A book is hitting all good bookstores on August 1, 2019.
A book that I am really, very excited about.
I’ll tell you why – Welcome To Your Period is exactly what I wish I had when I was younger;
“A modern, funny, inclusive and big-sisterish guide to getting your period, and what to do once it comes”.
When I was 7 or 8 years old, some of my big sister’s loose tampons found their way into my toy chest. I remember holding holding one right up to my face, turning it around, inspecting it closely, wide-eyed, bewildered as to what in the world it was. In the very next moment, I suddenly didn’t give a toss and had decidedly repurposed it as a loaf of bread for my Barbies.
I didn’t think about it again until I was about 13 years old.
That’s when I got my period – and I was stoked. A couple of my friends already had it and so the race was on to join ‘the club’. I was so impatient for it that I was checking my knickers upwards of 10 times a day for weeks, so disappointed until the day it finally came. My undies were ruined and I was happy.
Then the pain set in. And I’ve never, ever wished to have my period again. So it goes.
My excitement at the time had outshone the fact that, really, I had no idea what I could expect. It’s now a whole 13 years later and I’m still taken by surprise.
A while before I first got my period, I had gotten ‘the talk’. My mum and my sister sat me down on the couch and had only managed to get 30 seconds into it before they erupted into a laughing fit that busied them long enough for me to slide out of the room.
I had learned a bit at school, but we moved around a lot, so I missed things. My friends and I would ask each other questions, but often, it turned into a game of Telephone. People had only just started getting internet at home (*gasp), so I wasn’t able to ‘just Google it’.
A huge help for me and my fellow bleeders was the ‘Dolly Doctor’ section at the back of Dolly magazine. It was the Rosie of the early 2000’s. Readers could write in to ask the Doctor herself about tricky things you were having trouble getting answers to, like periods,
sex, relationships, and so on. I never wrote in and often didn’t have the money to buy it. But when I got my hands on a copy at the shops or a friends place, I always flicked straight to the back to read the questions and Dolly Doctor’s responses. They were almost always relevant to me. If you were a young gal navigating teenagehood, chances are, this was your bible.
Here’s the great thing – the Dolly Doctor, Melissa Kang; clinician, academic and advocate, is one of the authors of Welcome To Your Period, along with Yumi Stynes; telly and radio presenter, author and all-round excellent woman. This book takes the weird, mortifying and messy out of getting your period for the first time with candid and comprehensive advice on how to handle this bleeding business like a boss.
Contents – Welcome To Your Period
It’s accessible and chock full of cute, diverse, instructional illustrations. It’s also informative in a conversational way, and peppered with real-life accounts. Handily, it’s pocket-sized-ish and paperback, making it easy to carry around. Whether you’ve got more questions than you want to ask, or if you’re a parent or teacher who’s unsure where to start – this is your complete guide and the perfect gift for the new coming bleeders in your life.
Yumi Stynes and Melissa Kang
While tampons make for killer Barbie baguettes, they should also be part of a positive experience when we’re kicking into that next phase of life.
This is what Welcome To Your Period is all about, and we’re here for it.
Rosie thinks it’s #AboutBloodyTime that free menstrual products are provided in school bathrooms, so that every student can navigate their school years with dignity & respect. Are you with us?
Sophie is the Rosie Editor. She lives in Melbourne and is all about exploring, good novels, quality time with mates & family and destroying the patriarchy.
