
Avoiding work this morning by ambling through a couple of Facebook groups I found a link to a post about a thing called "free bleeding".The notion apparently is that you don't bother with tampons, pads or cups during your period, you just let things flow, erm, naturally. Auntie Flo on the rampage, as it were.
According to the article, it's the latest big trend by "extreme" feminists who consider man-made sanitary protection to be some form of oppression and, instead, choose to celebrate their menses, sharing it with onlookers, upholstery, clothing and park benches.
Now, I'm all for getting rid of the twee nonsense that inflicts adverts showing menstruating women rollerskating and skydiving to an irritating soundtrack on us. All the pads with wings in the world will not elevate the monthly visit to anything lofty, and, whatever way you market it, paying hundreds over a lifetime of periods isn't any fun at all. (Yes, yes, smug Mooncuppers, I know.)
But this idea is bonkers. No one - however "extreme" a feminist she is - seriously believes in free bleeding.
By the way, the notion of "extreme" feminism is potty enough. How can wanting everyone to have equal political, economic and social rights be "extreme" in 2014?
Anyway, back to the blood in hand - and everywhere else. It's bonkers because free bleeding made up. It's a hoax. No one does this. You may as well advocate "free shitting" or "free pissing".
I hope it's just invented by a bunch of wags with no real agenda beyond sniggering and winding people up. Otherwise, you could argue it's a cynical attempt to demonise feminists - extreme or otherwise. Though, if you think about it, it may backfire hugely and allow "extreme" feminists to take on the same status as other mythical creatures. After all, the only way to recognize her would be the mess she leaves behind her - no bloody splodges = not extreme.
I'm not going to encourage the hoaxers by including a link to their page or the fictitious twitter accounts. If you care, you can google - there are even pictures! And you'll notice how I've risen about the childish inclination to make a joke about what a bunch of fannies the hoaxers are...
Meantime, can we stop wasting time going "ewwww, that's disgusting", because turd on toast would be disgusting but that's not going to happen either.