You Are More Than Beautiful

Rupi Kaur

I want to apologize to all the women

I have called pretty.

Before I’ve called them intelligent or brace.

I am sorry I made it sound as though

Something as simple as what you’re born with

Is the most you have to be proud of

When your spirit has crushed mountains

From now on I will say things like,

You are resilient

Or, you are extraordinary.

Not because I don’t think you’re pretty.

But because you are so much more than that.

Kaitlyn Luckow

I met my best friend, Sam, 23 years ago after she met my brother in her kindergarten class. Since then, we’ve literally been through all of life together: great loves, loses, the birth of her daughter, personal traumas, career changes, big moves, and great celebrations. She was the first person that ever made me feel comfortable in my own skin (weirdness and all) and the first person to make me realize my worth.

J.B.

A woman’s menstrual cycle has three phases:  the follicular (before the egg is released), ovulatory (when the egg is released) and luteal (after the egg is released).  Each of these phases is regulated by different hormones, primarily estrogen, progesterone, FSH (follicle-stimulating hormone), and LH (luteinizing hormone). 

These hormones work in concert with each other and with other hormones, much like the members of a sports team will work together, each performing a separate role in coordination with the other team members.

Kaitlyn Luckow

“That’s what she said!”  

Someone that shouts that joke every chance he gets may not seem like he would be feminist icon material. You might be thinking, Kaitlyn, are you kidding me? Michael Scott is probably the last T.V. character I would label as a feminist.

However, after binging The Office far too many times than I care to admit, I’ve come to the realization that this is, in fact, the case. 

Kaitlyn Luckow

Male masturbation is usually the brunt of jokes, it’s assumed that all guys do it, and it’s totally fine to talk about and admit.

However, I have found that when women talk about masturbating, people are shocked and it is seen as something dirty or embarrassing. It’s something that is hushed, it’s not talked about, and it makes women afraid of their own bodies.

To be honest (and this is a little embarrassing), I didn’t even know that females could masturbate until I was well into puberty.  

There is a lot of misinformation out there about female masturbation and it causes a lot of myths to rise up around the subject. This can make learning about the female body confusing for a lot of young women and even daunting.   

I wanted to clear the air here. Yes, women masturbate. Yes, it’s awesome. Yes, we can talk about it.

Here are some common myths surrounding female masturbation and the truth behind the lies.

Kaitlyn Luckow

Oftentimes when we write and talk about menstruation, it’s easy to talk about just women who menstruate or refer to girls and use “she/her” pronouns. But it’s important to understand and be aware of the limitation of this kind of dialogue. 

By gendering menstruation in this way, we are actually ostracizing people who aren’t women or individuals who don’t identify with “she/her” pronouns. 

Let’s make one thing clear: menstruating does not make someone a woman, not menstruating doesn’t make them not a woman, and women aren’t the only individuals in this world that menstruate.

We need to make sure that we are telling everyone’s stories.

Kaitlyn Luckow

As this month comes to an end, we wanted to talk about something that is near and dear to our hearts: Endometriosis Awareness Month.

Endometriosis, like many women’s health problems, has gone wildly untalked about. Many women go through life experiencing intense pain and thinking that it’s just normal for them to have to live with that pain. Because of this, many women around the world don’t know that what they’re experiencing is abnormal and many go undiagnosed when in reality, they are suffering from Endometriosis.

Your pain is not normal.

176 million women (that’s 10% of women) around the world have suffered and continue to suffer from a disease that has a huge impact on their daily lives.

PMS is the medical acronym for premenstrual syndrome.   You know, that time before your period when you feel tired, fat, and cranky.

The Mayo Clinic has a long, long list of symptoms of PMS including fatigue, weight gain, bloating, anxiety, depression, insomnia, on and on. Some sources say that “up to 150 symptoms have been identified as part of premenstrual syndrome”.   And if it gets really bad, PMS graduates to PMDD (premenstrual dysphoric disorder), not that having an extra letter is going to make anyone feel better.

According to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, PMS symptoms can appear in the one to two weeks before your period.

Wow!  What a miserable way to spend one or two weeks out of every month.  PMS  should actually stand for “Please! Make it Stop!”

Kaitlyn Luckow

Today is International Women’s Day and today, we wanted to celebrate awesome ladies doing incredible things, but we wanted to focus on women who are often overlooked: the women who have helped make breakthroughs in menstruation and menstrual products.

Here are some women throughout history, and some who are working hard today, that have changed the way that we look at and menstruate on a daily basis.  

J.B.

There’s no such thing as a good time to get a urinary tract infection.  But getting a UTI at the same time as your period?  Oh, no!

The urinary tract is a brilliant drainage system for getting rid of excess fluid.   The kidneys remove extra fluid from the blood to make urine.  The urine travels from the kidneys to the bladder through tubes called ureters.  The bladder stores the urine and then drains it through another little tube called the urethra.  But like any other complex system, things can occasionally go wrong.

Kaitlyn Luckow

Imagine living in poverty and having to choose between feeding your family or buying feminine hygiene products.

This is a reality for more than 16.3 million women in living in the United States. According to the National Women’s Law Center, women are 38% more likely to live in poverty than men, and women of color experience poverty at a much higher rate than white women.

Women and girls who are living in poverty often have to sacrifice buying menstrual products in order to help pay for other necessities. This is largely due to the high price of menstrual products and the fact that they are taxed as “luxury items”. However, menstrual products are just as necessary as food, water, shelter, and other hygiene-related products.

Kaitlyn Luckow

There’s a line in The Perks of Being A Wallflower that is totally overused on Pinterest, but it’s true that “You accept the love you think you deserve.” 

Unfortunately, I’ve known a lot of people (and I’m sure you have to) that accept the love that isn’t full, isn’t genuine, and sometimes even toxic.

If you’re stuck in a situation where the love that you’re receiving from others, whether that’s in a romantic relationship, friendship, or even familial relationship, I want to talk to you today about why you’re worth more.

If you’re giving, giving, giving all of the time and not receiving any support back, you deserve more.

Kaitlyn Luckow

February is the month of love: Valentine’s Day and Galentine’s Day are holidays that celebrate the special people you love in your life, but they’re largely forgetting the most important person in your life: YOU!

While you’re busy trying to plan a perfect date for your significant other or plan the perfect night to celebrate your besties, you can’t forget about yourself. But, let’s be real, most of us do.  

J.B.

What is an irregular menstrual cycle?  Well, that kind of depends on who you ask, but the medical consensus seems to be that a “normal” menstrual cycle lasts 28 days, give or take seven days.  A cycle is considered to be irregular if it occurs more often than every 21 days or if bleeding goes on longer than 8 days.  Early or late periods, and missed periods are also considered to be irregular.

How common is an irregular menstrual cycle?  According to Dr. Amy Autry, Professor of Obstetrics-Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences at the University of California, “at least 30% of women have irregular periods during their childbearing years”.  A 2011 report published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism confirms that many women occasionally experience irregular periods all throughout their reproductive years.

But what causes irregular periods?  Well, like most things, there isn’t just one answer.  The menstrual cycle can be influenced by a number of factors.

Kaitlyn Luckow

Let’s be real, reading the news hasn’t been the most joyful activity for a lot of people recently. Good news stories are hard to come by, especially when they’re stories about women’s rights.

However, there’s always some light in the world, and recently there’s a whole beam of light in regards to news stories about women’s rights around the world. There are some major shifts taking place and new leaders emerging who are determined to make a difference in this world.

 So, let’s take a few minutes to celebrate some historical wins for women that have happened recently.

Kaitlyn Luckow

With a new year comes a storm of people declaring their New Year’s goals on social media and a lot of them were to read more books.

If you’re someone who is looking to read more in 2019, I have some book recommendations for you. These books are perfect if you need a little empowerment in your life--especially if you’re a woman.

These books will make you celebrate your womanhood and make you feel like you can take on the world--because you can.

Kaitlyn Luckow

With the new year came millions of social media posts with people talking all about how they were going to do this and that in the new year. That is all fine and dandy. Having goals is a beautiful thing, but I want to take today to make realistic goals for you to implement throughout the year. All of these goals are about self-love and shifting toxic mindsets that may be bringing you down.

There has been a lot of hope out there for 2019 and I want to make sure that you’re applying that hope to yourself and your mental health as well—because you’re worth it. 

Here are some things that you should think about and remind yourself of as often as possible in the new year:

J.B.

How often have you heard (or said) “they grow up so fast”?  It’s true.  Kids do grow up quickly and, in terms of the onset of menstruation, it’s speeding up.

According to Sandra Steingraber, the average menstruation onset age has been steadily lessening over the last number of decades.  90 years ago, the average age was 14; 50 years ago the average was 13-1/2 years old; these days it’s 12-1/2 years old.  And it is not unheard of for girls as young as 8 or 9 to get their period.  She claims that, furthermore, half of the girls in the United States now show signs of breast budding before their tenth birthday. 

The exact reasons for this have not been established.  It is held by some “experts” that lowered rates of disease and better nutrition are factors.  But others claim that endocrine-disruptive chemicals in food, drinking water and even the air along with hormonally active agents found in a vast array of consumer items such as hair tonics, pesticides, packaging materials and building products are affecting hormonal balance.  Still, others link it to obesity.