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The Period Episode - Episode 39
57 Plays6 years ago
On this episode we discuss PERIODS!! A lot of us have them, they can be really inconvenient, and dealing with them in the field is often less straightforward than normal. We discuss pros and cons of the various products on the market, how to deal with that 'oops' moment, and suggestions for making your life easier when you're on your period.
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to the Podcast
00:00:01
Speaker
You're listening to the Archaeology Podcast Network. Hi and welcome to the Women in Archaeology Podcast, a podcast about for and by women in the field.
Challenges of Menstruation in Archaeology
00:00:14
Speaker
On today's episode, we're going to be talking about periods! Yay!
00:00:25
Speaker
Joining me for today's discussion are Jessica Irwin, Ellie Long, and Nicole Bodenstein. Ladies, thank you so much for being here today. This is a great topic. So exciting. Right? So this is a super, super important topic. And I feel like there's often a taboo around women talking about their periods and why should there be. Absolutely.
00:00:53
Speaker
Yeah, we're gonna try and negate some of that.
Stigma and Facilities in Fieldwork
00:00:58
Speaker
So to start off with, why don't we talk about some of the difficulties that you can encounter in the field, either for people who haven't spent a lot of time in the field or people who have been lucky and have always worked in cities and places with restrooms. I'll be happy to jump right in.
00:01:19
Speaker
I mean your standard issues doing fieldwork, whether you're close to a vehicle or not, I mean it can be incredibly difficult to find a good spot to take care of business when you're menstruating and it can be incredibly awkward.
00:01:37
Speaker
particularly if you're the only female on a crew. And it shouldn't be that awkward and it shouldn't be an issue, but there's such like a cultural stigma around it and that kind of EU factor when it's a perfectly natural thing and it's
00:01:53
Speaker
shouldn't be that big a deal, but man, is it a pain in the butt when it comes to having your period in the field. I mean, it's messy. You have to carry extra stuff. You may have horrible cramps. You may have headaches. You may have migraines, all of those things that are associated with or potentially associated with having your period.
00:02:15
Speaker
it seems 10 times worse, whether you're surveying, excavating, whether you're on a ship or doing underwater archeology or doing, it seems like any branch of archeology, it's a pain in the butt. Right, and a lot of archeology is not done in cities. I mean, don't get me wrong, a lot of archeology is also done in cities where you might have access to a restroom, but a lot of archeology is done where the nearest restroom might be miles and miles and miles away from where you are.
00:02:45
Speaker
So, you know. Your restroom is a bush. If you're lucky enough to have bushes, sometimes there aren't even bushes. Or there's nothing that's stuck behind. Yeah. And then sometimes you're on a cruise with all guys, or even if you're on a cruise with some girls, you get to do the like, hey, I'm going to go over in the corner, please nobody look at me.
00:03:09
Speaker
I feel gross as it is. And I think sometimes like that's that's always fun. You get like anxiety like all day like knowing like especially like I'm a tampon user and being like if I wait too long like am I going to get toxic shock or am I getting myself a UTI or like what is going to happen like and having to have like
00:03:28
Speaker
the anxiety of like making a plan of like, okay, we're going to go hike, you know, today a bunch of miles or for me, we're going to be out on a boat for 12 hours with no bathroom. Like how am I going to manage this? Um, it was just like, I mean, it makes the day non enjoyable, you know?
00:03:46
Speaker
Oh, definitely. And I've even been on situations where we were doing an excavation on a campus, but we weren't allowed to go into the buildings to go to the bathroom because all that was around us were the residential halls. And so the nearest bathroom you had to drive and you couldn't just drop your trousers because you're in the middle of a campus. So then it's like, what do you do?
Period Products: Pads vs Tampons
00:04:12
Speaker
Yeah, and then not to mention, like in my case, like, oh, you know what I really want to do today on my period? Like put on a bathing suit and a wetsuit and like hang out all day in the freezing. And like, I don't know about you guys, but like I get like breast tenderness as one of my symptoms. So then like, I'm really like, oh, awesome. Like bikini top and boob tenderness. Like this is just the best day ever. I think the worst is when it's like the first day of your period,
00:04:40
Speaker
And like you have to change out, I used to use tampons and then I would have to change out every two hours. So I'd have to be that person on the crew where it's like, can we use the car to go to the gas station every two hours? Oh, right. So I think we've, we've determined that having your period in the field really, really sucks. Okay. So like,
00:05:08
Speaker
Let's move on to some of the more practical, like what can we do about it? So there's some pretty standard methods for dealing with your period that have been mentioned, like pads and tampons being two of those. I know that we have people who prefer both pads or tampons on this episode. So are there particular issues with using one over the other? Do you use both? Where are people at?
00:05:38
Speaker
Well, I mean, for me, I can't they're like a pad is like a non option. Like, you're gonna get wet or Oh, yeah, if you're gonna be in the water is like an option. But also for me personally, like, I have very heavy periods starting on day one. And so I can like more conspicuously like change a tampon than I can a pad.
00:06:01
Speaker
And then also in terms of like waste product, I can work conspicuously, like hide my waste than I can with a pad. Um, and so like for me, that's like that it's like a pad is just like, no, it's not going to happen. Um, and I haven't tried the other options that are out there. And unfortunately for me, like I can't take the pill because of. Some other hormonal issues, you know, all those great hormones that we have. Um, and then like, you know,
00:06:29
Speaker
I have a family, so an IUD is also not an option for me because I want to have a couple more babies. So tampons are it. You just have to suck it up, deal with it, figure it out.
00:06:40
Speaker
And I'm kind of on the opposite side there where I'm mostly a pad girl myself, and I'm outside but surveying or excavating. So it's a lot easier for me to just duck behind a bush, change out a pad. The only problem is, yeah, that is a lot of waste. And I'm a very hardcore believer in leave no trace.
00:07:01
Speaker
And so I know I'm packing it out with me. And I always found this to be a helpful tip. And actually, one of my friends in college taught me how to do this. If you have a plastic bag, and let's say you're with a whole bunch of people, you don't really want to be waving your bag of used pads around me like, look what I got. You take a gallon bag and you can cover it with whatever you want or put paper in the interior to make a completely
00:07:33
Speaker
What's the word I'm looking for? So you can't see it in the bag. And so you can use duct tape, paper, whatever, you know, one of those fancy words. Not translucent. Duct tape does everything. Yes. And then also put a dryer sheet in the bag to help with smell.
00:07:50
Speaker
And so you can just put your, your use pads in there, use tampons, whatever, close it off. You don't need to worry about smell. Don't need to worry about pulling something out of your backpack and everybody be like, eh, gross. So it kind of helps with figuring out like how, if you're in a big group of people, it just makes life a little bit easier, especially if you want to do the leaf note trace.
00:08:14
Speaker
Yeah, so I think I really like the idea of having a gown bag that you can put your various products in and actually hadn't heard the dryer sheet trick before. And that sounds like super, super solid because
00:08:29
Speaker
if you can try and mitigate that smell, particularly if you're out on a really, really hot day and you're not gonna be somewhere for several hours, mitigating the smell sounds great. Oh yeah, especially on long backpacking trips too for long surveys in your backpacking as well that can really do wonders. Yeah, on the other hand, depending on who you are, who you're digging with, what people's various opinions are,
00:08:57
Speaker
you know, duct taping the outside of your bag or throwing some paper in there, if it makes you more comfortable, go for it. There are also plenty of people who like bodies are bodies. So this is the waste bag at some point in time.
Societal Perceptions of Menstruation
00:09:11
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Where's this like, if you're trying to, like, I've got the point in my career, like, I just, I don't care if I have to go pee, I'm just gonna say to the crew, hey guys, I gotta go. I'm gonna go behind that bush, turn around, unless you're gonna, or otherwise you're gonna get like, you know, a big shock. And...
00:09:30
Speaker
I'm kind of that point too with the pads where it's just like I'm more duct taping around it where I'm just like, I know it freaks them out a little bit. And granted, they should be able to just deal with it at this point. But it's just one of those like, it doesn't hurt me, but it is annoying. And it's totally true that it's a natural thing. It's our body. But there's still the ooh factor.
00:09:55
Speaker
I really feel like we're on a site with all women, like we would all have like a communal waste bag, but like all of that, like hiding it and like getting rid of the smell and stuff is like for the sake of the men who are in Paris of it.
00:10:11
Speaker
Because I mean, like, I would hope that like, as a woman, hopefully by like your mid 20s at the latest, like you just own it, like you've had hundreds of periods at this point, you know, like, you just deal with it. But the one that I've always heard is like, if you wear cargo pants, you line the bottom pocket on each leg with plastic ziploc. And one side is your clean product and one side is your dirty product for like the duration of your trip. So
00:10:39
Speaker
I mean, the dryer sheet's a good tip, though. I like that. Yeah, definitely. So there is another option when you're using pads and tampons. But there are organic companies that make biodegradable pads and tampons. So you can dig a hole. And we all have trials, and we all know how to dig a hole. We're experts.
00:11:08
Speaker
And bury it, and it is important to dig it, to put it in because the blood can attract wild animals and you don't necessarily want to do that. Isn't the standard what, six inches? Something like that? I believe so. Yeah, I think that sounds right.
00:11:26
Speaker
But that is a perfectly viable option because you're talking about an organic product that's made to decompose and blood, which is organic. Makes sense! So if you're not into trying to pack out, which realistically
00:11:47
Speaker
It's just one more thing to keep track of and to carry. And if you don't want to deal with that, it's completely understandable. I know before we started recording, we had mentioned Seventh Generation, although there are some people who don't love that company. There is one of our
00:12:04
Speaker
Co-host, who unfortunately couldn't join us tonight, has a brand she really loves, and we'll put the Amazon link to that product in the show notes for anyone who's interested. Because being able to carry less stuff sounds great. Oh, definitely.
00:12:21
Speaker
And also with the organic tampons, more so than the pads, tampons are unregulated. So when you buy a tampon, the company can put whatever chemicals and stuff they want into it. So if you are hiking and you're worried about toxic shock, you're way less likely to get it if you're using an organic product because there's no
00:12:48
Speaker
you're not exposing like pretty much the most sensitive part of your body to like whatever chemicals such and such company feels like throwing into their product so that's like another consideration if you're gonna have to like eight hours it or something you know
00:13:05
Speaker
My roommate actually has this bag of tampons that has the ingredients on the box. And I was taken aback. I had never seen a box of tampons with actual ingredients on it. And yet it goes in. So why wouldn't it have ingredients on it? That's a whole separate episode. Why aren't women's products more body friendly? Right.
00:13:34
Speaker
Like, why can men's birth control not get approved? Because it has too many side effects, but you know, we can die from putting a tampon in.
00:13:42
Speaker
Also, I would like to point out that all of those side effects are side effects that women face, and women face worse side effects than a lot of those side effects that males can get from male birth control. It's just like, no, it's just a side effect of women's birth control. It's fine. Men cannot deal with those side effects. How is that fair? And men can't deal with women having their periods in the field?
00:14:07
Speaker
I mean, I don't know if there have been issues before. I mean, I've been, not often, but I've been teased about that before when I shut it down very quickly where it's like, Oh, are you on your period or something? And it's just like, that's inappropriate. Don't you ever tell me that again, type of thing.
00:14:24
Speaker
It's crazy that that kind of behavior still goes on in the field to where it's surrounding like that culture around the period of it being kind of like, you're on your period or something or ew, that's so gross type of situation.
00:14:38
Speaker
You know what? 50% ish of the world is going to have a period at some point in their life, usually for a bulk of their life. Many, many people got pushed out of a vagina. No way. Periods are necessary for procreation. I mean, like some people have C-sections, right? So we can't say everybody. Right.
00:15:01
Speaker
Well, vaginas, they're a thing. And uteruses and the whole point is that they're not- If you're gonna sleep with women- And they do stuff sometimes. They do stuff. And here's the thing, if you're gonna try and sleep with a woman, and I realize that there are men out there who aren't going to try and do that, and that's fine, good for you. But if you're going to try and have happy, fun time in a woman's vagina, you should also be able to accept the fact that sometimes blood comes out of it. And if you can't be with that, you should not be trying to have happy, fun time.
00:15:31
Speaker
We're getting real, the women in archaeology podcast. Well, I would also like to think that men who are archaeologists are like somehow, you know, they like have some background, I know not everyone, but in anthropology, like as an anthropologist, they should be fascinated by the fact that we have periods not disgusted by it. Like they should be like, oh, this is such an interesting biological process and not like,
00:15:59
Speaker
I feel like I've entered into a thing about the vagina monologues or something. How would you describe your vagina?
00:16:15
Speaker
These are important things to talk about. I think it brings up an interesting issue in that there are a lot of archaeologists, male and female, where they'll participate in somewhat insensitive things, even though we've all been trained in anthropology and how to develop that sensitivity and period shaving. I feel like it's just another one of those things.
00:16:43
Speaker
This is a human function. There are lots of humans that do it. What's up? It's a way of setting up boundaries and reminding women that archaeology was originally and is traditionally viewed as a male discipline. It's a way of putting up a barrier.
00:17:07
Speaker
And for any listener who has received any kind of flack in the field or has not been given the proper amount of time to say change pads, tampons, et cetera, that is a form of harassment. Like don't let anybody make you think otherwise. And you have every right to be comfortable in the field, feel safe in the field and be able to take care of your monthly business however you want comfortably in the field.
00:17:34
Speaker
Yeah, that's a really important point. And I think that that is probably a great point to end our first 20 minutes on. And when we come back, we'll talk about some of the other methods for dealing with your period in the fields. This network is supported by our listeners.
00:17:51
Speaker
You can become a supporting member by going to arcpodnet.com slash members and signing up. As a supporting member, you have access to high quality downloads of each show and a discount at our future online store and access to show hosts on a members only Slack team. For professional members, we'll have training shows and other special content offered throughout the year. Once again, go to arcpodnet.com slash members to support the network and get some great extras and swag in the process.
00:18:19
Speaker
That's
Alternative Menstrual Products
00:18:32
Speaker
In the last 20 minutes, we talked a little bit about what a pain in the butt having your period in the field is, and some of the, shall we say, more traditional methods or more well-known methods for dealing with having your periods. In the next 20 minutes, we're going to talk a little bit about some other alternatives, menstrual cups,
00:18:48
Speaker
arcpodnet.com slash members.
00:18:54
Speaker
period panties, which I will go on a rant about because I love them. I think it'd be good for you to do your thinks panty advertisement now. Right. Well, why don't we start with, does anyone here use or have experienced menstrual cups? Let's start there so that I do not take the entire 20 minutes and just talk about how much I love thinks because I could do that. I want to make sure we cover all the topics.
00:19:21
Speaker
I'm using a menstrual cup right now and I love it. What's great about the menstrual cup is that you can get it in there in the morning. It takes a couple period cycles to get used to it and installing it properly and reworking your period life around it.
00:19:46
Speaker
But once for like me, once it's in there, I can just leave it in for 12 hours and I don't have to worry about it until I'm like back from the field and you know, I'm going to take a shower anyway. And all right. I and then I don't, you know, I don't create extra waste. It's like it was $30 for this little silicone cup. No, no, I take that back. I think that's for the
00:20:14
Speaker
The name brand one. I got mine, I think it's a Luna Cup from Amazon. It was actually $15. What? Right. When you think about how much pads and tampons cost, and by the way, their tax is a luxury item, who the hell made that decision, other than someone who doesn't have a vagina? Obviously.
00:20:34
Speaker
But that's also a whole nother rim. So one of my big concerns about a menstrual cup is that I can also sometimes have a bit of a heavy period. And if you ended up in the field with an overfull cup and having to deal with that, and you can dig a hole and dump the cup into it, but you can't rinse it out. It seems like it could be messy to take out.
00:21:03
Speaker
She's getting blood everywhere, sounds like a bad idea. Right, and that's what's nice about the 12-hour window. That being said, on my first day of my period, it's my heavy day, and I'll put in a pad as a backup in case it does overflow, but period blood usually doesn't amount to so much that it's going to overflow a cup.
00:21:31
Speaker
not that gratuitous. But then for the rest of the days, I don't have to do anything. I just get it in there and not worry about it for 12 hours.
00:21:44
Speaker
and then worry about it later. Can you just give me some real talk about retrieval though? Like, is that like a pain or? Oh, you kind of have to get, I mean, you're going to check your, your parts for ticks, right? So what you're doing, you just have to be comfortable with the, you know,
00:22:11
Speaker
getting in there and then getting it out. I mean, it's part of your body. What about the sanitation process? Do you have to be concerned? If you're on a CRM project, do you have to have something where you can boil water or do you only have to wash with soap? What's the process with that if you're especially on the go?
00:22:35
Speaker
Between periods, I like to sanitize it and boil it, but during the period, like just the day-to-day changing, I'll just soap and water it as best as I can. Okay. Okay. So one of the other things that I have heard, I've actually never used menstrual crap, but is it like some of them have like little
00:23:03
Speaker
I don't know, like, strings, except they're not actually strings on the bottom of them, to make them easier to grasp to remove. And sometimes it can be... Yeah, but sometimes it can... It's a silicon extension. Yes, exactly.
00:23:17
Speaker
Um, but I've heard that like, sometimes those can be uncomfortable and like just in day to day life. And then you think about the kind of weird positions that archeologists sometimes find themselves digging in because, you know, you can't step in the square or you need to get in this tiny hole or, you know, whatever reason it is that you're digging in a super odd position. Um, it seems like that might exacerbate that. Hmm.
00:23:46
Speaker
I found that it flexes pretty well with my anatomy and how I'm set up, but I knew one other archaeologist. Her anatomy made it so that she found that the little... I mean, honestly, it's like a centimeter long at the tip of a cup, but she just cut it off to make it a little shorter, and then she found that it worked for her after that.
00:24:15
Speaker
And I think, I mean, you could kind of get it in there more or less depending on your vaginal canal length, I suppose. Yeah. Well, that makes sense for sure. Yeah. They seem, they seem like fascinating.
00:24:33
Speaker
objects. I'm always curious. I have actually found my own method of dealing with my period and like cue the rant about thanks panties because I love them so much.
Thinx Period Panties as a Solution
00:24:47
Speaker
So yeah, realistically, I'm probably not ever going to bother trying a menstrual cup. These panties. Oh my god. They're amazing.
00:25:00
Speaker
Like words cannot describe how much they changed my life. So first of all, like anyone who's worn a pad, you know, like sometimes you put them on depending on the thickness of them. You can kind of feel like you're wearing adult diapers or something and they can get like stuck in weird places and you're like, maybe not the most comfortable thing in the world. And everybody just kind of like deals with it and you learn to get over it and it just kind of becomes part of your everyday life or your once a month life.
00:25:29
Speaker
These things do not have that feeling at all. They have some sort of like hyper absorbent fabric in the crotch of them that when you put them on they do not feel at all
00:25:44
Speaker
like you're wearing something that should help you deal with your period, which the first like three times you do it is terrifying, right? And you will run to the bathroom every 15 to 30 minutes being like, oh my God, oh my God, am I okay? Okay, like I can't believe it. There's no way this is working. It works.
00:26:03
Speaker
They're like sponges of eternity. Even on the heavy days, what if you're having just like, I'm going to bleed my entire body out?
00:26:23
Speaker
So, they come in a variety, I think it's four different styles, one of which is a thong, which is for super light days, at which point like... I'd imagine. Sure. I do not own any of the thongs. But they have like, hip huggers and bikini shorts and boy shorts and, you know, I don't actually remember what all four of them are, but they're coded for how heavy a flow is.
00:26:48
Speaker
So I just bought these because you guys talked so highly of them because I'm like normally like a super plus kind of girl. I bought three pairs. I bought two pairs of the boy shorts because they supposedly hold three tampons worth.
00:27:05
Speaker
And then I bought one pair of the hip-huckers, which are just regular underwear, which hold two tampons worth. So I haven't tried them yet, because of course I waited till the last day of my period to be like, I'm gonna order these. But yeah, I'm excited about it because it's a lot of bodily fluid. Yeah, so I am so super in love with these. I've been wearing them for a couple years, and I will say I'm not sure what the price is right now, because I bought
00:27:34
Speaker
I think they were originally on Kickstarter. Yeah, they are. The short is $39. Yeah, I spent like 90 bucks on three pairs. Yeah, it's totally worth it. They were originally on Kickstarter and I got them on there and I like use them once and loved them and bought like another five pairs. And this was a couple years ago and I haven't bought any new one since because they last forever.
00:27:58
Speaker
So there is an upfront cost. But again, when you think about how much it costs to buy pads and tampons every month, if you have a couple of pairs of these underwear and they last for years, you know, net savings in the end, as far as I'm considered. I will say in a couple of years. I'm sorry, go ahead. I was going to say not to mention like how many pairs of underwear have you ruined in your life because you like leaked. That's true. That's very true.
00:28:26
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. The cemetery of underwear grows. Right? You will not ruin these things. In a couple years, I think I've been wearing them for two or three, probably close to three years now. Basically since as long as they've been out for. I have had one issue in terms of like quantity of blood that can be contained. And that was, you know, a day where I had like
00:28:56
Speaker
I think it was 31 hours of travel and I thought I had put an extra pair in my backpack and then like hadn't and it was on like hour 27 or hour 28 and it was one of my heavier days that I started to have a problem.
00:29:12
Speaker
Okay. So like, that's amazing. 27 hours. That's incredible. Like these things are phenomenal, right? They just like sponges of eternity. They soak everything up, but they look super cute. So it's not going to make it super obvious that you're on your period. They have like a built in deodorizing thing. I will say they are hand washable and I have unfortunately thrown one or two pairs accidentally into the, um, the washer and the dryer.
00:29:42
Speaker
And that does seem to decrease the efficiency of the deodorizing whatever is in it. But like it smells like a pad would smell like it's not, you know, anything new or different.
00:29:59
Speaker
But I wear these things, quite frankly, sometimes I wear them when I'm not on my period because they're the underwear that I pull out of my drawer and I'm like, oh, right, regular underwear, super cute. And then I'm like, oh, right, these. I'm like, dug in them, I ride horses. I've done rock climbing.
00:30:20
Speaker
They're just, you know, they do everything you can bend, you can twist, you can go into odd positions. Like you just don't have problems with them. So if you're on a long project and so do they dry really quickly in between washes? So if you only have let's say two or three pairs, are you able to like take, or let's say you only have two pairs and you have to wash one while wearing the other one type of thing. Do they dry pretty quickly?
00:30:50
Speaker
after a hand wash? Yeah. I mean, you should be, I would probably say have three pairs just because oftentimes, like, especially if you're surveying and you don't have somewhere where you can like leave them out. Um, you know, if you wash them at night and then like leave them out overnight, like they might still be a tiny bit damp in the morning, depending on what climate, I mean, like in the desert, they're going to be dry. Um, but if you're in like a really cool and humid place, they might not be completely
00:31:19
Speaker
dry in the morning, but they do dry pretty quickly. Also, if you buy three pairs, they give you 15% off. Yeah, so buy three pairs. How hard are they to wash? How long does that process take? Not very long.
00:31:39
Speaker
You can throw them in the sink, just do it under running water, or if you don't mind, plug a basin in a sink, fill it up a little bit, scrub them out, rinse them, and you will end up with some bloody water if you're okay putting your hands in that. Whatever. I don't care.
00:31:58
Speaker
Right? Personal preference. You can save some water there if you don't have a lot of water. You know, they're really not difficult to wash out. Soap doesn't tend to stick in them. Maybe sometimes you'll wash stuff and it just seems like it takes forever for soap to get out. You're not going to run into that problem with these. You know, they rinse out pretty quickly. You know, twist them, dry them, leave them out.
00:32:23
Speaker
Are there other brands available? Or is it pretty much just think panties? So there are a couple other brands. The one that comes immediately to mind is called Period of Comfort, which is another thing that I got on Kickstarter that also work really, really well. They aren't as thin as they think. So they're slightly bulkier and they feel a little bit more like you've got something going on.
00:32:51
Speaker
Um, they do also have, you can very clearly tell where they're lined. Um, so if they're like inside out, like people are going to see them and be like, Oh, like that's a different pair of underwear. Like this is, you know, their period companies or things don't look like them at all. Um, but they're also, you know, comfortable and don't really have problems with.
00:33:13
Speaker
I think there are a couple others that I don't necessarily know the name of. I think I bought the thanks and the period of comfort around the same time and tried both of them and clearly absolutely fell in love with the things and I just cannot say enough positive things about them.
00:33:30
Speaker
So what you're saying is Thinx panties should give us all a couple pairs to try in the field, right? Clearly. Yes. That is exactly what I'm saying. Also, they have t-shirts now. They have t-shirts that say, like, I love Thinx and some other little clever sayings. I feel like you really need one of those. And do they have, like, special absorbers in the armpits or something? No, they're just, like, for super fans. They do sound really great for
00:34:00
Speaker
They sound a lot less invasive than some of them. Yeah, for sure. Again, I'm going to try and look this up really quickly because it has been several years since I purchased these.
00:34:24
Speaker
But I believe it's a woman founded a woman owned company. And I also think that they have some sort of agreement in place to, you know, so for like the you buy a pair of panties and they give a pair of panties to Oh, yeah, that kind of thing.
00:34:48
Speaker
you know, girls in need elsewhere, I think. Again, you know, I'm going back a couple years in my brain here, thinking about their mission and things. You know, I just, I love them so much. So much. Anyways. They sound wonderful. I know what you're getting for Christmas. Yeah.
00:35:23
Speaker
Period Panties, thanks. I absolutely adore them. They have changed my regular life. They've changed my archaeological life. I mean, prior to finding them, I was one of those people who wore a pad and a tampon and worried about spotting and staining and all of that.
00:35:44
Speaker
And I just, like I said, the first couple of times you wear them, freak out constantly because like, what do you mean? They're magic. What are they doing? Are they doing what they're supposed to be doing? Yes, they're doing what they're supposed to be doing. It's okay. Everyone freaks out the first time you wear them. They're just so phenomenal.
00:36:05
Speaker
So, we've got a couple more minutes left and I think there are also some options for just not having a period.
Birth Control and Managing Periods
00:36:15
Speaker
I think that is an option that some people choose as well. You can decide to
00:36:27
Speaker
go on the pill and just skip your placebo week. Or there's one pill that's designed to only give you four periods a year. So all these different forms of birth control that you can use, whether it's an IUD or one of the arm bars, you have all of these options. They're not always great, depending on who you are. I know I had the arm bar for a while and like,
00:36:54
Speaker
Something for about 90% of people, it's supposed to make their period lighter. And for another 8% of people, it stays the same. And for the final 2% or 3% of people, it's heavier. And of course, I fell into the 2% group, so that didn't work for me.
00:37:17
Speaker
There are definitely options there. So this brings us to the end of our second segment. When we come back, we'll talk a little bit more about some of those options for not having a period as well as what to do when you do have an accident.
00:37:34
Speaker
I'm Jessica Equinto, and I'm the host of the Heritage Voices podcast. Heritage Voices focuses on how CRM and heritage professionals, public employees, tribes, and descendant communities can best work together to protect their heritage through tribal consultation, collaborative ethnography, and indigenous archeology. Now back to the show.
00:37:59
Speaker
Hi and welcome back to the Women in Archaeology podcast. So far on today's episode we have been discussing what it's like having your period in the fields. We've talked about some of the ways of dealing with your periods while you're in the fields, as well as briefly touched on
00:38:19
Speaker
some ways that you can try and not have a period in the field. I know we got cut off a little bit at the end of the last segment, so ladies before we move on to some personal stories about what to do when embarrassment and accidents happen.
00:38:37
Speaker
Does anyone have any other thoughts on methods for not having a period while you're in the field? I mean, one of the things that always happens to me is if I'm out of the field for a while, when I get back in the field, I end up losing a bunch of weight and then my periods just disappear because of dehydration and being less than properly nourished because if you do get that nice summer weight loss,
00:39:02
Speaker
Um, that's one of the, it's not good for you, but that has happened to me a few times, but that will take me to my horror story shortly. So, wait, so avoiding having your, like, like, is this taking birth control and then stringing it together? Different, different birth control options or, um, anything you've done in the past that's been successful or.
00:39:27
Speaker
Personally, I've never done that. Not to say there's anything wrong with it, just I've personally never done that myself.
00:39:36
Speaker
I mean, I've talked to my doctor about it before and they, like one of the reasons that they cite that they have those placebo pills in there is so that like, you know, you're not pregnant since birth control is not a hundred percent. It's like, there's no medical reason why you don't, that you have to have a period every month. So like, it's not, I mean, obviously I'm not a medical professional, but you know, you can skip the placebo month if you would like.
00:40:03
Speaker
I did it for about two years, but I still would get a period like every other month. Like it didn't ever 100% go away for me. So it's not a foolproof way to not have a period. Sure. And there are certainly different IUDs, some of which are supposed to lighten or stop your period altogether, some of which work, some of which don't. And a lot of it is kind of what's going on in your own body.
00:40:33
Speaker
I know this is gonna sound really silly, but a couple years ago, I was spending a bunch of time doing coastal archeology and was living on a boat. But before I left, I had a five minute conversation where I stared at my uterus and told it that it had to behave for the next two months. And you know what? It was remarkably well made for two months and I came back and then it decided it hated me for about six days.
00:41:02
Speaker
But it's really shot. Right? But weird things have happened.
Handling Unexpected Period Situations
00:41:11
Speaker
Most of them not saying it's a foolproof method. A stern talking. All right, I'll keep that in mind. Right? No more of your sass uterus. Keep it together. I mean, I did like,
00:41:31
Speaker
basically two years of field work without a period because I was pregnant for the first part and breastfeeding for the second part, which is like no periods. I mean, it's a really expensive way to go, but. Yes, that is not the reason you should have children. But effective, sure.
00:41:57
Speaker
So if, I mean, if you're really worried about it, there are options for trying to not have your period while you're in the field. But of course, a lot of us do. And a lot of us have had those stories of that time.
00:42:17
Speaker
And it's totally normal. But it can also be kind of an embarrassing thing to deal with, also depending on who is on your crew. Some people are really great. Some people are not so great. So do we want to talk some strategies for what to do if you are on your period and you end up springing a leak? There's not a really great way to say it. Emergencies. It cracks me up.
00:42:47
Speaker
Yes, and they happen and we've all sprung a leak. I think one thing that's helped me out is I usually wear a t-shirt and then a long sleeve button up in the field. And so, hey, when there's an emergency and I've bled through my pants, I can just take off the long sleeve shirt and tie it around my waist.
00:43:11
Speaker
easy, easy way of covering up. But yeah, the big thing is, I mean, I can't tell many times I've been caught in the field like thinking, Oh, it's not gonna happen. It's not gonna happen. And then boom, period starts. So it's like always have pads or something in your backpack. And always, always, always, always have toilet paper. Because if you don't have a pad, you can at least make something out of toilet paper.
00:43:32
Speaker
Right. Yeah, the bandana. I always carry a bunch of tampons in my backpack because even though I might use a cup now, what if I have a female coworker that has her, because I've been that female coworker before that, before I use the cup where it's like, I need a tampon. Does anyone have one? Yeah. Yeah.
00:43:56
Speaker
Yeah, I don't always have necessarily have toilet paper, but no matter what, I always, no matter where I go, I bring either a bandana or like a wicking towel. And like in case of emergency, hold that sucker up and stick it in your underwear. Because if worse comes to worse, like at least it'll keep you from leaking until you are like bleeding through your pants until you get where you need to be going. But yeah, the emergency stash.
00:44:25
Speaker
100% all the time. Oh, and the emergency stash of candy. That's important too. Definitely. Because you're going to want that. You're going to want some chocolate and you're going to want some just general sugar. Yes. Unfortunately, as prepared as you can try and be, you're not always going to
00:44:51
Speaker
Things are not always going to go in your favor. You might end up in a situation where you have, you know, blood through your pants and, you know, you just kind of don't have a shirt to put around your waist or, you know, whatever it is. And in that case,
00:45:11
Speaker
Raisin it out. If you act like it's no big deal, everybody else will probably also act like it's no big deal. If people are stupid about it, tell them they're being idiots. Well, yeah. Try to grow up. Yeah. It's definitely a shitty situation to be in, but people have definitely been in that situation before you and have survived. You were not the first, you will not be the last. Very true. I think it's always a good idea to
00:45:41
Speaker
to remind people that their mother has had a period before. Like, would you say this to your mom if it happened to her? And then they're like, oh, sorry, I didn't mean to offend you. Right. That's a good statement, though, because it's like, yeah, I just made you uncomfortable. Good. I mean, like, everyone knows a woman. So they're, you know, like, if they wouldn't treat their mother that way about their period, then they shouldn't treat you that way about your period either.
Changing Menstrual Myths and Stereotypes
00:46:10
Speaker
They shouldn't, that being said, the would you treat your mother that way? Would you treat your sister? Like, it's effective from just kind of like a progressing as a society standpoint. Like, would you treat a human being that way? That might get you through the moment, but you know, I think that there needs to be a broader conversation in the world about how we treat women. Yeah. Right.
00:46:40
Speaker
I mean, if a dude had an accident in the field where he, like, I don't know, couldn't hold his urine back for something, like, it would be rude. Or just, if any, like, why are you staring at your co-worker's crotches to begin with? Just point your eye up, man. Right? If your co-worker shat their pants, be concerned. Not mean.
00:47:10
Speaker
Exactly. Like, hey, are you okay? Do you need to go to the bathroom? Not like, oh, you got some bodily function happening. Must suck. Yeah. Be an adult. So horror stories? Yeah. Oh. Oh, don't I have some?
00:47:32
Speaker
I might as well start with that. So once I was in the field, I'm not always very good. In sex ed, they told me that every woman somehow magically knows when her period is every month. I am not one of those women. I don't keep prac. I don't think most women are. I know. Like, who are these people with calendars? I have only met one woman that I've known that has that calendar. I have an app on my phone. I still don't know.
00:48:05
Speaker
So I got a bit of a surprise on one of my first field digs. It was like a survey of this forest and the field director was...
00:48:24
Speaker
So I was already having kind of a bad time. And then of course I got my period. And lo and behold, I didn't have any tampons in my backpack, which is why I always have tampons in my backpack now. And none of the women that I had asked also did not, they did not have tampons either. So, so I was already
00:48:52
Speaker
kind of on my field directors shit list. And then I had, of course, my period come along. And I'm like, I got to go to the bathroom. And with this, the company I had to, you can't just drive a car.
00:49:09
Speaker
Um, you have to be authorized to drive a car. So I had to get someone else to drive me to a gas station. And then I didn't have my wallet. Or it was that I didn't have any money or didn't have my wallet and I had to borrow $5 to buy this. It was just, it was a disaster. Just a vast unpreparedness. Yeah, that's always super rough. Yeah. But.
00:49:37
Speaker
So yeah, I always carry tampons in my backpack. Always. Yeah, I actually had a field director want to like props to him because he was a dude. It was not a thing that, you know, he was not bleeding out of his vagina. But he had some pads and some tampons that he kept in the first aid kit that went with the site.
00:50:07
Speaker
so that, you know. It's such a good idea. Right? It's just a wonderful idea. It's so basic. Props to him. Right? Yeah. So basic. You know? Like, quite frankly, I don't know why pats and tampons you don't come in first aid kits to begin with. Like, seems pretty, pretty easy. But, um... Well, they're also useful for other emergencies other than period emergencies, so... Right. I mean, like, bloody nose. Might as well have them in there. Stick a tampon in there.
00:50:33
Speaker
It'll stop bleeding. Anybody ever see, was that like, she's the man, that the great minds movie. She comes in and just, yeah. Got the tampon sticking out of her nose and the guys do, I mean, it's hilarious. They're effective though.
00:50:50
Speaker
That's true. And I can't remember. I was one first aid thing where they were asking about like alternatives. Like if you don't have a first aid kit, what else could you use? And I totally remember one of the other people at the training saying, Hey, if you have a pad, that's probably one of the best things you can use in like a major wound situation. It's, it's absorbent. It, you can really, you can duct tape it to somebody's arm or leg or wherever the wound is, or, you know, use the sticky parts or something to, you know,
00:51:20
Speaker
Put it on there and it's like wow that really makes a lot of sense Yeah, like yeah, they're built to your blood I Heard that people in the military who would get deployed to the desert they would want Pads to stick in their helmets to absorb the sweat and
00:51:49
Speaker
Oh, so when people make care, this isn't high school when the war was a few years old, we were making care packages and it's like, yeah, we put pads in them so they can put them in their helmets to absorb their sweat. Yeah. I was like, huh.
00:52:05
Speaker
I 100% believe in it. Yeah, another really useful thing, more for like panty liners than pads because they're thinner. But if you, you know, like have new boots or you're getting blisters and you don't have a moleskin or anything, if you take the back off of a painting liner, you can stick that to the back of your shoe and acts like moleskin, right? And it'll stop the rub.
00:52:32
Speaker
Oh, that'd be great for breaking in boots. Yeah. Oh my gosh, yeah. It's cheaper than moleskin. Yeah. I mean, it's not like quite as good as moleskin, but I like it. It works, right? Feminine, feminine hygiene products. Good for more than just feminine hygiene.
00:52:58
Speaker
the new podcast slogan. My horror story is basically the same thing. I was taking birth control, so I wasn't having consistent periods. I was skipping the placebo week, so I hadn't had a period in five months. So when I'm standing teaching a field school,
00:53:26
Speaker
And it comes on like a waterfall. I don't know if you've ever had one of those where you can like, you're like, Hmm, is that my period? No, this was like, oh my god, I just started my period. And so luckily, like we weren't too far away, but I didn't have anything with me. So I went into the bathroom and realized that like, not only had I like,
00:53:49
Speaker
went through my pants completely but I had nothing so I'm like rolling toilet paper up trying to make it and I go and get in my car I'm just like I tell my field director I was like I'll be right back I get in my car to leave and my car was like maybe two months old and there was a nice stain in my car on my car seat as well because it was that bad and so like then you know everyone I come back like 30 minutes later and they're like
00:54:13
Speaker
Where'd you go? Like, what were you doing? And it's like all these little undergrads. And I'm just like, I had a little emergency and I started my period and you just need to get back in your hole and dig. And they're like, I thought you were wearing different pants. I'm like,
00:54:28
Speaker
How about this? Like, yeah, who cares? And all my pants look the same because we're in Virginia and the dirt is red. But yeah, it was, it's just like the worst, you know? And especially like, because my absence was so noticeable, it just made it even more horrible. But you just
00:54:49
Speaker
Went home, changed, came back, which I was lucky that I could do that because I mean, in the field field, you can't do that. This is field school, but what made it bad is a little 18-year-old male children who are children. Well, hopefully now when they do future fieldwork, they have a better understanding of the period struggle. They can conduct themselves thusly. One can only hope.
00:55:14
Speaker
So for one of one of my horror stories concerning periods, it's just one of those goofy things where I was on a area where I had to backpack out to the wilderness.
00:55:30
Speaker
And it took a couple of days to backpack in, a couple of days to backpack out, while I was being brought in by a horse, like by horse with a pack train, because I was meeting with a whole bunch of trail crew people out in the wilderness. And then the idea was I might hike out or I might be brought back out by horse. So I knew I would only be there for a short window of time.
00:55:54
Speaker
figured that I wouldn't need that much stuff and just as an afterthought threw in a couple pads and a roll of toilet paper. So of course period hit full force and I ended up having to backpack out so that actually took a lot longer for me to get out than if I had just been on a horse because that just takes a day. And of course run out of toilet paper.
00:56:13
Speaker
run out of pads. I'm freaking out and I'm just like, Oh my God, what do I do? And I'm just, it's, I'm a total mess. And I'm at that point where you're just, I'm almost out. You know, I'm almost like, I'm like,
00:56:28
Speaker
six miles from getting to my out point and then I can just hop in a park service vehicle and zoom on home. And I'm just so fed up and tired that nobody's around. Nobody was there for like miles. And so I just barely pop off the trail. There's really no cover anyway. And I just drop trousers and try to get cleaned up as much as possible. Who comes out of the trees? One of the trail crews. They decided to come out too. And I could hear them literally, they're just like talking and saying, and just stop.
00:56:58
Speaker
And I'm just like, and I could hear the, I heard somebody go, Hey guys, just turn around, just turn around. Everybody just turned around. It's like, great. I just like flashed everybody. I don't even know these people and all this stuff. And then just just like, you know what? Whatever. I am grumpy. I am tired and I'm a mess and I'm on my period. Scrut! And just like pulled up my pants and kept walking.
00:57:28
Speaker
And it was a whole different trail group that so they didn't know me at all. And so I'm sure they just thought I was like this wacky person just off the trail just being like, well, I'm gonna just flash everybody. Fortunately, they had no clue who I was totally different group and was able to just get out of there. I'm glad they were just like, okay, well, everyone turn around. Good job, guys. Good, good job.
00:57:53
Speaker
And of course, all men, all guys, you know, it was a good day in archaeology. Look at the discoveries, guys. So, ladies, on that note, we are reaching the end of our episode.
00:58:16
Speaker
Right? But, you know, periods are a totally normal thing and they happen. You're going to have embarrassing moments, right? You will live. We've all been there. Does anyone have any final thoughts? There are heating pads that you are reusable where you crack them and they warm up and then you boil them and they get hard again so you could reuse them again. So you can bring one out in the field with you and it will last you like months and months and months. And they come from like
00:58:46
Speaker
pleasure party companies. They're marketed as sex toys, but I don't use them like that. So if you have really bad cramps, that's like for sure a thing you need to look into. That's a great suggestion. Yeah. I think periods are a completely normal part of being human and it's, you know, don't apologize for it. It's what your body's going to do.
00:59:13
Speaker
Don't take anybody's guff about having a period. It's just part of life.
00:59:33
Speaker
support the Archaeology Podcast Network by becoming a member, just go to archaeologypodcastnetwork.com and click on the members tab. Thanks so much for listening. Bye!
00:59:54
Speaker
Thanks for listening to the Women in Archaeology podcast on the Archaeology Podcast Network. Please like, share, rate, and subscribe to the show wherever you found it. If you have questions, leave them in the show notes page at www.arcpodnet.com slash WIA, or email them to womeninarchaeologypodcast at gmail.com. The music is retro-futured by Kevin MacLeod and his royalty-free music. To support the network and become a member, go to www.arcpodnet.com slash members.
01:00:21
Speaker
This show is produced at the Reno Collective in Reno, Nevada. This show is produced by Chris Webster and Tristan Boyle and was edited by Chris Webster. This has been a presentation of the Archaeology Podcast Network. Visit us on the web for show notes and other podcasts at www.archapodnet.com. Contact us at chrisatarchaeologypodcastnetwork.com.