The Next Wave of Feminism
fem·i·nism | \ ˈfe-mə-ˌni-zəm \
: “belief in and advocacy of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes expressed especially through organized activity on behalf of women's rights and interests”.
Quite simply, feminism is about all genders having equal rights and opportunities. Pretty essential and self-explanatory right?
This is fundamental and of course should be the goal we are driving toward.
Equal rights and opportunities for ALL.
But let’s dig a little deeper into what is and has been going on in this space.
The first wave of feminism started in the late 19th and 20th centuries gaining women the right to vote in the US (it is astonishing for me to even believe that this is still not the case everywhere).
The second wave of feminism started in the 1960s and 1970s, gaining women control over their own contraceptive rights through birth control and abortion.
This was a really big step and this wave still continues. It should always be a woman’s choice once given the proper education around the topic.
So many women have been able to obtain birth control and have been able to gain control of their reproductive rights. Which is wonderful. However, I want to explore this a little bit further.
Are chemical birth control methods really the empowerment we as women were looking for?
What do these methods of chemical birth control do?
According to drugs.com:
“There are two different kinds of birth control pills — combination birth control pills, which contain estrogen and progestin and minipills which contain only progestin.
Combination birth control pills suppress ovulation — keeping your ovaries from releasing an egg. Combination birth control pills also thicken cervical mucus and thin the lining of the uterus (endometrium) to keep sperm from reaching the egg.
The minipill thickens cervical mucus and thins the endometrium — preventing sperm from reaching the egg. The minipill also sometimes suppresses ovulation. Unlike combination birth control pills, the minipill doesn't contain estrogen. The progestin dose in a minipill is also lower than the progestin dose in any combination oral contraceptive pill.”
Put simply, chemical birth control methods “mute” our bodies natural hormone processes.
What is the problem with that?
Well, women in our reproductive years have another rhythm in addition to the 24-hour circadian rhythm (which is what men, children, and postmenopausal women have). This second rhythm is called the 28-day Infradian Rhythm (side note: as I’m writing this I’m getting fired up because Apple doesn’t even recognize the word Infradian in my text and thinks it’s spelled wrong 😤 - aka part of the problem).
Our Infradian Rhythm controls every single aspect of our life and how many of us have never even heard of it?
We have been forced to follow only our circadian rhythm and as a result are always feeling like we are exhausted, overwhelmed, and “just can’t keep up”!
We are taught to ignore our menstrual cycle. I mean, think about just saying the word “menstrual”. It’s gross, right?
We don’t talk about that.
We are given chemically-driven birth control methods to mute and essentially turn-off this second biological rhythm.
Why? Maybe we aren’t “smart enough” to learn this rhythm? Maybe we aren’t “smart enough” to teach all women and to pass it down to our daughters?
Why isn’t the Infradian rhythm being taught in Sex-Ed textbooks?
So instead we get a prescription, and we don’t talk about it.
That menstrual part of our lives, just gets in the way.🩸
I’m not saying this was done on purpose or anyone in particular is to blame, but our male-driven society is continuing to thrive (another topic for a different day 🙄), while women make up 75% of all the autoimmune disease sufferers!
So basically, all methods of chemical birth control mute this beautifully designed 28-day Infradian rhythm causing us women to try to fit into a 24-hour circadian rhythm leaving us fatigued and frazzled when it comes to our overall wellness.
What if we knew how to optimize our 28-day Infradian rhythm?
What if the next wave of feminism was to embrace this beautiful biological part of our femininity & to use it to power us forward together as women?
If all women can discover this 4-phased, 7-hormone driven, perfectly designed rhythm within themselves, we CAN power forward the next wave of feminism. 💪🏼💗