Imagine if you are twelve years old and you start to bleed, you have no idea what's going on, you go to a teacher, nurse, or other trusted adult -- and they *can't* tell you anything.

What nonsense is this?

No religion or other crazy cult system has anything to do with human biology or the human reproductive cycle,

Denying girls knowledge about how their body works is just another form of control, and the age of menarche in the industrialised world has gone down in recent years, and many parents nowadays still won't talk to their children about puberty or the facts of life.

Better to hear about how your body works in person than from rumours or the internet, but fundies don't want sex education either.


https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucelee/2023/03/19/florida-bill-could-ban-elementary-schools-from-talking-about-menstrual-periods/?sh=6ed945ab798c


It wouldn’t be unusual for a girl to have her first ever menstrual period while she’s in fifth, fourth, or even third grade. After all, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Office of Women’s Health says that “A girl may start her period anytime between 8 and 15,” with age eight often corresponding to being in the third grade. And before you get your first period, it would be kind of nice to have some kind of warning about what’s going to happen with your body. Unexpected bleeding doesn’t tend to be followed by words such as “cool” or “what else is on Netflix right now.”

Yet, if a new Florida bill currently being considered by the Florida House of Representatives gets passed, a girl in elementary school may not be able to talk about her periods with teachers or other experts at school. Yep, that’s what Florida State Representative Stan McClain (R) basically indicated when asked about House Bill (HB) 1069, the bill that he originally sponsored.

That’s because regarding, “instruction in acquired immune deficiency syndrome, sexually transmitted diseases, or health education,” HB 1069 stipulates that, “When such instruction and course material contains instruction in human sexuality, such instruction may only occur in grades 6 through 12,” and not earlier than that. This got Rep. Ashley Gantt (D) wondering, period. During a House Education Quality Subcommittee discussion on March 15, Gantt, who has actually taught in public schools, apparently wanted to confirm this “period piece” about HB1069 when she asked, “So if little girls experience their menstrual cycle in 5th grade or 4th grade, will that prohibit conversations from them since they are in the grade lower than sixth grade?” And to that McClain responded, “It would.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/22/2023 01:10PM by anybody.

IIRC, I got my first period the summer after 4th grade. I think I would have found it terrifying if I hadn't known beforehand to expect it, why I was getting it, and what it entailed in terms of care.

The war on girls and women continues. Thank goodness I live in a sensible state.

So many girls -- either Mormon, Catholic, EV fundie xtian -- get brainwashed into thinking they have no value except as an empty vessel waiting to be imprenated then pop them out year after year (being eternally barefoot and pregnant is the Mormon version of being a goddess in the afterlife).

I mentioned before how I sat next to a girl from West Jordan on a plane flying into SLC about the same age as me who already had five kids and was pregnant with #6 and I just thought about how different my life was.

they had a movie we watched in 5th grade about going through puberty.

I was one of the lucky ones. How about not fitting into the age range they put down? 16.

It is probably a reaction to all the other stuff that is being discussed in elementary school.

I had to sign a permission slip for my kids to go to any of this type of class/program in middle school in the late 1990s.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/22/2023 04:31PM by cl2.

Parents still sign permission slips for anything like that. I remember sending one student to the library when her parents did not want her to participate. And elementary school is pretty much as you remember it, with the addition of some electronic bells and whistles (computers, tablets, and smart boards.) We still teach reading, writing, and arithmetic. I'm always at a loss as to why a certain segment of our population gets so worked up about it.

> I'm always at a loss as
> to why a certain segment of our population gets so
> worked up about it.

There's a good chance that most of them have never read the books they condemn--or, in the case of the Bible, the books they defend.

I had a kid at camp one year who was kept out of class. She got her first period at camp. It took 5 adult women to convince her she was not going to die.

We called her Mom to let her know. Mom’s useful response “she’s not a baby anymore” and burst into tears.

Deliver me from people with this mindset.

Then again my mom taught the evening see the movie class at my school. I’d seen it long before my classmates.

Lots of medical books at home.

Girls with little knowledge of their bodies are more likely not to understand if they could be pregnant as a result of sexual abuse. Couple that with some states wanting to lower the marriage age.

They are protecting child rapists and forced birth.

Gee, I wonder why some places think it is fine for schools and authorities to obtain menstrual information about students but the students themselves were kept away from knowledge about it themselves?

Also, some clown Idaho legislator from Rigby (if I remember correctly) was having a discussion about whether or not schools should provide free feminine hygiene products for the girls. He talked about the 3 Ps: pooping, peeing and periods. I kid you not. He claimed that periods aren't controlled like the others, so he was the only one in favor of providing hygiene products. He was the tame one. The women legislators were bat crap crazy. Honestly, this was a topic they had to discuss because it's not paper towels or toilet paper. Meanwhile teachers have been personally providing supplies when there is a girl who was unprepared.

This is all like something out of the twilight zone.

It's not unusual for teachers to provide supplies, including feminine sanitary supplies, and even soap, hand sanitizer, etc. Schools and school systems can be incredibly cheap. And people wonder why we have unions.

Even with unions, we still provide far too much. One student was shocked today when I told him that I had provided every pencil in the room out of my own pocket. And I work for a school that tries to provide supplies to the greatest degree possible.

Hey. Let me know if you ever post a Donors Choose project. I’ll report this post and give admin my email address that also shows my full name.

If you’re not comfortable doing so, no worries. I’ll love you just the same

Oh. Right. You’re a mod!

No, Susan is the 'once a mod, always a mod.'

She’s busy with her wonderful wombats!

I think you should apply to wield the ban hammer.

I'm too busy trying to push through my application for Apostle!

Not backup dancer for Queen Bey?

Beth Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Oh. Right. You’re a mod!

No, I never have been! That is so sweet of you, Beth. In my younger days, I would have taken you up on it. But I am one of those old and crusty teachers now, with just a year, or two, or three left, so I will be okay. My current pencil stash will probably carry me through, and my admin has my back as well in terms of supplies. I don't have to reach into my own pocket nearly as much as I used to.

<3

Okay. So who the H E double hockeysticks is running this joint?

> Meanwhile teachers have been personally providing
> supplies when there is a girl who was unprepared.

That is a true mercy.

When I was in 4th grade, my sadistic mother took me bra-shopping. I was childishly and happily unaware that my body was changing. Mother made such fun of me that I tried to wrap my upper body in that stretchy, wound-up kind of bandage that they use for sprained ankles - Ace bandages, I think. And she forced me to wear button-down-the-front blouses that invariably gapped, and I got made fun of in school.

My grandmother explained to me very gently about periods, so I wouldn't have to hear about them from my mother. My mother never knew when I started having them, because I refused to discuss it with her.

When I began using tampons in high school (with my own money), Mother exploded in rage and insisted that I was no longer a virgin. That, from an RN. It was a lucky thing that I could talk about this kind of stuff with Grandma and BFF.

My mother gave me money and dropped me off at Penney's. I don't know what instructions she gave me, but I was to buy a bra. Then I walked home. I was a late bloomer. In sixth grade, they did make fun of girls who were already wearing them.

In fact, my good friend, probably the best friend I ever had, hated the fact she had to wear a bra. One day we were walking home from school and she yelled out cl2 has to wear a bra and I'd shout it back at her.

None of us had a smooth transition into adulthood.

My mother just didn't talk about these things. I had a very difficult time telling her I had started. I'd volunteer to go get groceries for her so I could buy tampons.

I should say that the girls my daughter's age were very open about it all. They used to throw tampons around in home ec. I couldn't believe it. I got all the tampons I wanted from getting food orders from the church and she'd bring home her friends in high school during the school day and get some for them.

I didn't know why we had periods until one day I was going somewhere with my brother's wife and she said something about it was having babies. I was like WOW! I never knew. We found out other things from neighborhood friends.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/24/2023 12:23PM by cl2.

> None of us had a smooth
> transition into adulthood.


I figured this would be the case, so I didn't do it.

catnip,

Thank you for sharing that story. The bits and pieces you recount on RfM are really upsetting.

I can't imagine how difficult that was and am only partially mollified by how lucky you were in your grandmothers.

--LW

I really appreciated the comment you made about how difficult it must have been to grow up with my mother.

She was a really difficult person. To this day, I have no idea of how my easygoing, sweet-natured father could put up with such a harridan.

It was such a blessing that my Grandma lived in a little cottage right next to our house. She was serene, well-educated, and bilingual. Dad died when I was 15, and Mother took to drinking heavily, which did NOT take any sharp edges off of her personality. Between my escapes to Grandma's cottage and hanging with my best friend, I held on until I could escape to an "away" university.

I'm guessing your father may have stayed with your mother to stabilize things for you. That is often a reason abused spouses remain in relationships.

And yes, you were spectacularly fortunate to have your grandmother and your best friend around. Sometimes that makes enough of a difference for an abused child to have a good life.

Thanks for sharing your experiences. I'm sure there are many here who benefit from hearing them.

We watched a film about it in 5th or 6th grade. Parents signed a permission slip, girls went to one location, boys to another, and each group was taught the basics of puberty relevant to their respective bodies. This was in FL in the mid-80's (and by then, most girls had read Are You There God, It's Me, Margaret. Middle school started in 7th grade, and we were required to take a semester of health class, where these facts of life were explained again.

My homestate is absolutely going to hell in a fundie handbasket. I wonder how or if this ruling would be followed in my very liberal (though represented by a republican) home county.

Teachers are watching what is going on in Florida in horror. The state is not helping its own cause when it comes to teacher recruitment.

The problem with this whole sex education thing is that the parents JUST DON'T DO IT. The schools ended up doing the teaching by default, to make up for the lack of any education in the home.Here's a suggestion: for all you anti-sex-education-in-the-schools types: start teaching your kids about sex! I know- what a concept!! It might just catch on!!!! Then we wouldn't need for the schools to do your job!!!!!!! Thank you.

BRAVO

When I was five, I asked my mother where I came from. She spoke to a librarian about finding an age appropriate book. It was about gestation and not sex, because that was really what I was asking.

I’m guessing I learned about menstruation when I was about ten. A friend loaned “Are you there god? Etc.” mom was cool with that. I wasn’t cool with the idea of bleeding every damn month, but when I got a better understanding of anatomy and how our bodies try to basically renew themselves to stay healthy, it made sense. Never was a huge fan of the inconvenience, but there’s not much you can do about it.

we find out that tampons are "woke" and "liberal"

https://www.idahostatesman.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article273376930.html

"Idaho House Republicans Monday rejected a bill that would have funded free menstrual products in public school girls bathrooms. GOP House members said the proposal was “liberal,” and they objected to “woke” terms describing inaccessibility to tampons and pads."

Perhaps the proper term for the Idaho legislature is "idiotic".

This place is getting worse by the week.
So is toilet paper also woke?

So everyone is just supposed to pretend no one has periods. Got it. It's just like they pretend kids don't need breakfast...or anything. Got it.

I'll bet the people in the Idaho legislature can't even define woke in any consistent or reasonable way.

dagny Wrote:
-----------------------------
>
> I'll bet the people in the
> Idaho legislature can't even
> define woke in any consistent
> or reasonable way.
>

But unlike me, totally clueless, they are probably certain that they know it when they see it.

Basically it's just one more example of the misogyny that is baked into right-wing culture. It's the same reason that teachers and nurses are ridiculously underpaid in the red states.

Not provide sanitary supplies, there's a brilliant idea /s.

Misogyny, social Darwinism, and a moral panic all in one. And I thought the state I grew up in was better than that.