Free Bleeding - another fad?

P.s. air kills HIV. It can't sit there in a blood stain exposed to air and survive until another host comes along.

If that was the case then it would be a bloodbourne AND CONTACT transmitted disease. Which it is not. It has to be passed directly without going via some non host surface.

Plus you need a significant amount of infected fluid to get INTO your blood stream in order to get infected:

You would have to have a fresh cut on your behind, big enough to make you not want to sit anywhere in order to be in the first instance susceptible to getting HIV in there.... and then you would have to sit in a pool of it in order for there to be enough freshly bled host blood that had not been exposed to air for enough of it to get in there....

You will not get it from a trace left on a seat from a free bleeding ex passenger.

There is also the thought that women wear towels to protect their knickers, which are protection in themselves. Its not important if the gusset gets stained, because that's what its for.

You seem very angry notanan2!

For some of us, sanitary pads were the only thing that stopped the blood from running down our legs and onto the ground. Talking about a " leak' might seem like a small thing to some, but for many of us, periods mean a packet of pads every day and blood all over the sheets.

No doubt there are many girls in 3rd world countries who also bleed profusely - so saying " don't worry its nothing !" is not really helpful.

notsnan, you're free do follow your free bleed dream but don't expect others to find your explanations anything other than self entitled nonsense.
Children of 10 having first periods in primary school, children who are too poor, or whose carers fail to provide them with sanitary protection are in a very different situation than entitled women.
The idea that women who have the choice and choose to free bleed will somehow liberate poor kids or women-what a pile of nonsense.
signed, an old feminist

Agree totally Iam64

Ah notanan, a free bleeder. That’s what I want, someone who’ll answer some questions about their point of view.

I do agree with the things you’ve said about shame and embarrassment about a natural function. But being me, it’s akways The practicalities that weigh in over the principle!

When you say you free bleed on light days, do you mean with pants to catch the blood? That’s just light protection isn’t it, rather than no protection? Before the days of little thin mini pads I would have done the same and just washed my knickers. (Which were quite substantial bits of clothing in my youth?)

It’s the mess that total freebleeders must leave that bothers me. Do they clean up or just ignore it and walk away?

Would they pay for cleaning, say a bus seat, or would that be considered something the bus company should expect to do? Not long ago one of my friends vomited in the taxi we were taking. We found out there was a £40 cleaning charge but we had already handed the driver money to pay for his trouble.

Does consideration for other people that might find themselves with picked up blood stains on their clothing come into the equation at all?

I just think it would feel horrible. I do remember many years ago visiting a friend and remarking, bearing in mind her children were quite young at the time, that they'd been a bit careless with their poster paints, there were quite a lot of red marks on the floor, to which she responded, her young female dog had just come into season. I have to admit I was a bit taken aback at that. The logistics of having to deal with a domestic female animal in season quite impractical really. My periods, like many others, were quite heavy at times in my younger days, I can't imagine not wanting to wear some sort of sanitary protection the mind boggles, apart from the sheer discomfort, it's just not very practical.

I am a Chef, I do not think Free Bleeding would be very hygenic in a hot kitchen. In fact I think it would be awful and employers would have the right to complain.
I would have been found it difficult to employ waiting staff or bar staff who were free bleeding.

I was thinking about how attitudes towards menstruation have changed since I first started. We have come such a long way. I remember my gran telling me not to wash my hair during my 'time' because I would get a cold. The euphamisms were so many and such things were never mentioned in front of men. I don't think 'free bleeding' will add to this in any way. I don't think being embarrassed about a blood stain on a skirt is any more demeaning than being embarrassed about a coffee stain on the front of my blouse. (And that was always happening and is why I seldom wear white!) That said if people want to do it, let them. The extra soaking and washing, and the sheer discomfort would have put me off, not to mention the unpredictable nature of the bleeding. And of course menstrual bleeding is natural, but it can still make a bloody mess.

I am horrified at this idea and can only think that the women involved don't have heavy periods. I did and and no one was more delighted than me after I had a hysterectomy!

Iam64
Good post

nonanan it's your choice to carry on staining your knickers, clothes, bedclothes, furniture; you are entitled to do as you wish as long as this does not impact on others in an adverse way.

These poor girls in African countries who daren't go to school because they have no sanitary protection and girls in this country who are too poor to afford it would be bemused by this clap-trap.

P.s. air kills HIV. If exposed to air and survive until another host comes along. How quickly? What if the blood is still wet on the seat of the bus?
Why do people who work in hospitals, in laboratories, have to be so careful if the HIV virus, any of the Hep viruses are so difficult to contract?
The chances are probably remote, but why should another person be subject to having someone's else's blood on their clothes and all the consequent cleaning or risk infecting a cut with any number of diseases?

Luckygirl I haven't said I think free bleeding is a good idea. I just said I can understand to some extent the thinking behind this - to normalise menstruation rather than for it to remain as a taboo.

But I don't believe the majority of women would feel comfortable doing this. And it would be unhygienic and distasteful to, for instance, sit on a seat on the tube and find one's clothing wet and bloodstained.

Well shall we go the whole hog , with weeing & pooping , that’s natural too, why bother with the inconvenience (hah!)
Just let it all go where ever, when ever.

It is not just 'blood' though, is it.

"Menstruation, or period, is normal vaginal bleeding that occurs as part of a woman's monthly cycle. Every month, your body prepares for pregnancy. If no pregnancy occurs, the uterus, or womb, sheds its lining. The menstrual blood is partly blood and partly tissue from inside the uterus".

Yes, let's regress hundreds of years Bridgeit!

Just conjured up a picture in my mind Jalima, of bottoms poking out of windows?
Seriously though what does it say about the development of humans, when we finally ( excluding 3rd world countries)
have the amenities that past generations did not., but we want to reverse it in the name of what ? false liberation & rights. ! Either the world is going mad or this is a wind up , And it is also an insult to those who still do not have the luxuries that we have here.

TerriBull, you'd have been amused (or bemused) when my GD came to visit with her terrier bitch on heat and wearing a canine 'nappy'.

I think the idea of normalising menstruation is kind of preaching to the converted. Almost all women have periods and accept it as normal.

It's men who have issues with women menstruating, both religious and cultural taboos. Maybe that's because it's a sign that women are fertile and thus somehow 'dangerous' - I don't know. It's men who need to accept that periods are a part of life, not women.

I still wouldn't want to try free-bleeding, though - cold, damp clothes? No thanks!

Chaffed legs and bloody clothes and some thought weeing in the shower was dis...gust....ting
It’s a joke surely
you can normalise menstration without bleeding all over the (bloody ?) place
What ever next men leaving their natural products on the bus seat
For crying out loud

My lovely GC have a very healthy attitude to menstruation. My teenage GS was giving his sister a comforting hug. I asked what the trouble was and he calmly said: menstruation - she has got period pain.

Now I can't imagine that scenario between my brother and myself at a similar age - so things have thankfully moved on.

When you say you free bleed on light days, do you mean with pants to catch the blood?

Yes. For me it's about not panicking at any trace of blood. I'm finally not scared of it. I use san pro on heavy days because its cheaper than replacing my carpets.

Just Yuk !!!

What do you do if you cut your finger notanan?
Do you let the blood drip everywhere, including when you're preparing food?

Children of 10 having first periods in primary school, children who are too poor, or whose carers fail to provide them with sanitary protection are in a very different situation than entitled women.
*The idea that women who have the choice and choose to free bleed will somehow liberate poor kids or women-what a pile of nonsense.
signed, an old feminist*

I was one of those kids who couldnt acquire san pro from home.

I remember thinking that the prospect of leaking through my home made toilet tissue pads was a "nightmare" situation.

A girl in my class did leak quite significantly and people talked and joked about it for years. YEARS . The story followed her from primary to secondary school. Can you imagine? I was TERRIFIED that that might happen to me too.

A few years later I was at a sleepover and an older girl completely nonchalantly said "oh, there's period blood on my nightie, I'm going to go rinse it". I was blown away that she A. didnt hide it and try to quietly sneak off to clean it without anyone noticing, and B. That it wasnt "social suicide" for a leak to happen.

I think had a marathon runner leaked and not skulked off in a desperate effort to hide it, scared child me would have thought "wow, it happens and it doesn't have to be the end of the world"
If someone made fun of me I might have learnt to say "and? So what? Are you SCARED of a bit of period blood?" . It wouldnt have made day to day life any better, I still wouldnt have had proper san pro, but it might have made the prospect of potential leaks slightly less terrifying.

Do you let the blood drip everywhere, including when you're preparing food?

I dont prepare food between my legs. What kind of contortionist situations are you imagining?