Menstruatuion

I recall the tampon/sanitary napkins commercials.  All of the products mentioned have been present in my girlhood in one form.   Menstruation always had a negative implication, and I never really much thought about why.   Advertising is definitely a contributing factor, but what about “moon lodges” and other ways of isolating menstruating females?  More so your mother or another female figure provides the basic framework for how a young girl uses her feminine power.  Later it is up to each individual how the beliefs and behaviors will be updated.  Ultimately a mother is like any other female just at a different life stage.  The processes of the feminine body are not some mistake to be hidden.  To raise a daughter or to be influential to a girl who is healthy and comfortable with her own body, a mother needs to know that all the feminine processes – menstruation, breast-feeding, pregnancy, birth, and menopause – are all gifts that contain wisdom.  So it is not fair to have a pity or blame party when we are responsible.  Why play victims when we can begin to break the patterns now?  Or are we content to regard ourselves as blank slates waiting to be spoon fed.   Self –esteem is also passed down through generations.