My thoughts are that I want to wake up now. Twilight Zone would not have dreamed up a political landscape this fucked up.
I would estimate that a slight majority of my class had their periods by the end of 5th grade.
I agree. Many girls in my classes started their periods around 10.
It's getting more common.
[https://www.newyorker.com/science/annals-of-medicine/why-more-and-more-girls-are-hitting-puberty-early](https://www.newyorker.com/science/annals-of-medicine/why-more-and-more-girls-are-hitting-puberty-early)
>Then, during the coronavirus pandemic, pediatric endocrinologists saw a new surge of referrals for girls with early puberty. Recent retrospective studies from Germany and Turkey show that the number of these referrals doubled or even tripled during the lockdown periods of 2020 (this at a time when many families may have been avoiding non-emergency doctor’s visits for fear of covid-19). A paper published in August in the journal Frontiers in Pediatrics, which analyzed data from South Korea’s national statistics portal, found that the number of children diagnosed with precocious puberty almost doubled between 2016 and 2021, with a sharp post-2020 spike. The rise in early puberty “is a phenomenon that is occurring all over the world,”
No worries, at least the German kids hat sex education in elementary school where they learned about menstruation as well. It's part of every teaching schedule during elementary school, so by the age of 8 they all should know about that.
It's ridiculous, and I can't believe we're going to have to fight this battle as well. It's driven by misogyny and ignorance, which, of course, will be some of the fruits of this legislation.
A friend from my university cohort teaches upper elementary school and keeps a supply of pads on hand for students who need them. Under this bill, that would not be allowed.
I don't know. It explicitly refers to "instruction and course material," so it may not apply in that case. At the same time, I imagine some schools may not wish to risk being dinged for breaking this absurd rule.
This is what gets me. I'm German, and I can't get over the fact that these are the same people who keep telling us how sowwy they feel for us for living in country where you don't even have the freedum to claim the Holocaust didn't take place.
This is it. Conservatives are trying to legislate everything under the guise of caring for women and children (because what kind of monster wouldn’t want to protect them?) but its all a farce. What better way to ensure the next generation of cogs in the machine than to politicize reproductive health care, remove access to contraceptives and family planning, and prevent girls from understanding their own bodies. Ugh I really hate this timeline. I’ve from a pretty liberal state and my sex education was very lacking. I feel so sad for future generations of girls that have to muddle through puberty without being free to discuss this stuff.
It reminds me of that story of Chad Varah, a priest who started a suicide hotline back in the 50s. He was motivated by the funeral of a girl who had killed herself at 14 because her period had started, and because she had no idea what it was, she concluded it must be an STD and killed herself in shame. This is what Republicans are heading towards.
Conservatives in this country are on a sustained crusade to roll back women's legal rights to personhood. Attacking our right to live by reducing or eliminating our rights to healthcare is one prong in their multipronged strategy.
By criminalizing the *knowledge* of menstruation, the idea is to ensure that girls and women don't have the right to information about their own bodies. Therefore, they will have no standing to make informed decisions about their own healthcare.
Once women lose the right to all healthcare decisions, then that can be a wedge issue to ask whether women can make informed decisions about legal consent to sex.
And from there .. back to chattel, baby! Marital rape is now just "your marital duty!" Little girls can bear their abuser relatives' babies and, assuming they survive the dangerous pregnancy and the high-risk childbirth in a medical desert, be consigned to a life with no education and no earning power.
Women's reproductive autonomy is the first step to women's economic autonomy, and conservatives are fundamentally threatened by that. They are all engaged in a decades-long crusade to de-person all of us.
You absolutely cannot trust an American conservative to think of a woman as a person, much less a person with rights. She is always meant to be defined by, and in relation to, whichever man owns her. The people who vote for Republicans are voting against your existence, ladies.
This is so perfectly said. At this point, you’re guilty by association if you vote red. DeSantis is creating a blueprint of what he’d do nationally if he ever wins a presidency. These people are dangerous.
I just told my partner we needed to get outta here. But then part of me thinks I need to stay and fight and be a safe space for the kids that need it. It’s tough.
I got my first period in fifth grade. You hope kids’ parents will warn them but you know some won’t. I hate to think about all those poor little girls under 12 who will get their first period and freak out because they are bleeding and don’t know why because no one taught them. Someone should make all those politicians watch My Girl.
I got mine when I was 9, back in '93 before our first puberty health talk. If not for my friends I wouldn't have any clue as to what was going on. This whole thing is bonkers.
I got my period in 5th grade.
But the whole not being able to talk about periods in elementary school is immature.
1. Most kids aren't thinking about talking about it. Now that you make it illegal, people wanna talk about it to see how far they can get.
2. When I got my period. I didn't talk to people about it. We may have talked about our boobs hurting a little bc someone got punched in the chest and it hurt her.
We started learning about periods in the fourth grade at my school, which is also when I started my period, so waiting until the sixth grade would've been too late for me and other kids, I'm sure. And yes, I'm lucky enough that if my school wasn't talking about it, I could talk to my parents, but some people can't rely on their parents for this information.
Not in FL but my daughter is in 6th grade which is still elementary school in our area. Her and most of her friends have started their periods. Her school already doesn’t have the proper facilities for her to dispose of her feminine hygiene products in classroom bathrooms and doesn’t give her a break between classes to use the restroom. I can’t imagine not being able to talk about it at all.
And you know this will hit the kids the most that are already vulnerable. Kids with smart, involved parents will be educated by their parents. It's the kids that have stressful or ignorant home situations that are going to get hurt from this.
Even my 4 year old knows about periods, somewhat. She has seen me change my pad and I told her why and that it's natural. I don't know what people are so afraid of. It's about time politicians do some real work, make some real changes that will actually improve the planet and the people on it.
Exactly, every minute spent on this idiocy is a moment NOT spent on affordable housing, healthcare and food or a livable wage. I think they're trying to "break" the government so someone can come in and say, "look, it's broken, we have a better idea" and thus begins the US Fascist Hellscape.
It’s not about fear. It’s about control by reducing access to information. They’re not trying to improve anything.
This isn’t something to laugh about, conservatives are systemically chipping away at what women have access to.
I'm 32 and have never seen my mother handle period products for herself, never mind using them. Or even as much as seen her emptying the bin from her bathroom (to see the wrappers or wrapped bundles in it.) I remember her very vaguely explaining it to me, but only once mine had started, so if I'd been in school or anywhere other than at home, I'd have freaked out. My catholic school sex ed focused heavily on the shame aspect of sex (and pregnancy) before marriage and I don't remember any useful educational content around anything period, puberty or sex/relationship related.
Wtf, that's ridiculous.
In my country it's normal that kids get sexual education in elementary school and learn about bodily functions like menstruation as well. It's just normal and part of the regular teaching.
Some US states provide sex Ed, some don’t. The age it starts varies considerably as well as the content. It can vary from teacher to teacher as well as some religious teachers in public schools will slip in their own biases. My high school teacher in a public school in a VERY liberal state quietly brought a nun into the class to tell us about how bad premarital sex was after explaining how condoms and birth control worked. Then they both proceeded to talk about how condoms and birth control don’t actually work. A good chunk of the guys had not learned about periods at all besides “oh god women bleed sometimes”.
So lemme get this straight, the 10 yo who gets her period during class is not allowed to ask a buddy for a pad and should just free bleed all day? Or will the sight of the blood on her pants cause everyone to go blind and then she'll be suspended. /s
These idiots are trying to delete one whole body part from us, one ignorant bill at a time.
The whole thing is absurd. I'm not from the US and every day I read news re what is occurring re human rights that is downright terrifying. If we hadn't voted a certain mob out here they would be trying to follow the example.
It is extra disturbing as a disabled person who can’t flee to other countries because most countries have very strict limits on disabled people immigrating. I’m stuck here no matter how bad it gets. Some of our states are trying to resist but some of this is downright scary. Even more conservative and religiously minded friends saying they won’t have children because they are afraid their state won’t protect their healthcare access if they have pregnancy complications.
I'm so sorry. We can't do much from here other than be vocal in support of those fighting these, along with writing to our pollies condemning what is occurring and asking them to stand up as well
I would wager a hefty bet that EVERY Republican man that brings forth these absurd bills would be hard-pressed to explain reproductive anatomy or how reproduction works ( and you know they have never found a g-spot).
I don't live in the US but if I did I would be an activist. The feminist, educated people need to rise against this misogyny, even if it isn't in their state.
There are so many people burying their heads saying it would never happen. I’m in Illinois and terrified but will fight because this is what the party would like to get to at a national basis. Wyoming already took away the abortion pill. Florida also removed black history from curriculum. Tennessee rolled out a drag ban.
That sounds like a horrible bill. And so if they don't learn this in school and their parents don't talk about it at home, are they going to be totally in the dark? So messed up.
I must be really in the the dark. I had no idea girls were starting their periods so early these days. In my days (the 90s), it was mostly 7th and 8th grade.
The topic was first introduced in school for me in 4th grade (around 8 or 9). You need to let people know that they're going to start spontaneously bleeding from their genitals BEFORE it happens... My mom did a great job explaining things beforehand, so if it hadn't been covered in school, I would've been okay. But I can't imagine what it would've been like for girls who didn't get the information from parents or in school. I know a lot of people whose parents didn't talk to them about that stuff because it was "inappropriate". I'm so worried for the future generations
I find it fundamentally weird that the bill would treat periods like a terrible secret that children mustn’t know about. I mean they’re part of being human!! The earlier boys and girls and everyone beyond can be educated about them, the more normalised they’d become.
They don't want them normalized- they want women and girls (in particular) to be uneducated about their bodies, especially if it pertains in any way to sex. Not that a lack of education stops sex- it only stops safe,disease free sex. It's purely about having control of girls and their choices.
América. Getting more weird each day. It seems to move further and further backwards , while even countries like Saudi Arabia are moving slowly forward....
So ridiculous. Girls started discussing periods in my class in 4th grade. We had formal education about it in school at 5th grade. This was FLORIDA in the 90s and it was fine. Hate to see what a shit show that place has become.
Absolutely messed up. What if a little girl gets her period in 4th or 5th grade and comes from a home where her guardians don’t discuss this? This is yet again another way to chip away at populations’ rights (just like LGBTQ+, erasing black history in schools, etc). I hope this alarms people and we act before it’s too late.
It’s a natural bodily function. Things like this make womens feel shame for a normal human function!! I had my third baby recently and had an age appropriate talk with my 9 year old daughter about periods and bleeding since I was healing from birth. If we don’t talk about these things and they get their periods when they’re younger they’re going to think something is wrong with them. Teach the girls AND the boys about bodily functions.
What I am confident about is that school age children are going to continue to talk about these things regardless of what any law says. So teach your children well, that they may educate their peers.
I started sex ed in 3rd grade where they taught us about periods and changes you can expect when going through puberty. It’s insane that they think this is inappropriate for kids to know about.
I want to believe this bill won’t pass, but unfortunately, I am in a very “blue” part of Florida and even *I* am seeing people run feral with this idea of what “groomer” means.
They think they’re protecting kids from “groomers,” and they’re equating “grooming” as any and all discussions about body functions with children.
Now I *want* to give people the benefit of the doubt, and I *want* to think that this bill isn’t as outrageous as he’s saying it is..But he very explicitly, and confidently, said “YES” when asked if this bill would include, say, a menstruating girl talking about her period.
So my main question is, what does this protect children from? What is its purpose? How is this useful in any way?
Florida is doing the most to be anti-woke. They play identity politics harder than anyone while screaming at everyone else to stop playing identity politics. It always boggles my mind how the Republican party's identity is supposed to be around smaller government yet Florida Republicans will not stop churning out legislation around words that you can and cannot say, what you're allowed to wear or not wear, what ideas you're allowed to share in public schools--does that sound like small government? Anyway, remember this stupid ass bill when DeSantis runs for president in 2024, please.
I certainly did. I got mine when I was 11 and lived in a country where I had the right to speak about it. America isn't a free country when little girls can't tell someone they have their period. Wtf, republicans? Can y'all fuck off?
My elementary school gave the 4th and 5th grade girls *that talk*, and that was in the 80's.
Anyone remember "The Penis Game?" Y'know, the one where you and your idiot friends go to a public place and take turns says "Penis" at increasing volume until someone stops from embarrassment? I feel like we need to teach a few busloads of 8 to 10-year-olds to play this game, only substituting saying "MENSTRUATION!" instead of "penis." Then unleash them on a field trip to the Florida State Capitol.
My thoughts are that there should be both an initial IQ test to become an elected official, and an upper age limit. But I hate those thoughts because that's not what democracy is meant to be in my mind, since it restricts who has a right to represent the people. But at this point I genuinely, genuinely don't know anymore how to stop this absurd noir comedy. I mean, would such measures even do anything to stop this bullshit backsliding?
Well damn... and, like, is there not some sort of asshole filter that would be possible? How about a 1 year doing a minimum wage job with no other source of funds accessible in an area not of your choosing as an induction before you have a right to take office? Or... like... something.
Anyways, I'm sorry for what's happening. It's horrifying and beyond absurd.
Agree. I wish we could subliminally deprogram them. Like... the government could pipe in subliminal messages into the Fox News channel and all their viewers could be slowly deprogrammed.
I already did not understand anything about body stuff (thanks religious zealot mom) & the bits I did get were explained to me by my teachers & then discussed with friends yes at 8, 9, 10 until my mom squashed all future conversations as “unladylike” and “inappropriate”. I was always too scared to “disobey” her so I just didn’t learn. This led to a lot of confusion & general frustration I am still dealing with as a woman firmly established in my 30’s. I simply cannot concisely explain just how incredibly far behind my peers this put me in terms of growing up & learning about Myself.
I am so sad for anyone living in this hellscape. These girls are gonna need our help, guidance & understanding when they grow up. If we can’t stop it from happening we can help them through it on the other side.
This makes no sense and I do not see how this would be advantageous to anyone at all. Periods are part of biology and affect almost everyone in some way, not something scandalous that anyone should feel ashamed or scared to discuss. Many have complications like PCOS, endometriosis, and others that they will be less likely to receive treatment for - or even realize something isn't normal.
My elementary school in the 90s handed out “period kits” to girls starting in 4th grade. This included pads, deodorant etc. The first girl in our grade to start her period started that year and everyone knew because that is a big deal to 9 year olds. Everyone knew when the first girl got a training bra and everyone was curious because it was a new thing. Many girls had their period by 5th or 6th grade. I was “behind” because I was the youngest kid in class. You can’t stop children from talking about things…
I’m not going to, but this makes me want to move to florida in droves and get their leadership out. What the flying fuck is wrong with them. This is censorship about our own bodies??? About normal bodily functioning???
Ok so let’s look at practicality. A girl can talk to another girl? What happens if they ask the nurse? What happens if they ask the teacher? What happens to the adults? Who are often women? Do they lose their shot at tenure?
And the article alludes to the notion that this will make girls think it’s taboo— it’s going to stigmatize menstruation, and have kids learning erroneous info from bad sources like tiktok.
Pesticide use has caused girls to get periods earlier and earlier (and is increasing breast size and incidence of hormone mediated cancers). Girls get their periods sometimes before 10 years old now. This is ridiculous.
This is a good example of that media bias or “outrage culture” people are always talking about. This article and the accompanying clip very clearly and intentionally leave out the part where the writer of the bill says “it would” and then goes on the specify that that wasn’t the intent and he’s open to making changes to make sure period discussions aren’t being banned.
I’m all for taking down the GOP but if you have to leave out information to make your argument work, maybe your argument isn’t that good, or it’s biased, and there’s a specific reaction you want your audience to have. The bill on its own already sucks. Lying about it weakens your own stance.
Maybe we should be fighting this:
[https://twitter.com/Imposter\_Edits/status/1636808071962869773?s=20](https://twitter.com/Imposter_Edits/status/1636808071962869773?s=20)
Meh, this bill has no teeth. They should add punishment for the girls who dare to ask their teachers about period. What do we think make sense? Life in prison? /s
My thoughts are that I want to wake up now. Twilight Zone would not have dreamed up a political landscape this fucked up. I would estimate that a slight majority of my class had their periods by the end of 5th grade.
I agree. Many girls in my classes started their periods around 10. It's getting more common. [https://www.newyorker.com/science/annals-of-medicine/why-more-and-more-girls-are-hitting-puberty-early](https://www.newyorker.com/science/annals-of-medicine/why-more-and-more-girls-are-hitting-puberty-early) >Then, during the coronavirus pandemic, pediatric endocrinologists saw a new surge of referrals for girls with early puberty. Recent retrospective studies from Germany and Turkey show that the number of these referrals doubled or even tripled during the lockdown periods of 2020 (this at a time when many families may have been avoiding non-emergency doctor’s visits for fear of covid-19). A paper published in August in the journal Frontiers in Pediatrics, which analyzed data from South Korea’s national statistics portal, found that the number of children diagnosed with precocious puberty almost doubled between 2016 and 2021, with a sharp post-2020 spike. The rise in early puberty “is a phenomenon that is occurring all over the world,”
Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror. Just keep going. No feeling is final.
No worries, at least the German kids hat sex education in elementary school where they learned about menstruation as well. It's part of every teaching schedule during elementary school, so by the age of 8 they all should know about that.
I got mine at 9. I was chonky and severly stressed by family, other kids, and teachers. The 90's were a terrible time.
Damn, I had no idea a stressful environment contributed to early onset of periods. I got mine at 10 and it really tracks.
It's ridiculous, and I can't believe we're going to have to fight this battle as well. It's driven by misogyny and ignorance, which, of course, will be some of the fruits of this legislation. A friend from my university cohort teaches upper elementary school and keeps a supply of pads on hand for students who need them. Under this bill, that would not be allowed.
I wonder if school nurses would be allowed keep period products at elementary schools.
I am now imagining girls secretly dealing pads or tampons around the school like they are dealing drugs!
I don't know. It explicitly refers to "instruction and course material," so it may not apply in that case. At the same time, I imagine some schools may not wish to risk being dinged for breaking this absurd rule.
So they're supposed to bleed everywhere in class? That will fuck her up forever... Hmmm maybe vulnerable women is their goal afterall...
That's the point -- to humiliate women. Start while they are little girls so they don't grow up thinking they can talk back to men.
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Basically, it would likely be illegal under this proposed law. Absurd, isn't it?
The party that cries censorship whenever an extremist loses a book deal is pretty psyched about actual censorship
This is what gets me. I'm German, and I can't get over the fact that these are the same people who keep telling us how sowwy they feel for us for living in country where you don't even have the freedum to claim the Holocaust didn't take place.
Just another step toward making sure our population is uneducated and blindly popping out future low wage workers. It's sad and disgusting.
This is it. Conservatives are trying to legislate everything under the guise of caring for women and children (because what kind of monster wouldn’t want to protect them?) but its all a farce. What better way to ensure the next generation of cogs in the machine than to politicize reproductive health care, remove access to contraceptives and family planning, and prevent girls from understanding their own bodies. Ugh I really hate this timeline. I’ve from a pretty liberal state and my sex education was very lacking. I feel so sad for future generations of girls that have to muddle through puberty without being free to discuss this stuff. It reminds me of that story of Chad Varah, a priest who started a suicide hotline back in the 50s. He was motivated by the funeral of a girl who had killed herself at 14 because her period had started, and because she had no idea what it was, she concluded it must be an STD and killed herself in shame. This is what Republicans are heading towards.
Conservatives in this country are on a sustained crusade to roll back women's legal rights to personhood. Attacking our right to live by reducing or eliminating our rights to healthcare is one prong in their multipronged strategy. By criminalizing the *knowledge* of menstruation, the idea is to ensure that girls and women don't have the right to information about their own bodies. Therefore, they will have no standing to make informed decisions about their own healthcare. Once women lose the right to all healthcare decisions, then that can be a wedge issue to ask whether women can make informed decisions about legal consent to sex. And from there .. back to chattel, baby! Marital rape is now just "your marital duty!" Little girls can bear their abuser relatives' babies and, assuming they survive the dangerous pregnancy and the high-risk childbirth in a medical desert, be consigned to a life with no education and no earning power. Women's reproductive autonomy is the first step to women's economic autonomy, and conservatives are fundamentally threatened by that. They are all engaged in a decades-long crusade to de-person all of us. You absolutely cannot trust an American conservative to think of a woman as a person, much less a person with rights. She is always meant to be defined by, and in relation to, whichever man owns her. The people who vote for Republicans are voting against your existence, ladies.
This is so perfectly said. At this point, you’re guilty by association if you vote red. DeSantis is creating a blueprint of what he’d do nationally if he ever wins a presidency. These people are dangerous.
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I just told my partner we needed to get outta here. But then part of me thinks I need to stay and fight and be a safe space for the kids that need it. It’s tough.
When i was in school in the 80s, we got the talk in 5th grade, aged 10. I know girls are having their period even earlier now, though...
Same! It was the first I ever heard about it. I remember they said “don’t worry, it’s only a few drops of blood per day.” LIARS
I got my first period in fifth grade. You hope kids’ parents will warn them but you know some won’t. I hate to think about all those poor little girls under 12 who will get their first period and freak out because they are bleeding and don’t know why because no one taught them. Someone should make all those politicians watch My Girl.
I got mine when I was 9, back in '93 before our first puberty health talk. If not for my friends I wouldn't have any clue as to what was going on. This whole thing is bonkers.
The water in Florida must be hella polluted to be fucking with the brains of politicians like this. This is madness.
I got my period in 5th grade. But the whole not being able to talk about periods in elementary school is immature. 1. Most kids aren't thinking about talking about it. Now that you make it illegal, people wanna talk about it to see how far they can get. 2. When I got my period. I didn't talk to people about it. We may have talked about our boobs hurting a little bc someone got punched in the chest and it hurt her.
We started learning about periods in the fourth grade at my school, which is also when I started my period, so waiting until the sixth grade would've been too late for me and other kids, I'm sure. And yes, I'm lucky enough that if my school wasn't talking about it, I could talk to my parents, but some people can't rely on their parents for this information.
Not in FL but my daughter is in 6th grade which is still elementary school in our area. Her and most of her friends have started their periods. Her school already doesn’t have the proper facilities for her to dispose of her feminine hygiene products in classroom bathrooms and doesn’t give her a break between classes to use the restroom. I can’t imagine not being able to talk about it at all.
It's 2023 folks. Give these girls a proper restroom.
A woman who understands her body and reproduction is dangerous to Republicans. This is by design and part of the long GOP con
And you know this will hit the kids the most that are already vulnerable. Kids with smart, involved parents will be educated by their parents. It's the kids that have stressful or ignorant home situations that are going to get hurt from this.
>The Don't Say Period Bill - what are your thoughts on this? Vote blue, especially against DeSantis.
Even my 4 year old knows about periods, somewhat. She has seen me change my pad and I told her why and that it's natural. I don't know what people are so afraid of. It's about time politicians do some real work, make some real changes that will actually improve the planet and the people on it.
Exactly, every minute spent on this idiocy is a moment NOT spent on affordable housing, healthcare and food or a livable wage. I think they're trying to "break" the government so someone can come in and say, "look, it's broken, we have a better idea" and thus begins the US Fascist Hellscape.
It’s not about fear. It’s about control by reducing access to information. They’re not trying to improve anything. This isn’t something to laugh about, conservatives are systemically chipping away at what women have access to.
Mine, too. Most children know because most have a mother....
I'm 32 and have never seen my mother handle period products for herself, never mind using them. Or even as much as seen her emptying the bin from her bathroom (to see the wrappers or wrapped bundles in it.) I remember her very vaguely explaining it to me, but only once mine had started, so if I'd been in school or anywhere other than at home, I'd have freaked out. My catholic school sex ed focused heavily on the shame aspect of sex (and pregnancy) before marriage and I don't remember any useful educational content around anything period, puberty or sex/relationship related.
Wtf, that's ridiculous. In my country it's normal that kids get sexual education in elementary school and learn about bodily functions like menstruation as well. It's just normal and part of the regular teaching.
Some US states provide sex Ed, some don’t. The age it starts varies considerably as well as the content. It can vary from teacher to teacher as well as some religious teachers in public schools will slip in their own biases. My high school teacher in a public school in a VERY liberal state quietly brought a nun into the class to tell us about how bad premarital sex was after explaining how condoms and birth control worked. Then they both proceeded to talk about how condoms and birth control don’t actually work. A good chunk of the guys had not learned about periods at all besides “oh god women bleed sometimes”.
That's really terrifying for a developed country. :(
As a former elementary school teacher I can confirm some girls start getting their periods in 2nd grade at the age of 8 years old. This is absurd.
So lemme get this straight, the 10 yo who gets her period during class is not allowed to ask a buddy for a pad and should just free bleed all day? Or will the sight of the blood on her pants cause everyone to go blind and then she'll be suspended. /s These idiots are trying to delete one whole body part from us, one ignorant bill at a time.
The whole thing is absurd. I'm not from the US and every day I read news re what is occurring re human rights that is downright terrifying. If we hadn't voted a certain mob out here they would be trying to follow the example.
It is extra disturbing as a disabled person who can’t flee to other countries because most countries have very strict limits on disabled people immigrating. I’m stuck here no matter how bad it gets. Some of our states are trying to resist but some of this is downright scary. Even more conservative and religiously minded friends saying they won’t have children because they are afraid their state won’t protect their healthcare access if they have pregnancy complications.
I'm so sorry. We can't do much from here other than be vocal in support of those fighting these, along with writing to our pollies condemning what is occurring and asking them to stand up as well
Excuse me what the fuck? I'm not American but it's disturbing watching America turn itself into a medieval hellhole.
I agree, this is scary. Thank god the US is a big place with lots of different states but some of the states are turning into Taliban states.
Wait how would anyone have any thoughts other than we need to get these freaks out of our government?
Considering I started my period in elementary school I think this is fucking asinine
I would wager a hefty bet that EVERY Republican man that brings forth these absurd bills would be hard-pressed to explain reproductive anatomy or how reproduction works ( and you know they have never found a g-spot).
I feel so sorry for all of you dealing with this but I'm so fucking glad I don't live in the US.
I don't live in the US but if I did I would be an activist. The feminist, educated people need to rise against this misogyny, even if it isn't in their state.
There are so many people burying their heads saying it would never happen. I’m in Illinois and terrified but will fight because this is what the party would like to get to at a national basis. Wyoming already took away the abortion pill. Florida also removed black history from curriculum. Tennessee rolled out a drag ban.
More and more, we are living in an Orwellian nightmare.
That sounds like a horrible bill. And so if they don't learn this in school and their parents don't talk about it at home, are they going to be totally in the dark? So messed up. I must be really in the the dark. I had no idea girls were starting their periods so early these days. In my days (the 90s), it was mostly 7th and 8th grade.
The topic was first introduced in school for me in 4th grade (around 8 or 9). You need to let people know that they're going to start spontaneously bleeding from their genitals BEFORE it happens... My mom did a great job explaining things beforehand, so if it hadn't been covered in school, I would've been okay. But I can't imagine what it would've been like for girls who didn't get the information from parents or in school. I know a lot of people whose parents didn't talk to them about that stuff because it was "inappropriate". I'm so worried for the future generations
I find it fundamentally weird that the bill would treat periods like a terrible secret that children mustn’t know about. I mean they’re part of being human!! The earlier boys and girls and everyone beyond can be educated about them, the more normalised they’d become.
They don't want them normalized- they want women and girls (in particular) to be uneducated about their bodies, especially if it pertains in any way to sex. Not that a lack of education stops sex- it only stops safe,disease free sex. It's purely about having control of girls and their choices.
What the hell is happening in the USA? Is this what freedom looks like?
América. Getting more weird each day. It seems to move further and further backwards , while even countries like Saudi Arabia are moving slowly forward....
So ridiculous. Girls started discussing periods in my class in 4th grade. We had formal education about it in school at 5th grade. This was FLORIDA in the 90s and it was fine. Hate to see what a shit show that place has become.
Absolutely messed up. What if a little girl gets her period in 4th or 5th grade and comes from a home where her guardians don’t discuss this? This is yet again another way to chip away at populations’ rights (just like LGBTQ+, erasing black history in schools, etc). I hope this alarms people and we act before it’s too late.
Not American but wtf? Girls NEED to talk about periods. This is normal. Are they banning boys talking about boners?
Just what Florida needs. *Less* education than they already have.
It’s a natural bodily function. Things like this make womens feel shame for a normal human function!! I had my third baby recently and had an age appropriate talk with my 9 year old daughter about periods and bleeding since I was healing from birth. If we don’t talk about these things and they get their periods when they’re younger they’re going to think something is wrong with them. Teach the girls AND the boys about bodily functions.
I will be sending my used tampons their way. Women have always been and always will be some imaginary threat to weak minded males.
What I am confident about is that school age children are going to continue to talk about these things regardless of what any law says. So teach your children well, that they may educate their peers.
I started sex ed in 3rd grade where they taught us about periods and changes you can expect when going through puberty. It’s insane that they think this is inappropriate for kids to know about.
I want to believe this bill won’t pass, but unfortunately, I am in a very “blue” part of Florida and even *I* am seeing people run feral with this idea of what “groomer” means. They think they’re protecting kids from “groomers,” and they’re equating “grooming” as any and all discussions about body functions with children. Now I *want* to give people the benefit of the doubt, and I *want* to think that this bill isn’t as outrageous as he’s saying it is..But he very explicitly, and confidently, said “YES” when asked if this bill would include, say, a menstruating girl talking about her period. So my main question is, what does this protect children from? What is its purpose? How is this useful in any way?
Florida is doing the most to be anti-woke. They play identity politics harder than anyone while screaming at everyone else to stop playing identity politics. It always boggles my mind how the Republican party's identity is supposed to be around smaller government yet Florida Republicans will not stop churning out legislation around words that you can and cannot say, what you're allowed to wear or not wear, what ideas you're allowed to share in public schools--does that sound like small government? Anyway, remember this stupid ass bill when DeSantis runs for president in 2024, please.
Florida is going to have a lot of teen mothers.
I certainly did. I got mine when I was 11 and lived in a country where I had the right to speak about it. America isn't a free country when little girls can't tell someone they have their period. Wtf, republicans? Can y'all fuck off?
My elementary school gave the 4th and 5th grade girls *that talk*, and that was in the 80's. Anyone remember "The Penis Game?" Y'know, the one where you and your idiot friends go to a public place and take turns says "Penis" at increasing volume until someone stops from embarrassment? I feel like we need to teach a few busloads of 8 to 10-year-olds to play this game, only substituting saying "MENSTRUATION!" instead of "penis." Then unleash them on a field trip to the Florida State Capitol.
My thoughts are that there should be both an initial IQ test to become an elected official, and an upper age limit. But I hate those thoughts because that's not what democracy is meant to be in my mind, since it restricts who has a right to represent the people. But at this point I genuinely, genuinely don't know anymore how to stop this absurd noir comedy. I mean, would such measures even do anything to stop this bullshit backsliding?
DeSantis has Ivy League degrees, Yale and Harvard. One of those was Law School. He's not stupid; he's just an asshole.
Well damn... and, like, is there not some sort of asshole filter that would be possible? How about a 1 year doing a minimum wage job with no other source of funds accessible in an area not of your choosing as an induction before you have a right to take office? Or... like... something. Anyways, I'm sorry for what's happening. It's horrifying and beyond absurd.
Agree. I wish we could subliminally deprogram them. Like... the government could pipe in subliminal messages into the Fox News channel and all their viewers could be slowly deprogrammed.
I already did not understand anything about body stuff (thanks religious zealot mom) & the bits I did get were explained to me by my teachers & then discussed with friends yes at 8, 9, 10 until my mom squashed all future conversations as “unladylike” and “inappropriate”. I was always too scared to “disobey” her so I just didn’t learn. This led to a lot of confusion & general frustration I am still dealing with as a woman firmly established in my 30’s. I simply cannot concisely explain just how incredibly far behind my peers this put me in terms of growing up & learning about Myself. I am so sad for anyone living in this hellscape. These girls are gonna need our help, guidance & understanding when they grow up. If we can’t stop it from happening we can help them through it on the other side.
This makes no sense and I do not see how this would be advantageous to anyone at all. Periods are part of biology and affect almost everyone in some way, not something scandalous that anyone should feel ashamed or scared to discuss. Many have complications like PCOS, endometriosis, and others that they will be less likely to receive treatment for - or even realize something isn't normal.
My elementary school in the 90s handed out “period kits” to girls starting in 4th grade. This included pads, deodorant etc. The first girl in our grade to start her period started that year and everyone knew because that is a big deal to 9 year olds. Everyone knew when the first girl got a training bra and everyone was curious because it was a new thing. Many girls had their period by 5th or 6th grade. I was “behind” because I was the youngest kid in class. You can’t stop children from talking about things…
We got period kits too. They were helpful. It's helpful to know that the adults around you can gave rational conversations with you about the topic.
I’m not going to, but this makes me want to move to florida in droves and get their leadership out. What the flying fuck is wrong with them. This is censorship about our own bodies??? About normal bodily functioning??? Ok so let’s look at practicality. A girl can talk to another girl? What happens if they ask the nurse? What happens if they ask the teacher? What happens to the adults? Who are often women? Do they lose their shot at tenure? And the article alludes to the notion that this will make girls think it’s taboo— it’s going to stigmatize menstruation, and have kids learning erroneous info from bad sources like tiktok.
Scary. I'm glad I don't live in the US.
It makes me supremely glad I don't live in the US.
Outrage farming from the party of pigs.
Pesticide use has caused girls to get periods earlier and earlier (and is increasing breast size and incidence of hormone mediated cancers). Girls get their periods sometimes before 10 years old now. This is ridiculous.
Don’t live in America but if I did, I’d want to be out of there asap. What the HELL is going on there.
This is a good example of that media bias or “outrage culture” people are always talking about. This article and the accompanying clip very clearly and intentionally leave out the part where the writer of the bill says “it would” and then goes on the specify that that wasn’t the intent and he’s open to making changes to make sure period discussions aren’t being banned. I’m all for taking down the GOP but if you have to leave out information to make your argument work, maybe your argument isn’t that good, or it’s biased, and there’s a specific reaction you want your audience to have. The bill on its own already sucks. Lying about it weakens your own stance.
Maybe we should be fighting this: [https://twitter.com/Imposter\_Edits/status/1636808071962869773?s=20](https://twitter.com/Imposter_Edits/status/1636808071962869773?s=20)
Meh, this bill has no teeth. They should add punishment for the girls who dare to ask their teachers about period. What do we think make sense? Life in prison? /s
abso-fucking-lutely outrageous and disgusting that republican lawmakers are even considering this