Confidence and Joy

PERIOD founder and Harvard College student Nadya Okamoto offers a manifesto on menstruation and why we can no longer silence those who bleed--and how to engage in youth activism. Throughout history, periods have been hidden from the public. They're taboo. They're embarrassing. They're gross. And due to a crumbling or nonexistent national sex ed program, they are misunderstood. Because of these stigmas, a status quo has been established to exclude people who menstruate from the seat at the decision-making table, creating discriminations like the tampon tax, medicines that favor male biology, and more. Period Power aims to explain what menstruation is, shed light on the stigmas and resulting biases, and create a strategy to end the silence and prompt conversation about periods.

In this hip, hilarious and truly eye-opening cultural history, menstruation is talked about as never before.Flowspans its fascinating, occasionally wacky and sometimes downright scary story: frommikvahs (ritual cleansing baths) to menopause, hysteria to hysterectomies--not to mention the Pill, cramps, the history of underwear, and the movie about puberty they showed you in 5th grade. Flow answers such questions as: What's thepoint of getting a period? What did women do before pads and tampons? What about new drugs that promise to end periods--a hot idea or not? Sex during your period: gross or a turn-on? And what'snormal, anyway?  With color reproductions of (campy) historical ads and early (excruciating) femcare devices, it also provides a fascinating (and mind-boggling) gallery of this complex, personal and uniquely female process. As irreverent as it is informative,Flow gives an everyday occurrence its true props - and eradicates the stigma placed on it for centuries.

Periods enter the spotlight in this essay collection that raises a variety of voices on a topic long shrouded in shame and secrecy. In this collection, writers of various ages and across racial, cultural, and gender identities share stories about the period. Each of our twelve authors brings an individual perspective and sensibility. They write about homeless periods, nonexistent periods, male periods, political periods, and more. Told with warmth and humor, these essays celebrate all kinds of period experiences. Periods are a fact of life. It's time to talk about them.

The first book to explore menstruation in the current cultural and political landscape, feminist icon Gloria Steinem said Periods Gone Public, "maybe the beginning of liberation for us all." From eliminating the tampon tax, to enacting new laws ensuring access to affordable, safe products, menstruation is no longer something to whisper about. Jennifer Weiss-Wolf shares her firsthand account in the fight for "period equity" and introduces readers to the leaders, pioneers, and everyday people who are making change happen. Weiss-Wolf--the woman Bustle dubbed one of the nation's "badass menstrual activists"--explores why periods have become a prominent political cause. From societal attitudes of periods throughout history--in the United States and around the world--to grassroots activism and product innovation, Weiss-Wolf challenges readers to face stigma head-on and elevate an agenda that recognizes both the power--and the absolute normalcy--of menstruation. "At its core, a menstrual movement, and Periods Gone Public, is about challenging all of us to face stigma head-on. And about advancing an agenda that recognizes the power, pride, and absolute normalcy of periods. Indeed, President Trump, we do have blood coming out of our wherever. Every month. It is not a secret." After centuries of being shrouded in taboo and superstition, periods have gone mainstream. Seemingly overnight, a new, high-profile movement has emerged--one dedicated to bold activism, creative product innovation, and smart policy advocacy--to address the centrality of menstruation in relation to core issues of gender equality and equity.

Period Power is a profound but practical blueprint for aligning daily life with the menstrual cycle, to give women a no-nonsense explanation of what the hell happens to their hormones every month and how they can use each phase to its full advantage. Ninety per cent of women experience symptoms of PMS, a syndrome which features a wide range of signs and symptoms and yet there's an enduring lack of understanding about what it actually is, and a disappointingly meager range of treatment options. Using what Hill calls the cycle strategy--a woman's secret weapon when it comes to improving her relationships, career and health--she will apply the principles of Eastern and Western medicine to give women all they need to make sense of their cycles, as well as accessible and practical suggestions through which readers can improve their physical symptoms, and stop berating themselves because of the way that they evolve through each menstrual month.