Podcasts: let's talk rules

Do you listen to podcasts ?
If so, know that you are certainly one of the 12.3 million listeners in France who consume this type of audio content at least once a month ( Médiamétrie ).
If not, rejoice: you are about to discover a whole world of media that is most varied and captivating!

A sound program broadcast for free on the Web, the podcast develops a story or explores a theme over several episodes , like your favorite series. Its format offers great freedom of use. It can be “read” on different devices – smartphone, tablet, computer – in streaming or after downloading. Accessible at any time, requiring only your hearing, each episode can be listened to while practicing another activity: cooking, driving, cleaning, sport, etc.
Building on its success, podcasting is constantly diversifying and is interested in a number of subjects , particularly cultural and societal , among the most appreciated by the French ( Médiamétrie ). Promoting an intimate climate and free speech, even the most taboo themes are represented there. Like the rules !

To guide you through this abundant auditory landscape, Perdième presents you with an overview of podcasts that address the theme of menstruation openly, in an instructive way and with humor.

3 French podcasts that talk about periods without taboos

In this year 2021, Perdième recommends 3 currently active shows, which take periods and female intimacy as their main theme. Evocative titles, a bit provocative, which challenge and make you smile!

The Menstrual

Like the periods which she made her central subject, the show La Menstruelle appears once a month. It is broadcast on the day of the full moon, a symbolic reference to femininity and the menstrual cycle .

Each episode considers menstruation from a particular perspective and in a specific framework: first periods, period protection, contraceptive methods, premenstrual syndrome, endometriosis, sports practice, menopause, sexuality, male perception, treatment in art, rules in the Middle Ages, etc.

The different presenters take turns to nourish the discussions between themselves and with their guests, specialists in the issues studied. They also share their numerous and eclectic cultural recommendations – articles, books, films, series, albums, events, etc. They thus make their contribution to what they call “menstrual activism”.

All cisgender – that is to say, in their own words, born with a woman's body and who identify with the feminine gender – they are keen to make their podcast as inclusive as possible since, as they mention from the first episode, “you can be born with a uterus and be a man; you can be born with a penis and be a woman; These are obvious but sometimes we need to remind them.”

To listen to La Menstruelle , it’s here .

In our pants

This cheeky podcast was created by Claire Balerdi, multidisciplinary artist from Toulouse, founder of the Collectif Cocktail and director of the feminist cabaret “Chez Germaine” .

In this show, the numbers are performed by the Germaines, cheeky female characters, who “between tea towels, rags and ironing duties, […] finally take the time to look at what they have between their legs”. The desire to explore the subject of the female sex came to Claire Balerdi after a pregnancy where she felt dispossessed of this intimate part of her anatomy, which had become a “public thing” for members of the medical profession.

In our pants is an extension of the cabaret, a place to continue the exploration of this theme without embarrassment and the deconstruction of the clichés surrounding it. Each episode interweaves interviews with guest experts on the theme covered – sexologist, actress, author, journalist, etc. –, chronicles, readings of texts and sound extracts. We discuss the menstrual cycle, self-knowledge, clitoris, childbirth and even maternity.

Discover In our pants here .

Let's pussy

“Let's pussy” is the fun and enthusiastic invitation from Emma Chevallier, musical artist, producer, activist and creator of the eponymous podcast, to talk about the female sex.

This encouragement to express oneself freely on this intimate theme follows his personal experience. Indeed, for years, Emma has suffered from repeated urinary infections, which appear after sexual intercourse. The young woman seeks solutions from health professionals or on forums, but in vain. Faced with the incompetence of certain doctors, the alarming information available on the internet or the incomprehension of certain relatives, she has the feeling of being alone in this difficult situation. However, when discussing it with friends, she realized that many women experience similar problems.

She launched the Let's chat podcast in May 2019 to highlight these issues. Joined in 2020 by Charlotte Clément, trained in the sociology of gender and sexualities, she reveals the many facets of the female genital system, particularly when it “malfunctions”: vaginismus, dyspareunia, endometriosis, vulvodynia, cystitis, mycosis , etc.

Interspersed with short and simple explanations of each phenomenon, the program gives a voice to the main stakeholders, the women themselves. The only experts on their body and their feelings, they testify on the phone about their experiences and their struggles. In Let's pussy, the female sex is presented in all its dimensions: universal and singular, intimate and medical, joyful and painful.

Listen to Let's Pussy here .

Hours of listening to learn more about the rules

Beyond the 3 references detailed previously, there are a large number of podcasts which discuss or have discussed the subject of periods, recurrently or episodically. Some are no longer active but constitute a mine of information that is still accessible and of high quality. Others are in English, useful for those who master the language of Shakespeare and can thus benefit from another perspective.

• The Sacred Womb : literally “the sacred uterus”, a program led by the Englishwoman Melanie Swan in which she addresses the various aspects of the menstrual cycle from a perspective oriented towards spirituality and therapy.

• The Heavy Flow Podcast : Amanda Laird, holistic nutritionist and author, hosts this “heavy flow podcast” with a mission to “break the curse of menstruation.”

• 2400 : this figure is the average number of days during which a woman has her period in her life and therefore the title chosen by Diahala Doucouré for her “100% menstruation podcast”; We can follow the interviews she did with interlocutors from all backgrounds – geographical, religious, artistic – who testify to their own menstrual experience.

• The Periodical : 17 episodes hosted by American Jessie Braun who shares her stories and those of her guests – mother, friends, professional acquaintances – about first menstruation, sex education, menstrual cups, etc.

• Episode 12 “How and when to talk to your teenager about periods?” » from the Parenting and Adolescence podcast

• “Let’s Talk About Periods Without Holding Our Noses” episode of Slate’s Dirty Kids podcast

• Episode “The Emifion talks about periods with Jack Parker! » from the podcast L'Émifion by madmoiZelle

• Episode 9 “It’s going to bleed” of the podcast What’s Meuf?

After all these recommendations, we can only end up wishing you great discoveries and good listening!

Written by cd