Micro-Action 2 - Menstruation Action by

Here is our powerpoint (where you can also see all the pictures and revisions!)

benteschouwstra — 2023-12-09 10:13:10 UTC

Aim

benteschouwstra — 2023-12-09 10:21:38 UTC

Our aim with this micro-action was to create an open and comfortable space for people to talk about periods, and their experiences with them (of their own and of others). In this way we wanted to break taboos surrounding periods, and share with and learn from each other.

Process & Revisions

benteschouwstra — 2023-12-09 10:30:23 UTC

Based on the exercise in class we decided to make a 'collage' of a uterus out of items that bring us comfort during our periods. When first trying out our micro-action, we sat at a table in Locke with our collage uterus on the table with some questions we had prepared. After talking with Nina, we decided to revise our idea a bit for the actual micro-action. We wanted to create a more comfortable space where people could sit down to share their experiences rather than have people walk past. For the actual micro-action we therefore set up a circle of chairs (with our uterus in the middle), and brought tea and snacks. Another point of improvement was the time and place of the micro-action, and we decided to sit down right when the lunch break started so people would see us, and would have the time to sit down. We moreover advertised the micro-action on facebook and in whatsapp year groupchats. Lastly, we revised our questions, because we wanted to include people that do not menstruate as well and facilitate a broader scope of conversation.

Some topics we discussed

benteschouwstra — 2023-12-09 10:32:06 UTC

During our micro-action we discussed a large range of topics, were able to learn from each other's experiences and find comfort in them. Here are some of the topics we discussed:

Stigma (how it’s created, and our experiences in several settings)
- Not being taken seriously
Comforting yourself and others
Non-menstruating people
Birth control
General lack of knowledge about the entire menstruation cycle
The range of impact

Relation to the themes

benteschouwstra — 2023-12-09 10:36:16 UTC

We wanted this micro-action to be a collective remembrance of (our) experiences with periods, difficulties we faced and how we faced stigmas. Through this collective remembering we noticed we bonded with fellow menstruators on remembering our experiences. Furthermore we wanted our discussions and stories to be a testimony against issues with menstruating in particular settings (such as academic settings) and look for ways to change this. The performative aspect was for us our collage of the uterus.

benteschouwstra — 2023-12-09 10:49:53 UTC

Over all, we were very happy with how our micro-action turned out. The setting was very relaxed and people felt comfortable to share their experiences very openly. More people than we expected turned up, which led to many fruitful conversations on a large range of related topics. The tea and snacks really helped with getting people to sit down and stay with us. Caia and me stayed much longer than expected, just because we were having such nice conversations with people, including non-menstruators. We did however realise that our advertisements were maybe not as reflective of this inclusivity we wanted to portray, since they were very pink and that may have scared some non-menstruators off (even though we did include in our text that everyone was welcome). That would be our main point of improvement, alongside creating an even cozier setting. During our conversations we were even inspired to possibly organise a lecture together with FemCo on periods, and specifically how to work with your cycle, to which many people said they would be very interested.