Ladies, are you menstrubating?
And yes I meant what I said...
Menstruation + Masturbation = Menstrubating
To bleed is one of the many reasons women are magical! Unfortunately, we have all experienced those dreaded cramps during our cycles and we worry about the pain and inconvenience it may cause. To have something pure and precious trigger negative feelings creates a contradictory battle in ones life. But what if I told you that a recent study has confirmed that masturbating whilst on your period reduces the pain you endure?
I’m not lying, let me give you a quick run down...
Womanizer, a leading sex toy manufacturer has teamed up with Lunette, a well established menstrual cup producer, to investigate our pussies further. To give our vaginas the recognition they deserve, to remove the stigma around female pleasure and periods; to inspire us to empower ourselves.
At the beginning of the study, 500 women were asked to fill out a questionnaire on the intensity and frequency of their menstrual pain. They were then asked to stop all of their usual remedies for pain relief and to self pleasure instead. They could do this with sex toys or manual stimulation, any which way they pleased; as long as it was themselves implementing the task at hand. The study was executed throughout a 3 month duration. At the beginning of each month, participants recorded their experience of pain (intensity & frequency) on a scale of 1-10. At the end of the experiment, researchers revealed a control month where they asked participants to go back to their original forms of pain relief. This was followed by a final questionnaire.
The scale of intensity at the beginning of the experiment was at an average of 6.7 and decreased to 5.4. The frequency of pain went from 7.4 to 4.6. The results also unraveled the fact that 90% of participants said they would recommend masturbating to combat period pain to their friends and 85% said they will continue to use it to fight menstrual discomfort.
Thats right, we’ve been wasting our time and money on ibuprofen, hot water bottles and exercise when we should have been at home playing with our pussies instead!
I had the pleasure of attending a webinar with Dr. Christopher Jones (Sex Therapist), Dr Naomi Sutton (Consultant Physician, Sexual Health), Heli Kurjanen (founder of Lunette) and Head of Sexual Empowerment at Womanizer Johanna Rief; they discussed their study and findings whilst pointing out some interesting facts and thoughts.
Like, did you know that there are two types of menstrual pains?
One allocated to underlying issues such as endometriosis, PID, fibroids and so on. The other type of pain has no organic cause, but can be present due to a lack of blood flow to your sexual organs. However, this is all subjective. Genetics, pain tolerance, psychological factors and hormone levels also play a part in how severe your pains can be. Masturbating helps ease discomfort because having an orgasm increases the blood flow to your genitals, relieves tension and releases endorphins which as we know, make you feel real good.
What surprised me the most was the fact that medical experts only discovered the full size of the clitoris in 1998! Female masturbation isn’t taught in the medical curriculum and the clit isn’t always shown in medical text books - WILD. According to the professionals, there’s a complete lack of education regarding female pleasure and its evident that many medical professionals (GP’s) are not trained in human sexuality.
All hope is not lost!
Seeing the professionals discuss the above issues so openly, has given me faith; we are moving in the right direction. Has there been a huge gender gap in masturbation research? Yes! Are there establishments working hard to close that gap? Yes & YAY!
The more we understand our bodies, the better we can nurture them and provide ease during uncomfortable times such as our menstrual cycle. Dr. Sutton explains how the learnt behaviour of believing our periods are painful can actually cause our pains to worsen. She passionately articulates how in order for us to receive change, we must demand it. We can do this by expressing ourselves openly when it comes to our periods. Removing ancient limiting beliefs, they are NOT dirty and something to be ashamed of, they should be celebrated!
We need to be stern when confronting our GP’s. I personally have been told to go home and ‘deal’ with my period pains (pain killers and rest being the prescription). But if you’re like me and don’t like taking medication unless completely necessary, this advice is underwhelming and we can feel we are being fobbed off. So stand your ground and make them LISTEN.
Sutton also caught my attention when she exemplified the issue of women not owning their sexuality. For a long time women believed they were desired most when being passive but times have changed. I feel extremely aroused when menstruating and I know i’m not the only one. There was a time where I would find playing with myself whilst bleeding disgusting and weird.
Not anymore.
I embrace the feels and do the act whenever I see fit. Masturbating while bleeding has deepened my connection with self. Using a menstrual cup has hugely changed my perception of blood. I feel menstrual cups enable you to openly touch your blood and understand it rather than seeing it as ‘icky’. I’m not scared of it anymore. Blood is friend not foe. Like I said, I know I’m not the only one experiencing epiphanies like this. Women are taking back their power and we are ready for world domination!
Meeeee and Dr, Dr Jones, we got a thing, going on
Dr Jones recommends masturbation to majority of his clients and informed us of the many benefits masturbation has on the body. As I mentioned earlier, it’s great for relieving stress and it contributes to a good nights sleep. I always explain the importance of masturbation to my audience and Dr Jones has authenticated the fact that self-pleasure helps those suffering with body image issues and increases self love. I cannot shout about this enough! Discovering your body and what it is that pleases you and makes you happy creates an empowered presence within your being. The deeper connection with yourself also enables you to better connect with other people therefore the quality of your relationships improve. It’s a win, win!
We are no longer in the dark ages where women were merely an accessory to man. We are the givers of life, being sexual is part of who we are and we cannot suppress this side of us any longer. It’s time we remove the stigma around self pleasure and bleeding and begin to write our own narrative, one that empowers and inspires women to love who they are and to embrace their truest self. No shame, no guilt, just compassion and love.
Moral of the story, play with ya pussy.
But not too much, addiction is bad!
