Ione F. Zabaleta (1991, Irun) and Enara I. Dominguez (1984, Irun) is in the process of creating the Ara!Gorputza association, with the objective of developing activities centered on bodies and peripheral identities, among them those of women.

They found themselves about two years ago in the learning community around the month that Erika Irusta runs, not knowing they were still neighbors. Since then, Domínguez has developed on his own the project Living in cyclical and, in addition to continuing to participate in different formations, EagleAhizpak along with other colleagues have created a group to put the body in the center and talk about gynecology.

They say that the path that is opening is a path of few studies and references, among which are GynePunk of Catalunya and Vulva Sapiens of Mexico. However, as curiosity is becoming knowledge, we have been told “to live cyclically” and “to live”.

Linear violence

Among the bodies and peripheral identities are the corpses, and stress that menstruation is not only a physiological process, but also a cultural construction.

These peripheral bodies are not incorporated into the system based on linearity. In addition, in the opinion of both, since the feminist revolution of the 1970s, there has been a desire to assert equality and to demonstrate that women were as strong as men. For Zabaleta and Domínguez, there is no doubt about force, but the cyclical perspective, vulnerability and fragile bodies have no place in that idea.

This fragility has also been medicalized and silenced, experienced individually and in isolation. The health system and society have normalized pain. Therefore, they intend to satisfy the "cruel" capitalist system from the bodies and build a "more tender" reality, since their proposal is not compatible with the current system.

Cycle phases

They distinguish four main phases. The first would be the "menstruation phase", in which the body makes a great effort, as you have remembered. However, in the so-called “Precursor” phase, energy increases with the rise of oestrogen. In his opinion, this is the phase that can best be adapted within the system, as it is the closest moment to the normative bodies. The third phase would be “ovulation”, in which the progesterone hormone rises and the centralization of care becomes commonplace, so it is also the favorite moment of the system. The fourth phase is the one that is most neglected, which is called “before menstruation”, and at this stage in principle progesterone continues to rise.

Zabaleta and Domínguez have agreed that this is the phase in which more attention needs to be focused in order to avoid suffering. In fact, this stage also has an invented “syndrome”, with about 200 symptoms. The diagnosis of this syndrome coincides with the tendency to place the problem in our bodies and does not focus on the living conditions that cause it. They feel inward and fragile and the expression of fragility is for them a revolution, necessary to increase the gap of the productive system.

They are firmly convinced that it is not necessary for the dying to suffer pain and anguish: “It’s the system that hurts.” Hyper-accelerated societies and endocrine contaminants in food, for example, can contribute to the development of hyperestrogenism. The hormone progesterone has a sedative effect, relaxes us and if progesterone does not occur in the anterior phase of ovulation and menstruation, the estrogen level remains very high, which can cause suffering.

According to Domínguez and Zabaleta, the health system is equipped with harmful contraceptive pills, without providing general information about them, not to mention the possible negative consequences they may have, as a machine for reproduction. They often have subsequent ovulation problems and recommend starting medication processes. Instead of just talking about menstruation, they claim that it also applies to the ovulatory cycle. In fact, according to his words, “we only look at ovulation when we talk about motherhood, that is, when we want to become pregnant.”

Observing the body itself

They consider it essential to observe the cycle itself. The path is to give menstruation another meaning: “It’s a treasure to know your body and menstruation gives us resources for it.”

They claim writing as an instrument, as Erika Irusta says, because the body is so quiet that it is completely opaque. In order not to fall into the traps of the head, it is necessary to give a margin to the body and say that writing helps in it.

However, the path to knowledge can be done in several ways. One option is to use free or more orderly writing according to predefined criteria, but it may also be appropriate to work with other expressions.

Sometimes, observation is only anatomical, to measure ovulation, to identify some imbalance, for example, in the cervical mucosa. Self-knowledge can help in some decisions, such as food selection in phases.

For Zabaleta and Domínguez it is a discipline that serves for self-care, but also for the game. They take humor as their axis and have named egos alters with characters of various phases. In this way, codes are created that understand each other and that knowledge of the phase in which the closest ones are located facilitates collective surveillance.

It is also a path for the development of creativity and artistic activism. For example, drawing with menstruation can be a way to stop linking menstruation to dirt. Touch, smell… and it becomes useful. Among the options that attendees face are the collection and return of blood to nature, the production of face masks and many more. In plastic compresses they have underlined the symbolic and practical importance of not flushing the trash or toilet. Basically, it goes from dirty to valuable.

It may also be useful to organize daytime activities based on the cycle. For example, you can stop eating heavy foods during the menstrual period, you can take some intervals to “do nothing” or in the “anti-obu” phase, as the energy is usually high to move the body and do sports. Members of the association Ara!Gorputza have pointed out that in the ovulation phase they do not assume excessive care responsibilities, the importance of self-care and the “antechamber of menstruation” women approach with more affection and take reflection intervals.

Towards collective knowledge

There is a great lack of knowledge of Allah and in the imaginary of the society Zabaleta says that it is something that can become fearsome, both for the thumbs and for others.

This imaginary limits a lot what we know about grain. In general, we do not know what the bulvae are and the standard model that has been shown to us many times is contrary to reality. External lips, for example, are called big lips in Spanish, although in many cases they are not.

The medical-gynecological system is criticizable in many ways. Since its inception, vulgar slaves were used in the United States to carry out experiments. Since then, little research has been done and there has not yet been a break with this enlightenment paradigm. Women's bodies continue to be experimented with, treatments that are proven to be harmful are recommended, and information about risks is hidden. Both interlocutors claim that we carry the colonization in our bodies and bulbs, “our genitals have the surnames of many male ‘discoverers’ and we consider it absolutely normal.”

According to Zabaleta and Domínguez, to be empowered by this knowledge and observation of each one is necessary. It is essential to become aware of the dance of hormones, as each body has a recorded history. On the other hand, it is necessary to create a new culture of bodies through the collectivity of knowledge and experiences.

Through the self-management line that is being developed within the bodies, they want to continue working on the path of breaking what they call the slave paradigm. To do so, they intend to generate collective wisdom and beyond the areas valued (hegemonic medicine, academia…), and the goal is to build a more tender reality. They dream of creating small self-managed gynecological groups and weaving the net in Euskal Herria.