Do you remember getting your first period? Whether it is funny, embarrassing, celebratory, or anticlimactic, most women feel their lives change in some way at that moment. But it’s not very often that we talk about it, or share our first period stories with younger girls who might be anticipating menstruation with a sense of uncertainty. Eighteen-year-old editor Rachel Kauder-Nalebuff is trying to change that with My Little Red Book, an anthology of stories about first periods, collected from women of all ages around the world.
The book is for ‘mothers, confused dads, curious brothers and sisters, but most of all it’s for teenage girls who have just gotten or are about to get their first period, because that’s when no one talks about it, and that’s when it matters most,’ she says.
All kinds of women have added their voices to the mix, from high school students to feminist icons such as Erica Jong, and the stories range from powerful and poignant to cringe-worthy and hilarious.Kauder-Nalebuff’s favorite–and mine too–comes from her great aunt, who got her first period while she was fleeing Nazi Poland for France on a midnight train. Having her period actually saved her from being strip-searched at a checkpoint in Germany.
My Little Red Book is already generating buzz, and Kauder-Nalebuff appeared on the Rachael Ray Show last month to talk about the project. The best part is that royalties are being donated to women’s health and education charities.
Find out more, read a few of the stories, submit your own story, watch the Rachael Ray segment, and check out some on-the-street interviews about first periods on the My Little Red Book Web site . You can also read a fabs interview with Kauder-Nalebuff here .
So now I’m curious. How was your first?
–Jax
