Surviving womanhood

There are a few sides of me that exist somewhere inside me, and only wake up when they are threatened somehow. One of these sides is my Finnishness. If someone mentions something false or offensive about my nationality (for instance, calls me Scandinavian) or if there happens to be a Finland – Sweden ice hockey match on, I suddenly feel very Finnish.

But today I am not going to talk about ice hockey or even Finland. The Finland post will have to wait until the summer so that I can offer you appropriate pictures with the post to help you understand the essence of Finnishness.

Today I am going to talk about something that used to make me want to throw up. But now it feels like an appropriate topic to talk about because it covers some things that people just don't talk about. Or if they do, they do so whispering. But today I am going to blog about it and even attach some colourful pictures. If this topic makes you uncomfortable, feel free not to read this. I promise to try and write about something less socially acceptable the next time.

I have just finished tidying a drawer that contains things that are sold in shops under the label “feminine care”. Therefore, I feel suitably inspired to write about what it is like to be a female. If you for some reason are under an assumption that all girls do in bathrooms is to powder their noses or take rose-scented bubble baths – and you wish to maintain this picture – stop reading this post now.

Prime Beauty Blog

The reason why I needed to tidy the drawer was that I had bought a small sauce pan last week and I needed to fit it in it. The drawer was full of packets of sanitary pads, tampons, pantyliners, hair removal mousses, bras and cotton pads. Pretty much all things that I used to hate as a teenager. Being a girl sucked.

Becoming a woman was an exciting idea when I was 12, but after that I had to face the reality. The boobs did not grow as fast as I hoped they would. Bras were uncomfortable but if you did not wear them you would be laughed at in the changing room for PE class. Then the periods started and instead of them making me feel like a woman (because obviously the fact that I could get babies meant that I was a grown-up) they made me feel like a baby because I had to walk around wearing something that was practically a nappy for adults.

Diapercoupons

And to make it all even worse I was getting hairier. The beautiful, smooth and soft picture portrayed of women in media was clearly saying that it is unacceptable for women to be hairy. I panicked and thought that I would never get a boyfriend if I didn't start shaving my legs and armpits. And man, that was painful, uncomfortable and expensive. And turned out I didn't even want a boyfriend.

But after surviving all that, I am still in one piece and still a female. I have just discovered alternative ways to express my gender identity and to cope with all of the physical complications that come with this gender. And I have noticed that being a woman is not such a bad thing after all.

I have discovered that I do not have to paint my face on every morning and look identical to everyone else.

That realisation also helped with the hairiness issue, and I stopped worrying about it so much. Now I only practise magical feminine hair-removing because I wish to be less hairy, not because I think someone would like me more if I was. And also an epilator scares me a lot less than blades do, and using one means that I don't have to waste all of my money on stupid mousses and wax.

The bra issue was solved when a wonderful friend of mine dragged me to Bravissimo where they fitted me into a bra that actually fits. Turned out that my logic “they are only meant to cover my boobs” - had failed. The problem with the new bras was that they only appeared to be making see-through bras in my size. But I do actually prefer that over the old bras that didn't fit. Bras are amazing when they are the right size.

The newest discovery however is that I don't actually need the uncomfortable nappies pads and tampons. Which is exactly why I took them out of the drawer to make space for the pan. If anyone has use for them, I am happy to donate them to someone.

The reason for this is that I have finally purchased myself a mooncup! And the pan is there to help me clean it. And they are all I need! Originally, I bought the mooncup to save money. But now I have actually realised how much more comfortable it is compared to pads and tampons. This is comparable to the whole “Oh, this is what bras are meant to feel like!” -sensation. It is unnoticeable and I can do anything wearing it.

Lunette

Now the only thing I don't understand is why I didn't buy one before. I've known about these things for at least five years. It seemed more like a weird green-hippie thing back then though. And I didn't actually know anyone who had one. Which is partly why I wrote this blog post. If you are a person who has periods, this sort of a little thing will make them so much more easier to cope with. You can even go crazy and buy a coloured one. And there are glittery ones too.

So there you go. I hope this post did not traumatise you too much. But these are things that most women have to handle everyday. And we've been hiding them for too long. It should be acceptable to mention these without someone getting a heart attack or getting sent out of the village. I might blog more about these things, I might not. But don't worry, the next post will be about something less controversial.