This months Sinful Sunday prompt is; All about the women
Women, female, feminine…. show me what those words mean to you. After the amazing images that the ‘All about the men’ prompt inspired I thought it would be interesting to have a female version.
When I wrote the prompt I really had no idea what I was going to do with, after all I am a multifaceted creature, what about me makes me woman, what makes me feel like a woman? I love my corset and my heels but I also love my slippers and my onesie, I am just as much a woman in either outfit. I think I have a very feminine face and figure and of course between my thighs, my cunt, is the genital representation of my gender which I identify with very strongly. It would have been very easy to have focused on that but then I stood on the shower the other day and as the hot water cascaded down over my skin I looked down and saw the most powerful representation of my ‘woman’ flowing down my legs and pooling at my feet and suddenly I knew exactly what it was that I would be doing for this prompt….
My period is probably the most visually powerful aspect of me being a woman. That doesn’t mean that I think women who don’t menstruate are less of a woman, far from it, but for ME this blood, this crimson river that flows from my body ever month feels like the most basic, primal thing that my female body does. I have not always felt connected with my period, in fact I spent many years hiding and hating it, a mixture of shame and embarrassment at the mess my body made but in recent years that has changed. I can’t claim to enjoy it, it can, after all, be a real pain sometimes, both figuratively and literally speaking, but I have learnt to embrace it, and accept it as part of what of what I am and with that acceptance a sort of love or maybe, an affinity with it, is a better phrasing, has been born both for the act itself and the way it looks, its rich red vibrant colour has become to me a sign of strength and power. It is the most female thing my body does, it is what nourished and created me, and it is what nourished and created you, it is the blood of life.
I have no shame for it any more. It is beautiful, natural, clean and healthy.
It is woman
33 comments
Oh wow Molly, yes, yes yes! Brilliant photos, I LOVE THEM! The pattern of your blood splatter is amazing, and I love how you can see your reflection in the drain. I’ve come a long way from all out hatred of my period (and I still hate cramps etc.) but visually, I think menstrual blood can be very sexy.
You might not believe this, but I was actually thinking about the prompt yesterday, and I wanted to do a menstrual photo as well! I even thought to myself, I hope I start my period early so I can do it…and I started early today. So I might join you in a bloody celebration. 🙂
xxPenny
Thank you and I am so glad you decided to join in with your own version. I think one of the ways of normalising periods is for it to be ‘shown’ more rather than something we hide away in the bathroom with
Mollyxxx
When I saw the title for your entry this week, I had an inkling of what I might find when I clicked on the link. 🙂 These are incredibly powerful photographs because, as you say, they look at something that is very female (menstruation) yet, despite how natural it is, many of us are embarrassed about or uncomfortable with. I love that you’ve pulled back the (shower) curtain, so to speak, on this often ‘hidden’ womanly function. Jane xxx
The comments this week make me realise that I need to revisit this subject again in a variety of different ways including writing some erotica that includes some reference to it
Mollyxxx
Brilliant! And yes, this is as feminine as it gets. I don’t have periods anymore and haven’t had them for 22 years, but if I had them, I would have wanted to embrace them the way you do.
Rebel xox
Don’t get me wrong, I am fairly sure I wouldn’t miss them if I didn’t have them. One of the joys of breast feeding exclusively for an extended length of time was no periods
Mollyxxx
I love these images – they look a lot like what I see every month (using a Diva Cup and emptying it in the shower has much the same effect). I always feel so very strong, making something so artistic 🙂
xx Dee
I have never found a cup that works for me, which actually makes me sad as I love the idea of one… I had a Moon cup that comes in two different sizes but I found that both of them leaked
Mollyxxx
There was a time when we might have considered menstruation photos edgy or subversive, but of late it occurs to us that there’s little that’s more natural and indeed more feminine. Bonus points for capturing your reflection so beautifully.
Thank you and I am glad you feel this way
Mollyxxx
Great pics. Silverdrop is more bothered (but not very) by her menstrual blood than I have ever been. Sometimes the conditioning runs deep, I think.
Absolutely. I can’t claim to be totally cool with it, sometimes those feelings of ‘ewww this is dirty’ still appear but M has been a great reminder to me that it is just part of me and there is nothing bad about it
Mollyxxx
I’m still very much at that stage where I can feel pretty gross and disgusting when i’m on my period. Not always, some months it bothers very little, more summer months are my issue! I like to have sex when i’m on my period but it’s not something my husband likes, this doesn’t make feel great but i look past it. It’ll probably be something I feel less about as I get older.
Don’t get me wrong, I absolutely don’t think periods are disgusting and gross etc, it’s just such a powerful message you are sent as a young person with all these smelly products to cover yourself up, freshen up as if you are dirty. Or you can take pills and stop them all together such a disgusting and messy nuisance they are. I don’t want my daughter to feel that way.
Photo wise i think you’ve captured it wonderfully. I love your reflection in the plug, i love the pattern on the second photo. Did I look at the photos first and scroll quickly yes, yes i did. But now i have looked at them properly, more than once and see what you see and feel.
Thank you x
The contrast of the vibrant red with the white and chrome make a very clean image – which of course goes against the general conditioning that lots of people are exposed to about menstruation. I really hope that the next generation have less hang ups about it.
Me too but sadly I think the fact that they are constantly bombarded with the commercial products that tell them they ‘smell’ is not going to help
Mollyxxx
The reflection in the chrome! Wow, such an amazing touch! Beautiful images: the epitome of femininity.
-R.H
Beautiful raw photos… and your words are equally as powerful! XO
My period is something that I have never had a problem with, it is part of being female to me and has never been an issue. I have even never worried about having sex during my period, although I have always told my lovers if I am “on” as not all of them are as comfortable with it all as I am, also, it would not really be fair not to say in case one of them went down on me and got a mouthfull of unexpected blood!!!
I am so glad that you have come to an acceptance of yours and have learned to embrace it as part of your womanhood.
Great images!
~Mia~ xx
Ps – I can’t wait for my to stop now – bring on my menopause!!! 😉
The menopause worries me slightly as I think it sent my Mother a bit batty but hopefully I will not follow in those footsteps
Mollyxxx
I don’t have periods, and for that I’m glad. I have Endometriosis, which for me means nothing but a life of misery and extreme pain over which I have no control.
However, the monthly cycle is probably THE most powerful symbol of femininity, and I’m sl glad to see it featured here
Flip x
Thank you Flip
As SD says, it is something that my wife has far more of a problem with than I do. Blood is blood. I see it every time I’m running late and cut myself shaving in a hurry. Or every time my compulsive finger nail biting goes too far, or whenever I do DIY as I can’t to anything without injuring myself slightly. Or even when I see blood tests taken (daily basis); it’s just human, and normal.
My wife won’t have sex during that time; it makes her uncomfortable so if she won’t enjoy it, then there is no point. As said, conditioning runs deep.
Really evocative words too!
I used to be like, mainly because of experiences with part partners but M has been dedicated in his mission to show me that I am beautiful and sexy all the time, even on my period. Sometimes the old worries will try to come back but as a general rule I think they are fairly well silenced now
Mollyxxx
Brilliant photos! I am reminded of a young gentleman who told me once that he could be more of a woman than I could, but he was stopped short when I asked him about menstruation 🙂
~Kazi xxx
Haha indeed… you can grow boobs and even acquire a pussy but you will never menstruate… which might be a kind of plus actually
Mollyxxx
These are truly beautiful images. Periods are something I never came to terms with, I was always so ill and therefore couldn’t feel attractive or sexy, I’m a bit of a clean freak too, while they’re not dirty, they’re just messy. Luckily they’re also pretty much a thing of the past for me and that pleases me so much!
Honesty & Beauty …….. MarQe x
There is something completely captivating about watching the deep red against the white porcelain as it swirls with the water down the drain. You’ve captured that moment perfectly here.
These are really gorgeous. I go back and forth with coming to terms with menstruation. As long as I don’t have another 16 day period ever again – I think we might be happy together.
I know I’ve already said as much on Twitter, but I really do love this image. Not just because it’s brave, either – I genuinely think it’s beautiful.
Charlie x
You always take some amazing menstrual pics, I am still not that brave and I don’t even get a period on the shot now.
Love your menstrual photos, they are so powerful! I used to dislike having sex during my period, because I felt so much less clean than I’d prefer. Then I met my now lover, who is totally comfortable with everything about bodies. He not only said he doesn’t mind blood stains on his bedding, he actually said he likes them because it’s such a feminine and sweet sign of my presence. This one’s a keeper 🙂
Combine that with them also being things that Michael and I struggle with and the result is that I have censored myself. I think we all do it to some extent