a liberated woman

a few days ago i was in the car for a few minutes, and turned on “morning edition” on national public radio. in that brief trip i happened to hear a story that CHANGED MY LIFE. according to the story, we never have to menstruate again if we don’t want to. apparently it’s practically useless to bleed every month (if you’re on the pill and thus not building up the uterine lining anyway) and women today menstruate way more often than women used to, anyway – so basically we’re undergoing all this annoyance and pain for no reason. even though the pill makes my periods shorter and makes my cramps somewhat less severe, i still usually get fairly bad cramps and feel depressed and moody right before my period. plus, who really wants to deal with an icky fluid leaking from your nether regions, and always having to keep up your stock of tampons, and washing blood-stained underpants in cold water in the sink, etc., etc.? as soon as i heard the story, i had already made up my mind. i've tossed out all my green pills and vow, joyfully, never to menstruate again, at least for the foreseeable future. this is basically the best news i’ve ever heard. NPR, i love you.