Jessy and Rebekah dip into the taboos of menstruation.
- 0:30: Jessy and Rebekah start off the episode by saying FUCK YES IRELAND! For those of you who don’t know, Ireland just voted to repeal the dreaded Eighth Amendment which banned abortion outright unless the woman’s life was at risk. That meant basically no abortions period: not in the case of rape, incest or fatal fetal abnormalities. This is a HUGE step in the right direction for women’s rights and women’s health. There is still a long way to go – the ban still stops procedures performed after 12 weeks but this is a fantastic step and we here at WTMV are super excited. (Of note: Northern Ireland still has the most strict laws governing abortion in all of Europe.)
- 01:15: Jessy gives an update on Oscar the Goat! You can hear all about him in Episode 2 – A Girl’s Worth!
- 02:44: Bats do not live in a “bapiary.” They live in roosts. Is there a word like apiary or aviary for bats? We don’t know but we would love for all you cat experts out there to tell us!
- 05:30: Jessy defines and explains menstruation! Rebekah practices being a vampire.
- 06:30: Try out these period tracking apps! They are life changers. For realz. Clue and Flo.
- 09:20: Jessy and Rebekah start talking about all the bullshit, misogynist taboos surrounding menstruation. As if it isn’t bad enough to be bleeding for days at a time all you assholes out there have to make us feel bad about it.
- 11:00: No, sharks are NOT attracted to menstrual blood. Shark expert H. David Baldridge conducted a study on captive sharks. He introduced several bodily fluids – including menstrual blood – to captive sharks to see if it would elicit a feeding frenzy. The only fluid that did have this reaction was peritoneal fluid, the liquid found in our abdominal cavity. Men and women both have peritoneal fluid so therefore we are all equally likely to be killed and eaten by sharks. BOOM! That’s a takedown of misogyny right there.
- 11:45: Ladies! You really can use menstrual blood to fertilize plants! Our menstrual blood contains three primary plant macronutrients – nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium! Just dilute that shit with some water and you’re good to go.
- 14:45: Apparently if you google “Does JFK Airport sell tampons in the bathroom?” my blogpost about the topic is the first thing to pop up. So, here it is for your reading pleasure: Happy Bloody Valentine’s Day, Folks.
- 15:00: Menstrual products are REALLY expensive and in some states are taxed as luxury items. As if bleeding for days on end is a luxury. Rebekah and Jessy delved into this issue in Episode 3 – Tampon Tax
- 16:00: Menstruation, and the lack of knowledge and shame surrounding it, can profoundly impact women’s education. Read about it here, here and here.
- 22:20: We are sorry to everyone from the Mbuti Tribe who we might have offended. The Mbuti tribe is pretty awesome for so many reasons but for the purposes of this podcast it’s really cool that men and women participate evenly in the hunt!
- 26:25: PMDD stands for Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder and is basically PMS on steroids.
- 29:10: Here is a little information on how your period can change over time.
- 30:30: A WTMV Challenge! Try and be open about your period! Talk to people about it. The more we talk about it the better it will get for all of us.
- 31:50: Rebekah and Jessy play a “Did You Know” lightening round!
- 32:23: As promised, here is Meghan Markle’s piece for Time Magazine, How Periods Affect Potential.
- 33:00: Here is Jessy’s video where she talks about menstruation AND Walt Disney.
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