So, I had my period last week, which meant my ladybusiness was closed for normal sexual operations until further notice. I feel completely and utterly unsexy when my uterine lining is shedding and I have stuff a wad of dried, bleached cotton up there to keep it under control. Not only that, but I have this ongoing sense of anxiety, dread and leftover irritability from PMSing. Essentially, I am not in my finest form.

That said, it doesn’t stop me from thinking about period sex in theory. I know that if I threw down a red towel, handed my boyfriend a condom, and said “proceed carefully,” he would totally be game (in fact, when we were first dating and I was completely insatiable, we did it a few times). I know plenty of women who say that they find themselves even more horny on their period than at any other time of the month. And yet, period sex is still something that seems kind of taboo. I’m sure part of it stems from our (as ladies) discomfort and overall icky feeling. But I also feel like a lot of it is because dudes, in general, are completely repulsed.

Considering that menstruation is a normal bodily occurrence that affects over half of the population, you’d think the stigma and weirdness surrounding periods would be a lot less omnipresent. But our society still treats it like it’s  really gross and shameful. I have friends whose moms refused to have conversations about periods with them. It wasn’t until this year that an ad for sanitary napkins actually featured “blood.” Religions all around the world have questionable perceptions of menstruation.  It’s no wonder that many of us, as females, become pretty icked  out by our own bodies from anywhere from 15-25% of each month. So naturally, guys aren’t exactly going to be super enlightened and progressive about periods either. My boyfriend didn’t know what a tampon looked like before he met me, and was utterly fascinated. Guys balk at the idea of buying tampons or pads for their girlfriends (like the cashier is going to think they’re the ones bleeding…) But, really, periods are such a non-entity in the grand scheme of things. They may be bloody and inconvenient, but they’re natural,  healthy, not embarrassing and a confirmation that you’re not knocked up.

When even AskMen is publishing articles on engaging in period sex, perhaps it’s time to be a little less skeeved out about the idea of sexy time during shark week. If period sex truly is unappealing to you, of course you shouldn’t engage in it. But if it’s something that you would be into, don’t be afraid to bring it up to your partner. A good partner, even if they’re not into the idea, is not going to make you feel disgusting or unreasonable for wanting it. There’s no reason to forgo sex every time you bleed (especially since the average woman spends 3500 days menstruating).

Most of us have engaged in the verbal debate at some point. Most likely over a game of beer pong, when a guy makes that common assumption that boys are simply tougher than girls. We then launch into defense mode, listing off reasons why women are a hundred times tougher than men. It always ends in the same statement: “well men don’t have to go through labor!”

End of fight. (Hopefully you sink your next throw to send the point home).

An Australian TV anchor wanted to end this feud once and for all so he agreed to be put into simulated labor (with a machine that sends electric currents through the abdomen which feel like contraction pains). Needless to say, after only three hours he called it quits (mind you, most women are in labor for an average of 10-12 hours), concluding, “Women win. Men don’t.”

Finally, we are getting the credit we deserve. But honestly, we knew he never stood a chance. Of course men can’t handle labor! They can’t handle most of the things women put up with on a daily or monthly basis. Men could never handle being women, period.

Menstruation

Let’s just get the most obvious out of the way. Men have no freakin’ clue, and no words can communicate how much our monthly gift sucks. Men turn into little boys crying for mommy when they get the sniffles, yet we can expect to feel like someone is slicing our uterus out with a chainsaw and ripping it through our vagina every month. Not to mention that we then either walk around wearing a diaper for a week, or shove a compact tube of toilet paper up our vaginas. Do either of these sound like good options to you, men? Didn’t think so.

Grooming

Men run a comb through their hair, a razor over their faces (if it’s a special occasion), and that’s that. Women have a laundry list of things that aren’t even options. Sure we could walk around with bushy eyebrows and leg hair long enough to braid, but we would be hippie tree-huggers, European or just dirty. Either way, we wouldn’t be getting much love. Our morning ritual includes a leg shave, an armpit shave, and plucking the strays from our brow. And I have two more words for you: bikini wax. Pure hell.

Hormones

It’s not our faults that we cry every time we see The Notebook, or that we get fuming mad for apparently no reason. Women have to deal with crazy hormones that are cycling all over the place, leaving us emotional and a bit bi-polar at times. Your hormones make you horny; ours take us on an emotional roller coaster…it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to pick out which is worse and which can simply be cured with a magazine and a bottle of Jergens.

Clothes

We love being girls; we love dressing up and we love fashion. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy. We have to shimmy into tight dresses, suck it all in until we pass out to get our Spanxx over our thighs and walk around with dental floss between our butt cheeks to prevent panty lines. And I’d like to challenge the Australian TV host to a heel-off. I bet he doesn’t last one block in a pair of stilettos.

Birth Control

You think the “loss of sensation” from a condom is bad? Try weight gain, mood swings, breakouts and tender breasts that come with The Pill.You have no idea.

Sex

Yes, it’s amazing. Yes, we love it. No, it is not always comfortable. No matter how enjoyable it ends up being, you are still shoving a cucumber through a quarter-sized hole. (Editor’s Note: If you’re lucky. But even a gherkin hurts…) We know you have your share of problems being the plug, but it isn’t easy peesy being the outlet.

What else about being a girl do you get think a guy could never endure?

[This story was originally posted by Brianna - Fordham University.]

Female athletes, especially those involved in collegiate and professional-level sports, have long struggled to be taken seriously and treated as equals to their male counterparts. Many positive advances have been made, but with several universities still finding ways around Title IX – the law that banned sex discrimination in all federally funded education programs – it’s clear that the fight isn’t over.

The “mystery” of menstruation has been an integral part of the argument against women in sports. Many coaches, and even athletes, still believe that women are unable to perform to the best of their abilities at certain points in their cycle due to hormone fluctuations. However, there is disagreement about exactly what time of the month a woman will experience her athletic low, and past scientific studies on the issue have been contradictory and inconclusive. Female athletes are also often told to either begin using birth control pills or stop using them in order to alter their hormone levels.

But now, a European study focusing on female rowers has provided evidence that a woman’s hormone levels do not affect her athletic performance. Some subjects of the study were using the birth control pill, and others were not. Some of the rowers were competitive athletes, and others were recreational athletes. Every participant came into the lab several times throughout the month and performed a fitness test on a computerized rowing machine. Each visit, whether women’s estrogen levels were at their peak or at their lowest point, their measures of strength and endurance never varied.

Another study recently performed at the University of Denmark found that women aren’t the weaker sex – quite the opposite, in fact. The study showed that during physical training, women’s tendons and ligaments did not become as thick and strong as men’s did. However, after women stopped or cut back on their workouts, they did not lose strength as quickly as men did. Why? Scientists think it’s a protection against weakness during periods of inactivity, like pregnancy. Not too shabby, huh?

So what does this mean for you?

Well, it may leave you with one less excuse to skip the gym, but you have to admit this is pretty awesome! This is just more proof that nothing should stop you from getting out, getting fit and having fun. Oh, and giving all those boys a run for their money.

Have fun masturbating, boys.

End of fight. (Hopefully you sink your next throw to send the point home).

An Australian TV anchor wanted to end this feud once and for all so he agreed to be put into simulated labor (with a machine that sends electric currents through the abdomen which feel like contraction pains). Needless to say, after only three hours he called it quits (mind you, most women are in labor for an average of 10-12 hours), concluding, “Women win. Men don’t.”

Finally, we are getting the credit we deserve. But honestly, we knew he never stood a chance. Of course men can’t handle labor! They can’t handle most of the things women put up with on a daily or monthly basis. Men could never handle being women, period.

Menstruation

Let’s just get the most obvious out of the way. Men have no freakin’ clue, and no words can communicate how much our monthly gift sucks. Men turn into little boys crying for mommy when they get the sniffles, yet we can expect to feel like someone is slicing our uterus out with a chainsaw and ripping it through our vagina every month. Not to mention that we then either walk around wearing a diaper for a week, or shove a compact tube of toilet paper up our vaginas. Do either of these sound like good options to you, men? Didn’t think so.

Grooming

Men run a comb through their hair, a razor over their faces (if it’s a special occasion), and that’s that. Women have a laundry list of things that aren’t even options. Sure we could walk around with bushy eyebrows and leg hair long enough to braid, but we would be hippie tree-huggers, European or just dirty. Either way, we wouldn’t be getting much love. Our morning ritual includes a leg shave, an armpit shave, and plucking the strays from our brow. And I have two more words for you: bikini wax. Pure hell.

Hormones

It’s not our faults that we cry every time we see The Notebook, or that we get fuming mad for apparently no reason. Women have to deal with crazy hormones that are cycling all over the place, leaving us emotional and a bit bi-polar at times. Your hormones make you horny; ours take us on an emotional roller coaster…it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to pick out which is worse and which can simply be cured with a magazine and a bottle of Jergens.

Clothes

We love being girls; we love dressing up and we love fashion. But that doesn’t mean it’s easy. We have to shimmy into tight dresses, suck it all in until we pass out to get our Spanxx over our thighs and walk around with dental floss between our butt cheeks to prevent panty lines. And I’d like to challenge the Australian TV host to a heel-off. I bet he doesn’t last one block in a pair of stilettos.

Birth Control

You think the “loss of sensation” from a condom is bad? Try weight gain, mood swings, breakouts and tender breasts that come with The Pill.You have no idea.

Sex

Yes, it’s amazing. Yes, we love it. No, it is not always comfortable. No matter how enjoyable it ends up being, you are still shoving a cucumber through a quarter-sized hole. (Editor’s Note: If you’re lucky. But even a gherkin hurts…) We know you have your share of problems being the plug, but it isn’t easy peesy being the outlet.

What else about being a girl do you get think a guy could never endure?

Well, I’m here to tell you.

Disposable menstrual products are terrible for our environment and they’re terrible for our wallets, too. Why buy them if there are other options?

1. The Cup

The menstrual cup is a safe and effective replacement for the tampon that doesn’t create all the waste. It is made of rubber or silicone and worn inside the vagina just like a tampon. Cups are so safe that no health risks have been found related to their use (unlike tampons). You may never have heard of them, but this option has been on the market since 1932! It’s not the most well-known product, but many women swear by them. Brands that make them: DivaCup, FemmeCup, Keeper, LadyCup, Lunette, MiaCup, Mpowercup, Mooncup, and Softcup.

2. Reusable Pads

If babies can get away with having cloth diapers, I don’t see why women can’t get away with having cloth pads. Not only are reusable pads saving the planet and saving you money, but according to all reports I have seen, they are much more comfortable than your standard pad. Without the annoyance of bulk or allergy, these pads are simple and safe. Brands that make them: Lundapads, Glad Rags, New Moon Pads, Moon Loon Pads, Comfy Cloth Pads, EcoMenses, and plenty of others.

3. Sea Sponges

Sea sponges are another alternative to tampons. They actually come from the ocean floor and are without any synthetic materials. One sea sponge will supposedly last for about six months. All you do is dampen it and place it in the vagina the same way you would a tampon and then rinse it out about every three hours. Totally effective and totally natural. Though, not totally perfect – you can get Toxic Shock Syndrome from sea sponges the same way you can from tampons.

With so many different (and unknown!) alternatives out there, women don’t have to buy into using either brand-name tampons or brand-name pads. If you’re more comfortable with these products, that’s fine. But you should be informed about what else is out there. And you should experiment and find what’s best for you.

[Photo from: www.piquiwithmaple.com]

There are a multitude of factors, from water consumption to plain old hormones, that can artificially – and temporarily – affect that ever important number on the scale, anywhere from 1-5 pounds in a day.

#1. Water water water.

Water can affect your weight in a couple of ways: drinking too much, and not enough. As a substance, water is pretty heavy, so if you drink a couple big glasses, you’ll see an immediate impact on your weight. On the other hand, dehydration can also lead to a higher number, because it causes the body to retain what water it does have (it thinks there’s a draught or something?). Our bodies are made of 60% water, so any changes in that arena are going to have a noticeable impact overall.

#2 Food

This one seems so obvious, but people sometimes forget that food weighs as much in your stomach as it does on your plate, at least initially. Take that into account when you step on the scale, or better yet, wait ’til you’ve digested before you get anywhere near it.

#3 Aunt Flo

You know how you feel bloated and heavy right around your period? It’s because you are. Hormonal shifts and surges also make your body hold onto water, and we’ve already covered how much water can add up. Exercise, drink plenty of water, and your body will flush it out in due time.

#4 Salt

Going heavy on the salt makes your body hold onto water for dear life which, as we already know, makes us weigh more. This gets especially tricky to control, as most convenience foods, prepared foods, etc., already have a lot of sodium in them, and if you add salt on top of that…well, you may be in for a little surprise next time you step on the scale.

#5 Glycogen

Glycogen is energy stored in your body, in muscles and in your liver, and comes packed with 3-4 pounds of water. If you don’t eat enough carbs during the day, these stores get tapped and the supply will shrink, resulting in a small weight loss. This will increase your appetite, and your body will slowly right itself as you eat. Glycogen and the accompanying water can account for a shift of up to 2 pounds in weight every day.

So, there you have it, the top 5 reasons your weight can fluctuate on any given day. Remember, a pound of fat is 3500 calories. You would have to consume 3500 calories MORE than you burn off in a day, and you burn a good many just by, you know, living. Add in any activity at all and you up that furnace. It’s almost literally impossible to gain a pound overnight, let alone 5. Unless you regularly eat tubs of Crisco every day, chances are, your culprit is one of the above. For this reason, doctors and nutritionists often recommend markers other than a scale to monitor your weight, such as energy level, or a particularly stiff pair of jeans. These things will give you a much more honest answer than your fickle bathroom scale.

If you are going to weigh, try and be consistent with when and how you do it. If you stick to the same time of day, amount of clothing, etc., you’re more likely to get a weight that’s at least relatively accurate. So next time you get a nasty shock, take a breath, think it over, and consider that maybe you’re doing just fine.

While breast cancer is uncommon in women under the age of 35, the risk of it increases as a woman grows older. There is also some evidence to suggest that young African American women are at greater risk for breast cancer than young Caucasian women. No matter who you are, you will be affected by breast cancer during the course of your life in one way or another.

Here’s what you need to know to protect yourself now.

Get In Touch Regularly

Mammography screening is the best available method to detect breast cancer, but due to the high levels of radiation, doctors don’t recommend them to people under the age of 40. Your next best bet? Clinical and self examination.

The American Cancer Society urges women in their 20s and 30s to have a clinical breast exam (CBE) as a part of their regular professional health exam. The most common signs of breast cancer are a lump in the breast, abnormal thickening of the breast, or a change in the shape or color of the breast. Keep in mind that finding a lump does not necessarily mean you have breast cancer. If you notice something abnormal, talk to your doctor ASAP.

Other possible signs of breast cancer include:

• Any new, hard lump or thickening in any part of the breast

• Change in breast size or shape

• Dimpling or puckering of the skin

• Swelling, redness or warmth that does not go away

• Pain in one spot that does not vary with your monthly cycle

• Pulling in of the nipple

• Nipple discharge that starts suddenly and appears only in one breast

• An itchy, sore or scaling area on one nipple

Info via NBCAM.com

Know Your Family History

Women with multiple family members with breast cancer may have an increased risk of carrying a breast cancer susceptibility gene. If your mom or sister has suffered from the disease, stay calm and get the facts. It is important to know how old they were at the time they were diagnosed. Depending the situation, you may want to undergo genetic counseling and genetic testing. But, of course, talk to your doctor before making any decisions.

Know Your Body

While research has shown that self breast exams play a small role in finding breast cancer, the real goal is for women to know their bodies. If you take time to know how your breasts look and feel normally, you’ll be quicker noticing any changes.

Young women should also track their menstrual cycles and physical development. Women who begin menstruating before age 12 are at increased risk of developing breast cancer. The more menstrual cycles a woman has over her lifetime, the more likely she is to get the disease. Find out when you had your first period and keep a record of your medical history. Knowledge of small details could be important if a problem develops later in life.

Eat Right

You’ve heard “eat your veggies” a million times, but when it comes to cancer diet really matters. In addition to their fiber content (which is beneficial for your heart and can help prevent other cancers, such as colon cancer), fruits and vegetables have antioxidant properties and micronutrients that may help prevent some cancers. Eat leaner meats and limit red meat. Reducing your fat intake helps prevent other health problems, such as heart disease and stroke, and may reduce your chance of developing breast and colon cancers.

Exercise

The U.S. Surgeon General recently reported many health problems can be prevented by engaging in a moderate amount of physical activity on most days of the week. Strive to maintain the body weight recommended by a health professional, since excess fat may stimulate estrogen production.

For more information on risk factors, visit the American Cancer Society Website, www.cancer.org, Breast Cancer Facts and Figures, 2006.

It’s the start of a new week and already I feel haggard and exhausted. My moods are swinging like a particularly feisty pendulum and my breasts ache. It can only mean one thing: my good friend PMS is on the horizon.

The beginnings of some minor stomach cramps, an increased feeling of self-consciousness and a patience threshold shorter than my small toe surface like clockwork once a month, warning me of impending pain and the cycle of womanhood.

Thankfully I am not alone, basking in the dull glory of 90% of menstruating women who currently experience some form of Pre-Menstrual Syndrome. There are at least a hundred symptoms, though women experience a mix of just a few. The most common include irritability, loss of confidence, poor concentration, crying for no particular reason and the infamous mood swings, as feared by boyfriends and spouses the world over.

I myself am prone to similar experiences as mentioned above, along with an unpleasant notion of feeling like a beached whale and wishing my bedroom were the sea and my bed the sand, so I could waddle on my belly to bask in comfort and perhaps make a few guessed interpretations of what I would consider to be whale groans.

Treating such a varied problem is a tricky business; it is difficult to differentiate the factors which stem from the stresses of every day life to those blown out of proportion by PMS. There are treatments available, though it is suggested to increase your intake of vitamin B6 and evening primrose oil before considering something more invasive.

I’m lucky in the sense that I know my body well. I know when my PMS is flaring up, hence I can control it to a limited extent (such as warning those around me of possible temper tantrums beforehand!). A balanced diet also helps, as does a regular influx of water into your system which helps keep you hydrated. Peppermint tea also works wonders, as does camomile. Exercise – though it may be the last thing you feel like doing – also helps clear your mind and offers a rush of natural endorphins.

Despite the hassle of PMS, the one positive thing I have found is that you can get away with murder. Literally. And in a way, that almost makes up for the stresses and strains of being a woman. Almost.

What symptoms do YOU suffer from? How do they affect your everyday life, and how well can you control it? Let us know.

It was dark out and I was using my booklight to read my newest purchase “Letters to Judy Blume.” It was the moment I finally understood that these shameful feelings, these urges, well they weren’t bad at all. I kept looking at the reflection in the mirror, thinking someone could tell what I had discovered.

There were a lot of things I wouldn’t have learned without Judy Blume: that young girls sometimes explore each other, that masturbation is normal, that getting your period is something worth praying for and that sex between young lovers doesn’t always end with horrible consequences.

So why, WHY are people still trying to censor the women that taught our generation so much? Why are people so skeptical of letting their children learn about menstruation, masturbation and sex from books?

My parents never really talked to me about sex. And the things I didn’t learn from Judy Blume I learned on the back of the school bus. Based on the fact that for a good year of my life I thought that “giving head” was when a guy stuck his face in between girls’ boobs, I’d say that Blume is a much more reliable source.

If anything, parents today are more prudish than their children. Girls are more open to sex of all kinds even before parents are thinking to discuss the birds and the bees, let alone contraception.

The great thing about Judy Blume is that at 69, she’s still kicking ass. I commend a woman who writes for her readers instead of the public opinion. Maybe Forever, Summer Sisters and Are You There God, It’ Me Margaret aren’t the ground breaking, earth shattering works of literature they were when they were first published. But even at her age, she’s still speaking out against the priggish parents trying to keep her prose under wraps.

Banned Books to Read:

Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes: Banned from school in

Canada for being “filthy and immoral.” (Sweet.)

Eve’s Diary by Mark Twain: Banned from a library in

Massachusetts for having “pornographic illustrations” of Eve. (And we all know ladies like porn!)

Lady Chatterly’s Lover by D.H. Lawrence: Scandalous for its explicit sex scenes including many previously banned four-letter words. (You mean my vocabulary?)

Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger: Banned for “sexual situations” and immorality. (aka life in college.)

Other illicit lit to check out:

Women on Top by Nancy Friday

The House of Spirits by Isabelle Allende

Go AskAlice by Anonymous

American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis

Carrie by Steven King

Sex by Madonna

Song of Solomon by Toni Morrison

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty by Anne Rice

The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock and Roll edited by Jim Miller

The Education of Harriet Hatfield by May Sarton

The Egypt Game by Zilpha Keatly Snyder

A Doll’s House by Henrik Isben