Browsing articles from "October, 2011"

Oct
7

Myths and Facts about Breast Cancer – Infographic

By Screaming Violet // Infographics // No Comments

Being that it is October and International Breast Cancer Awareness Month I thought I’s share an info graphic or two about breast cancer with you.

I remember back when they thought you wouldn’t develop breast cancer if you were under 40 – then the beautiful Belinda Emmett, a popular Australian soapie star developed cancer at just 24 years of age. Her 8 year long public battle woke young Australian women up to the fact that Breast Cancer doesn’t discriminate. The 1% of men who also develop breast cancer are just further proof of its indiscriminatory nature.

While you are here please take a moment to visit the Breast Cancer Site and help fight Breast Cancer and help fund free mammograms with just a couple of clicks of your mouse.

Violet xx

Oct
6

Pleasurists #150

By Screaming Violet // Pleasurists // No Comments

The_Ecstacy_of_Rain_by_Gwendelin_Artanis

The Ecstacy of Rain (sic) by Gwendelin-ArtanisWelcome to Pleasurists, a round-up of the adult product and sex toy reviews that came out in the last seven days. If you like what you see and want more of it be sure to follow our RSS Feed and Twitter.

Did you miss Pleasurists 149? Read it all here. Do you have a review for Pleasurists 151? Be sure to read the submission guidelines and then use the submission form to submit before Sunday October 9th @ 11:59pm Pacific.

Want a shiny new toy? All you’ve got to do is enter.

Twitter Appreciation: Win a Nexus G-Rider Deadline: October 15th @ 11:59pm Eastern.
Pinktober Giveaway Deadline: October 31st.
FunWares Fall Giveaway Deadline: October 31st.
Win a OhMiBod Vibrator of Your Choice In October Deadline: October 31st.

Editor

Scarlet Lotus

The reviews:

Vibrators

LELO Insignia Tiani by Screaming Violet
Droplet Waterproof Bullet by Unrepentant
OhMiBod Freestyle W by Unrepentant
L’Amour by Bob Brown
Rocks Off Ammunition RO-100mm by Midnight Boudoir
Chippendales Diva by Beanfiddler
LELO Nea by Nymphomaniac Ness
Papaya Toys Turtle by Lucy Lemonade
OhMiBod Freestyle W by Bzzingbee

Dildos

Anal Toys

njoy Pure Plug by Cella
Fun Factory Flexi Felix by Pixel

Sleeves, Rings, & etc.

Lube, Massage Oil, Bath Stuff, & etc.

Coochy Shave Cream by Amber G
Aloe Cadabra by Lucid Obsession
Foaming Intimacy Lubricant by Lucid Obsession
Shunga Arousal Gel by Lucid Obsession
Sliquid Smooth by Nymphomaniac Ness

BDSM/Fetish

Adult Books & Games

Adult DVDs & Porn

Miscellaneous

Pleasurists adult product review round-up

Oct
4

Lets Talk

By Screaming Violet // Features, Red October // 5 Comments

A woman’s period is a sign of the gift of life, It is a confirmation of fertility, the female body’s miracle like ability to bring forth life from within. It is something that should be celebrated not demeaned and cloaked in shame. I’m not saying we should paint our bodies in blood and march around a fire chanting, or anything extreme or radical, rather I’m saying that we shouldn’t shy away from frank discussions of the facts and realities of menstruation.

I grew up in a house filled with suppression and over loaded with shame. No bodily functions were open for discussion, crying wasn’t socially allowed and discussion of sexually related topics banned. What little sex education I received at home came from an old and tatty copy of Every Woman and a few other midwifery text books my mother had in her library. I would covertly borrow them to read late at night, hiding under the covers with a tiny torch light, returning them by morning so that she wouldn’t notice them missing. I also borrowed Judy Bloome’s ‘Are you there God? It’s me Margaret’ from the library too many times to count. As informative as these books were they raised more questions that they answered

My family has a history of uterine issues and all of the women who came before me in my family tree had hysterectomies. I think my mother had hers when I was 4 or 5 years old. I have this very vague memory of her going from the bathroom to get something from her dressing table and returning to the bathroom. When I asked her what she was doing she fobbed me off and told me she’d explain when I was older – but she never did. I guess shortly after that she had her hysterectomy and so there was never a menstruating woman in my household – not that I think that would’ve changed my mothers harsh, no bodily discussions regime.

I was incredibly lucky to have a close friend who’s mother, also a mid wife, who was very open about all topics regarding the female body with her two daughters. She openly discussed with us what periods were, what product options we had, I even recall her giving us some tampons so that we could dip them in water to see how they actually worked. I will never forget that wonderful woman, I often find myself following some of her parenting styles and wish that she were still alive so that I could thank her for trying to show me how there should not be any shame about the natural functions of our bodies.

My first period came at around age 12, when I was in year 7 – my first year of high school. It should of been a proud moment in my life, a rite of passage that deserves celebration. Instead I was terrified and to ashamed and embarrassed to even tell my mum. She’s not the most approachable person in the world. I recall trying to work up the courage to tell her. Day after day I tortured myself trying to find the right words, but I never did. I used toilet paper for my first one and ordered tampon samples out of magazines for the following month. One day whilst I was at school my mum found a pair of ‘accident’ knickers hidden in a drawer along with the samples. She hit the roof. Screaming at me, telling my dad all about it and just lumping further shame onto it all. She told me how dirty I was for trying to use tampons, insinuating that doing so made me a slut – like WTF? She then insisted on me using these dreadfully old fashioned thick, surfboard like pads that were uncomfortable and very ineffective in doing their job. I could just cry for that poor, little scared girl.

After my parents divorced I lived with my father for a short while between 13 and 14. I felt bad and awkward for him having to deal with a menstruating daughter. If I needed to get supplies I had to go to the grocery store with him as he couldn’t face buying them for me. It was like my mother had injected him with shame as well.

Like all females, especially young teenage females with crazy and irregular periods I had the occasional accident. Be it limited to just my underwear or the bed sheets. This I was chastised for and further shamed. One day he even showed my stained, raggedy underwear to my boyfriend with a comment like “Do you see what a filthy, dirty girl you are dating?” I could’ve died. Thankfully that boyfriend was far more mature than my father and shrugged it off, he even apologised to me for the awkward situation my father created.

What I experienced was the kind of bullying I would’ve expected to happen at school where I was surrounded my immature teenagers rather than at home with the people who were meant to love me, nurture me and educate me about what was happening with my body.

I hate that I had to live through that. It is something that really shaped the person that I am today, but in a positive way. It took me years to recover, but I like to believe it has made me into a better parent. I’m far more open with my child and would never lay such shame on him. I vowed to be the kind of parent he could come to and ask even the most awkward of questions, something I feel I’ve done successfully.

Perhaps the way I was brought up contributes to my strong opinion that there’s nothing shameful about periods. Whilst I know that my experience is an extreme example of the kind of taboo that’s placed on menstruation, it still remains a socially unacceptable topic for discussion. It is an everyday occurrence, a simple bodily function, one that signals one of the most beautiful aspects of being a woman. It shouldn’t be shameful and unmentionable, rather it should be treated with the same kind of candour and acceptance afforded to other bodily functions such as Orgasms and vomiting. Whilst it’s not a topic everyone’s going to want to talk about whilst sitting around the dining table, it deserves a place in our social dialougue.

So today I ask of you was there a time when you were made to feel shamed or embarrassed because of your period? What was it like when you were growing up? Did your parents teach you well or did they try to keep it in the closet?

Violet xx

This post is a part of my month long spotlight on all things menstruation – Red October – I’d love for you to come join the conversation

Red October Sponsors

♥ Luna Pads ♥ Pads4Girls♥ Ruby’s Red Wash ♥ JuJu.com.au ♥ Lunette ♥ Lady Cup ♥

♥ OhMiBod ♥ Eden Fantasys ♥ Flow♥

Oct
3

Red October – The Menstrual Cycle – Infographic

By Screaming Violet // Features, Infographics, Red October // 3 Comments

To kick of Red October, my month long feature on all things periods I had hoped to write something truly amazing and insightful about why the subject is still so taboo. Life however decided to intervene and leave me with no time what so ever to write such a post, so I’m going to kick things of with a fun and informative infographic about the menstrual cycle courtesy of iheartguts.com. After all it is this cycle that controls periods so maybe it can be viewed as me starting this at the source!

Click to view full size

I’ve got my fingers crossed that life will get the hell out of my way and give me some time to blog tomorrow.

If you want to join in on the period discussion I’d love for you to check out and participate in my Red October mini blog carnival where I’ll be giving away lots of cool products and blogging about all things pink & red all month long.

Oct
2

Red October

By Screaming Violet // Features, Red October // 2 Comments

A Month long feature about ‘that’ time of the month.

red october

Welcome to Red October – My month long spotlight on all things menstruation.

As I recently mentioned I’m going to be doing a whole series of posts this month revolving around the topic of menstruation, mainly because I think it’s a topic that should be open for discussion. Periods are such an everyday thing but rarely is the subject discussed with the kind of candour afforded to other everyday subjects. So many subjects that used to be hush hush are now openly discussed in everyday conversation so why is this subject still stuck in the taboo basket? Hopefully by hosing this mini blog carnival I’ll be able to get the conversation started. I think it’s about time, I mean, as women, we’ve only been menstruating for what? A few million years!

But October is also Breast Cancer Awareness Month – a cause that is very, very close to my heart, so much so that I have a pink ribbon permanently tattooed on my arm. It may have made more sense for me to do this whole blog feature in November, I even began to regret choosing October.. until the thought arose to me that if you have Boobies chances are you’ve had a period!!¹ So with that thought and the fact that I’ve organised some great giveaways and product reviews to share with everyone – I’ve decided to go ahead with it and I hope you’ll all still join me to celebrate the un-talked about wonder of the female body alongside all the talk about boobies.

So… I’d like to formally invite you to take part in my month long featire come mini blog carnival.

In your posts you can come at the subject in anyway that you like, it can be a personal story, an informational post, a poem or even a photograph. You can write a review, post an imageor share a you tube video – anything – as long as it adrresses the subject of Menstruatrion in some way or another it’s allowed in. You also don’t have to be a woman to take part, I’d certainly like to hear some thoughts from the guys out there – what’s it like trying to love a woman with insanely crazy PMS? Are you one of those guys too scared to enter that section of the supermarket? or one who gladly buys his lady her period supplies?

Some of the posts I’ve personally got lined up include some really strange facts, a history of menstrual products, reviews of modern day eco options along with a personal story or two and plenty of cool resouirces I’ve found during my research along with an infographic or two. If you want some suggestions on topics to cover just ask – I’ve got plenty!

There are also going to be prizes. I’ve got a number of different products that will be going up for grans during the month and everyone that participates will get extra, super, bonus entries in all of them. I’ve got plenty of period products as well as some great sexy red toys to give away to some of you..

How To Participate in Red October

1. Create a post related to the topic of menstruation and post it to your blog – If you don’t have a blog, don’t want to publish it on your own blog, or you simply wish to stay anonymous just email me as I will gladly host it here for you with credit if you wish or anonymously.

2. Grab a copy of The Red October button below and include it in your post along with the following link back to this page so that others can come and join in or simply read what other participants have submitted.

http://www.screaming-violet.com/2011/10/red-october/

3. Add your post to the linky below so that everyone can find your post. I’ll also be doing a couple of round up post throughout the month to share the link juice love with you all as well as re-tweeting your links.

4. Be sure to follow me on twitter, or subscribe to my feed by RSS or email so that you can hear about all the other great posts people write and find out about the great giveaways as each one is announced.

Red October Sponsors

♥ Luna Pads ♥ Pads4Girls♥ Ruby’s Red Wash ♥ JuJu.com.au ♥ Lunette ♥ Lady Cup ♥

♥ OhMiBod ♥ Eden Fantasys ♥ Flow♥

Once I’ve shaken off my post Grand Final Hangover I’ll be sure to get my first post up!

Violet xx

Red October Participants

For some reason the linky list script ocassionally disappears, if you can’t see it directly above just leave me a copy of your link as a comment and I’ll add it to the list

My Red October Posts