\n<\/p>\n
O<\/span>nce a month without fail I decide to give up on all my goals and ambitions. \u201cThere\u2019s just no point,\u201d I sigh to my mother, who smiles and asks what day of my cycle I\u2019m on. I grumble back, insisting it has nothing to do with my period, I just happen to have lost all motivation and inspiration. \u201cWhat\u2019s the point anyway,\u201d I add, \u201cwhen we\u2019re watching the world burn?\u201d<\/p>\n Nine times out of 10 my period shows up shortly afterwards and, a few days later, my creativity, motivation and drive all come flooding back. You\u2019d think that growing up with a menstrual educator for a mother \u2013 and having a fairly solid knowledge of the cycle myself \u2013 I\u2019d remember this each month when feelings of disillusionment and apathy creep in. But deep in the slump it\u2019s hard to convince myself that it\u2019s my hormones playing tricks on me again.<\/p>\n While I had a fairly good understanding of the monthly cycle as a kid and teen, I thought I was too cool to have in-depth discussions with Mum about the changing dynamics that come with it. I didn\u2019t want to hear about taking advantage of high energy levels during my follicular and ovulatory phases and I didn\u2019t want to acknowledge that I might need more rest during my luteal and menstrual phases. Pah! Too woo-woo!<\/p>\n I simply didn\u2019t believe that each week could be that varied and I was determined to continue living life as society had shaped it: 24-hour day by 24-hour day \u2013 perfectly synced with a man\u2019s hormonal cycle.<\/p>\n Second-wave feminism had to focus on proving women\u2019s equality in the workplace and public life. While I acknowledge the importance of this, it often meant women were encouraged to downplay or avoid speaking about menstruation. That was probably the only viable approach, and the truth is we can mostly push through our luteal and menstrual phases to do important work.<\/p>\n But we\u2019re now entering a different chapter: one in which we must teach society as a whole how the menstrual cycle affects us.<\/p>\n It wasn\u2019t until my late 20s, when I was trying to get pregnant, that I really got into cycle tracking \u2013 also known as the fertility awareness method. I started taking my temperature every day and noting other changes in my body, including cervical fluid, and I was amazed to see clear patterns emerge.<\/p>\n It was thrilling to catch the temperature dip right before ovulation, then watch it rise and stay elevated. Even more exciting was realising I was pregnant when my temperature rose again at the time my period would normally arrive and produce a temperature drop.<\/p>\n I can understand hesitation in teaching girls about fertility awarenes. I\u2019d argue though that teaching them to track their cycles is more likely to empower them than lead to unwanted pregnancy.<\/p>\n I would love to see cycle tracking added to the high school curriculum \u2013 not to be promoted as contraception but as a way to understand the body and gain in-depth knowledge of our fluctuating hormones and what they mean for mood, energy and productivity.<\/p>\n Another crucial factor is learning what\u2019s normal and what\u2019s not. Too many girls and women endure painful, irregular or debilitating cycles for decades, assuming it\u2019s just \u201cpart of being a woman\u201d. In reality, these can signal such conditions as endometriosis or polycystic ovary syndrome, and recognising that something isn\u2019t right is the first step to seeking help.<\/p>\n As with many aspects of women\u2019s health, our understanding has advanced through sharing our experiences, and social media has been the forum for that. Unsurprisingly, this has also had a downside. Tradwife culture in the US has co-opted cycle tracking as a way to reject birth control, which has led some progressive folks to dismiss it as a conservative practice.<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/p>\n Sign up to Five Great Reads<\/span><\/p>\n Each week our editors select five of the most interesting, entertaining and thoughtful reads published by Guardian Australia and our international colleagues. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Saturday morning<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: <\/strong>Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.<\/span><\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n But every menstruator should enjoy cycle awareness, no matter what their politics are, and without sacrificing access to other forms of contraception. This is a reminder that knowledge isn\u2019t inherently liberating \u2013 context and application matter. Understanding the menstrual cycle should empower choice, not restrict it.<\/p>\n While I have far more insight into my cycle now, you\u2019ll still catch me wondering why my loved ones\u2019 chewing noises make me irrationally angry on certain days, or why I suddenly find every man walking down the street strangely attractive (oh, ovulation, you hilarious beast). I am so excited to see more girls and women having menstrual cycle knowledge at their fingertips.<\/p>\n I just wish we could avoid getting all our information from social media. Providing menstrual cycle education to girls \u2013 and, really, all students \u2013 in high school would help advance equality.<\/p>\n Far from being woo-woo, learning to understand and work with the body\u2019s monthly rhythms is empowering, fundamental health education. The menstrual cycle is fascinating and deeper knowledge of it can be life-changing.<\/p>\n Freya Bennett is a writer based on Dja Dja Wurrung country and is the co-founder and editor of Ramona Magazine<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Once a month without fail I decide to give up on all my goals and ambitions. \u201cThere\u2019s just no point,\u201d I sigh to my mother, who smiles and asks what day of my cycle I\u2019m on. I grumble back, insisting it has nothing to do with my period, I just happen to have lost all<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":26239,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[57],"tags":[7740,5723,496,9660,10790,4170,257,5552,1786,3431,15770,15735],"class_list":{"0":"post-26238","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-education","8":"tag-bennett","9":"tag-cycle","10":"tag-education","11":"tag-essential","12":"tag-freya","13":"tag-gender","14":"tag-isnt","15":"tag-matter","16":"tag-tool","17":"tag-tracking","18":"tag-tradwife","19":"tag-woowoo"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=26238"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26238\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/26239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=26238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=26238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=26238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}