Free Bleeding - another fad?

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.

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.

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

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!

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'.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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?

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!

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 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 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.

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?

Agree totally Iam64

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

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.

You seem very angry notanan2!

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.

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.

that’s actually saying that they’re not necessary

No its not. Its just saying that menstrual blood is not scary, and if it leaks through it shouldn't be mortifying.

If you bleed from a cut there is something wrong with you. Menstrual blood is the opposite and shouldn't be feared.

I guess it supports girls in period poverty because it makes periods less taboo so rather than skip school without telling anyone why they may feel more comfortable admitting that they are bleeding so that they can access support with getting san pro.

Girls would rather skip school than risk a leak. If they see women leak and go "so what? It happens, if it makes you uncomfortable thats your failing not mine" it might make the prospect seem slightly less scary. As in if it happens, its not the end of the world.

jalima quite.
In the link that was posted upthread, one of the reasons for doing it was given as showing ‘solidarity’ with girls & women who don’t have access to, or can’t afford, sanitary protection.
I don’t quite get that.
Surely if you’re going round advertising the fact that you don’t use pads or tampons, that’s actually saying that they’re not necessary, so we don’t need to be concerned about girls who miss school when they’ve got their period, they should just get on their bikes and free bleed like enlightened women in the First World do??

I free bleed on light days. I dont see the point in using sanitary products for every day that there is any trace of blood. I only use sanitary products on heavy days.

Its not compulsory. Don't like it: don't do it. I'm still not gonna use products I dont really need just because the idea makes you uncomfortable. As you were..