I was sharing memes on instagram that included nude images but deleted them all when ig did their most recent update to the terms of service because I was scared of getting my account deleted AGAIN. My original account with 22.6k followers got deleted in October 2018 and I never got it back, so I really would like that to NOT happen again.

I still love the memes that I made and want to share them, so here are some of the ones that I used to have on my ig before I deleted them!

Original caption:

Started bleeding yesterday during the full moon so HERE COME THE MENSTRUATION MEMES!

Almost any time I’m in a group of people with vulvas, at some point we end up talking about menstruation and I LOVE IT. I realize that a LOT of menstruators didn’t have a positive education or role model to teach them about their cycle so I want to normalize menstruation and discussions around it.

I’ve heard some horror stories about how folks first learned about menstruation and I don’t want anyone to have to go through a traumatic experience their first or 30th or 100th time having their period. Our bodies do this wonderful magical thing every month and we all deserve to be able to AT LEAST talk about it with each other and have resources available to us ABOUT OUR OWN BODIES!

Do you have a menstruation story you want to share? I’ll go first and share my story of my first time bleeding in the comments.

My first period: I was in 4th grade (yeah I started really young) and I was at the park with my mom and sister. I went to the bathroom to pee and when I wiped I saw BLOOD. At first I was scared but then I remembered that Mommy bleeds sometimes and that it’s a normal thing for some peoples bodies to do. When I left the bathroom I told my mom about it and she told me this was a special time in my life and that it means I’m growing up. After we went home, she took me out to eat, just me and her. She made me a bracelet to commemorate that time in my life, and she helped me with period products so I’d be prepared and not accidentally make a mess in my clothes. I realize that not everyone has positive “I just started my period for the first time” experiences, but I am so thankful that I was able to have these conversations with my mom.

Photo: Liam Woods / Portraitmami
Model/meme: me, Bunny Luna

Original caption:

It’s important for me to talk about gender in conversations about menstruation, because I’ve seen a lot of transphobic discourse around this topic.

There are women who do not menstruate (for a variety of reasons), and there are menstruators who are not women (myself included).

An incomplete list of women who do not menstruate: trans women, women who have had hysterectomies, women who have gone through menopause, some intersex folks.

An incomplete list of menstruators who are not women: trans men, some non binary folks, some intersex folks.

Menstruation is something that impacts people of many genders, so when talking about menstruation please make sure you’re doing it in a way that’s inclusive.

Photo: Liam Woods / Portraitmami
Model/meme: me, Bunny Luna

Original caption:

I have more to say about this than there is room in an ig caption, so here’s a list of thoughts…

-menstrual blood has healing powers
-menstrual blood is not “dirty” or “gross”, it is literally used to GROW A HUMAN BABY. If that’s not powerful magic then I don’t know what is
-abortion is a human right
-folks with vulvas aren’t solely here to procreate, and not everyone with a vulva even wants to have children
-every person has the right to choose what they do with/to/for their body
-menstruating humans have the ability to harness the healing and creative power of their menstrual blood
-I love using my blood for face masks and blood baths, the stem cells in my blood were MADE BY ME FOR ME and are excellent for my skin (you can do the same with yours too!)
-my blood connects me to the Earth and to myself, reminding me that I go through my own cycles of death and rebirth

Do you have anything to share about menstruation? I’d love to talk about the power of our bodies in the comments!

Photo: Liam Woods / Portraitmami
Model/meme: me, Bunny Luna