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The original was posted on /r/twoxchromosomes by /u/bunnytryingreddit on 2023-08-11 13:04:35.
I'm getting tired of all these girls and women praising hormone free methods on social media, explaining how to live in tune with your cycle during the month.
Don't get me wrong, it's amazing the copper IUD and condoms exist. I'm not talking about these anti-contraception methods.
I'm talking about the calendar method, for example. Which might work for certain women, those with the for me unreachable super regular 28-day cycles.
Sometimes I just feel so much less of a woman because my cycle is unreliable (and I have PMDD on top of that) but social media expects me to catch butterflies and jump around the flower field during my ovulation and eat soup and avoid social events during my menstruation. I get anxiety from these expectations that are absolutely unrealistic and unachievable for me.
I'm 22, I've been menstruating for more than 10 years. My cycle has never been regular. Sometimes it's around 30 to 40 days, sometimes 27 days, and sometimes 70 days.
I despised the pill because I was influenced by social media, stating I wouldn't feel like myself anymore, that I wouldn't be in touch with my intuition anymore. And probably this can be the case for some women, which is why it's great hormone-free methods exist.
But we shouldn't create this image of a mythological woman, who lives by the cycles of the moon, in tune with nature and everything. It would be great to get there, but for most of us it's impossible, be that because of biological factors or simply because of the capitalistic productivity-driven society we live in.
These influencers who praise the calender method never talk about it's failure, never talk about two lines on the pregnancy test and fear while contacting the abortion clinic. Yet this is the reality, sadly.
I've been taking the pill for a month now after I had an unplanned pregnancy and abortion in June. I'm not 100% happy with it (breakthrough bleeding) but my body and soul are reacting mostly positively to it.
The work these influencers do might be good to give an alternative voice. But are dangerous too.