Creator and Writer: Lucy Peach
Folk singer, performer, public speaker, sexual health educator and lapsed human biology teacher, Lucy Peach is on a one-woman mission to educate women about their periods. And by that, she doesn’t mean period ‘management’ or how to survive the bleeding cycles, long labelled as disruptive, inconvenient, and messy. A warm, and spirited Ozzie in her 40s, she has flown all the way from West Australia to speak to an audience at Hackney’s Vagina Museum about her audiobook, Period Queen, (now in its third imprint) before heading to Edinburgh for her one-woman, The Greatest Period of my Life.
Combining human biology with chemistry and ancient wisdom, this period preacher in a golden turban with a guitar by her side, communicates her beliefs with friendly, encouraging zeal. With a Bachelor of Science in human biology and biomedicine with honours in medicine, she is au fait about the science while embracing the mysteries of the universe and the miracle of female bodies.
An ambassador for period power, she believes if young girls and women understood their bodies chemically, hormonally, psychologically, and spiritually this knowledge could support creativity, well-being, and balance. “Go with the flow” is her mantra and her insightful audiobook, “a womanifesto…a menstruation manual” reveals how to “life hack your cycle and own your power all month long.”
Most women have around 500 menstrual cycles throughout their lives, and many put their lives on hold or retire to sofas for several days until they feel “normal” again. Peach offers a philosophy that reframes the entire physiological experience. Part of a growing movement of period awareness that aims to remove the shame, ignorance and stigma that has plagued women for millennia, she believes it’s all “about how much we’re allowed to be in our own bodies.” Understanding the menstrual cycle as a portal to one’s life –not simply as a biological means by which to perpetuate the species – is key. The Optimised Woman (2008) by Miranda Gray is cited as a key influence and she believes all four phases of a woman’s cycle offer their own gifts for optimal living.
In her audiobook, she reflects on her own experience of sex education where boys got to explore wet dreams and erections while girls were taught the rudimentaries of “period management”. But things are changing, “You now see 12-year-olds choosing to free bleed in a swimming pool” rather than not swimming because it’s their time of the month. Retrospective menarche ceremonies and organisations like The Red School and Red Tent constitute a growing movement that celebrates the life-giving properties of female periods.
Peach quotes artist, Maia Schwartz who wrote, “Menstruation is the only blood not born from violence, yet it’s the one that disgusts you the most.” In a linear, patriarchal world designed by men, women’s development and energy exist in opposition because it moves in cycles. The world that demands instant, constant, 24-hour participation was one invented by men. This is just one of her “elephants in the womb”.
Each chapter in her audiobook finishes with a folk song celebrating female experiences of menstruation. She has a resonant, sincere voice and the songs are catchy, meaningful, and memorable. Alongside the science, anatomy, and female history, Peach, funny, poetic, and profound, shares her own experiences.
You can imagine a young woman at the start of her periods finding great solace in Period Queen which sounds something like an audio hug when she might need it the most. The cyclical nature of female energy is not a curse, but a resource and every month represents a new start – the potential for a new beginning. “We’ve channelled solar power and wind power. Now, it’s time to channel menstrual power.” Go Girls!
Period Queen is available to download on many sites including Spotify.
Lucy Peach’s My Greatest Period Ever runs at the Assembly Roxy at Edinburgh Fringe until 24 August 2024
The Reviews Hub Theatre
iIluminating menstruation manual
