FREEEEE! FREE-BLEEDIN’! (A requested topic)
Hey y’all, your (probably not) favorite public health worker again, this time wanting to talk about free bleeding. And as this is a requested topic (thank you punkrockmxfrizzle , who is quite the wonderful artist!) I will write this with the same composure, even handedness and nuance that I approach all topics with. Anyways, let’s do this, shall we?
Right. For the uninitiated, free-bleeding is the act of menstruating without any sort of mechanism to prevent the expelled blood from running down your leg, taking a peek at the neighborhood, and quietly judging said neighborhood for having an HOA that disallows��“wildflower lawns” as opposed to those dreadfully boring grass lawns that are as useful as a chunk of Styrofoam is to protect you frOM A GODDAMN INTERCONTINENTAL BALLISTIC MISSILE.
Sorry, blacked out for a second there. Where were we? Right. So that’s basically free-bleeding, letting it all hang loose, as it were. Maybe drop it like it’s hot? Idk.
At any rate, this recently has been a sort of trend in certain circles to commit to as a means of promoting the idea of feminism or feminine strength. And to their credit, in the cases of the Luxury Tax protests (where tampons, pads, etc were labeled and taxed as luxury goods, which is fucking insane), this sort of demonstration had a pretty jarring, visceral, media-grabbing effect. Some may argue that menstrual blood being openly displayed like that was enough to cause some political sway. And that’s actually amazing. But what would not be amazing, is the continued pattern of doing this as a normal, every-day thing. Let’s take a look at why that is, what good points the movement actually does have, and some healthier alternatives for you, and the public.
So, fun thing about blood. Menstrual blood, blood from a cut, scrape, cow, pig, chicken, child, potential cult sacrifice, any blood, really. All of it has one big fucking thing in common. It is real hard to tell what blood is safe (clean of pathogenic bacteria and viruses) and what isn’t safe, especially in public places like street corners, subway seats, or seats AT Subways. And, as a matter of course for a long time, we as public health folk and you as the general public will often treat blood that you don’t know as dangerous.
Now, I don’t want it to be taken as I think all the free-bleeding types have STIs or something that could be transmitted from blood to whatever. I don’t. Statistically, they are just as virus and bacteria ridden as the rest of us, so take comfort in that any way you can. However, even if it was some ichor of purity, the most clean blood in the world. You know what we’d do?
Sanitize the shit outta whatever that was on. And that could really add up in environmental and municipal costs quickly, let alone the potential for something with a decent incubation period and the ability to jump from blood to skin easily, making for a motherfucker of a potential communicable disease incident, and anyone who’s read my shit knows how much of a clusterfuck of expense and worry and people being put at risk that is. Also, people will understandably be upset about touching others’ blood, or sitting in it, etc and it would cause a mess, literally, even if it’d just be that.
Oh, speaking of environmental impact, so let’s quickly go through the Free Bleeding’s one actually decent point on their position: How bad these products can be for the planet.
To quote a fairly well sourced document out of Harvard :
“ Close to 20 billion sanitary napkins, tampons and applicators are dumped into North American landfills every year. [1] When wrapped in plastic bags, feminine hygiene waste can take centuries to biodegrade. The average woman uses over 11,000 tampons over her lifetime, leaving behind residue far beyond her lifespan. [2]This colossal waste burden however, isn’t the only ecological impact of disposable feminine hygiene products. A Life Cycle Assessment of tampons conducted by the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, found that the largest impact on global warming was caused by the processing of LDPE (low-density polyethylene, a thermoplastic made from the monomer ethylene) used in tampon applicators as well as in the plastic back-strip of a sanitary napkin requiring high amounts of fossil fuel generated energy. [3] A year’s worth of a typical feminine hygiene product leaves a carbon footprint of 5.3 kg CO2 equivalents. [4]”
So, that’s bad. And they are claiming they have a zero carbon or landfill footprint (isn’t true, sanitary costs and such would cause more waste per person). Can something else be done that isn’t either of these options if you find them shitty?Why yes, yes there is.
First off, for those who really want nothing up there, there are perfectly safe, 100% fine idea period proof panties that just don’t let the blood out. As long as no one else is coming in contact with it and there’s no pathogen risk, fuck it, go nuts dude.
Then for others there are such things as Luna Cups that do pretty sweet blood collection and are pretty easy to clean, as well as environmentally friendly.
Lastly, there are also durable cloth pads that can be found fucking ANYWHERE from a bunch of small manufacturers that come in all kinds of designs whether you want plain or cute or whatever. Cleaning them can be a pain in the ass, but still, pretty environmentally friendly and safe from a public health perspective. Plus, supporting small local artisans, yay!
Now, none of this is meant to hurt anyone who needs to use pads or tampons due to issues with feeling blood or anything like that. Do what you gotta do, no stress. I’m just saying, you can have your period and free it too. Just not into the general public. Or the public. Or the General, if said general isn’t like a direct relative or partner or whatever.
But yeah. Blood everywhere, as usual, bad thing. Being environmentally friendly? Decidedly not bad thing. And uh.. That’s... That.
Feel free to send topics, if ya like. Have the question and submission boxes open.
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It was a pleasure to have guests from Malvern College UK and Malvern College International at MCE. As a growing College and as a part of the Malvern family of schools, MCE works closely with MCUK and MCI. Their visit forms part of our termly Board of Management meetings and allows them to meet with a range of pupils and teachers to gain an insight into our progress.
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Week 1 - What is Prototyping?
Friday 31st January 2020
Another day, another start to a new module. This week was the start of Design Prototyping, a new module taking place at MCUK with Kat.
Photo courtesy of Joshua Elliott
Our first task was to in groups, create a prototype for a car with only paper - no glue or scissors. We initally, we discussed simple origami techniques. Following on from this, we decided to roll the paper into a wheel like shape however this did not work effectively. Our next decision was to use traingles as wheels, as they would prove more sturdy and the car would perform more off a slide than a roll.A bonus we added was a mascot who acted as both an image for the car but also to add weight to the car to increase it’s downward speed
Following this task we moved onto a TED video by Tom Chi about how Google designed the Google Glass, and how the concept was prototyped
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@misscaribbeanuk with MCUK Patron; Shaun Wallace is modelling a gold velvet jacket designed by Jasmine Soni at the MCUK photoshoot which was sponsored by; Hannah Kingaby of Studio 101 & Dinesh Joshi of Josh Photography. CARNIVAL COSTUMES Designed by: Maria Joseph of Mardi Gras Costumes MODELS: Keeleigh Griffith, 2014 Queen Amy Melissa Harris, 2015 Queen Lizzie Will Elizabeth Williams, 2017 Queen Santrece Stewart, 2017 1st Runner-Up Carissma Griffiths, 2017 2nd Runner-Up HAIR & MUA’s Soni Makeovers, Aina M, Jasmyne Hair Stylists #misscaribbeanuk #MCUK #PositivelyPromotingtheCaribbean #studio101 #dineshjoshiphotography #beauty #queens #aina #jasmyne #shaunwallace #mariajoseph #KeeleighGriffith #amymelissaHarris #ladylizzieee #SantreceStewart #CarissmaGriffiths
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HEWWO ILY I LOVE UR BLOG SO MCUK -nbprincepuppycorn
OHH my god. Im crying in hte club so hard ILU2!!! THANK U 💗💗💗💗
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Posted @withregram • @damianmonzillo I am beyond thrilled and thankful to announce that my interview in @marieclaireuk dropped this morning! I got to speak about my brand @hairpins__by_damian_monzillo and my career! Thank You to @benjaminkaufmann_photography @ronarepresents, @sarahbarnsey @lisaoxenham & the team at MCUK, Still Photo by @adriannafavero , Bio Pic by @rcallahanphoto , my sweet @lpmonzillo & to all the family, friends and colleagues who’ve supported me. Link in Bio!! (at Hairpins by Damian Monzillo) https://www.instagram.com/p/CI6erd1DluO/?igshid=itr4jprk5m6e
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