Dafina Malovska’s Story Everyone has a story, and this is mine. My name is Dafina and I’m 39, originally from Macedonia but I have been living & working in London for 15 years. Five years ago, I was living a normal life and doing all the normal things that young people do; working on my Continue Reading
From the time I started having my periods at age 11, I do not remember having a pain free period. I spent my teenage years going from doctor to doctor for relief. Most of them told me that it was my “normal”, gave me pain killers and anti-nausea medication then would send me on my Continue Reading
The Love Your Period Campaign: Behind the Scenes The ‘Love Your Period’ Campaign was set up by 17-year-old Molly Fenton in March 2019 and is run by Molly and her 12-year-old sister Tilly. Hi there! My name is Molly, founder of the LYP campaign. After spending time off school due to illness, I decided to Continue Reading
Elizabeth Schneider, MS If you’re like me and ever curious about your body and its functions, you’ve probably ‘Googled’ your condition, Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS). This search typically yields the same sort of results about PCOS symptoms: ‘irregular menstrual periods, excess body and facial hair, obesity, infertility, etc.’ Having done this a few times, I, Continue Reading
By Sheila Harrington Jane Garvey, one of Women’s Hour’s presenters, recently sent a pre-show tweet saying that she was going to be talking about how women feel about having sex while on their period (period sex). Some of the replies she received were as follows: ‘Crikey’ A range of disgusted GIFs ‘It’s just eeewww to Continue Reading
Written by Sneha Battin The secret to a better you, comes with understanding your own body and working towards achieving it. No, I don’t mean heavy weight loss programs (pfft!) or unimaginable-and might I add painful cosmetic treatments that concentrates on the outer beauty. I am talking about the inner you. You. Your health. About Continue Reading
Male Mental Illness & Fights Against Patriarchies* Shuranjeet Singh *This article acknowledges the breadth of patriarchal formulations but focuses its discussion of patriarchies on cis-het perspectives alongside considerations of ethnicity & class. ** In this article ‘male’ large refers to ‘cis-male’, that is someone who was ascribed ‘male’ at birth and currently also identifies as Continue Reading
In the wake of the #MeToo movement, women and men are more willing to break taboos and talk more openly about their sexual experiences including sexual assault and rape. This is good news. However, it does highlight one important issue – do we understand what consent is in a sexual context? How do we give Continue Reading
Cysters are really lucky to have some amazing youth activists, breaking barriers around reproductive and mental health issues. Our youth board is made up of inspirational individuals who give up their time voluntarily and are committed to the ethos and vision of Cysters. The youth board aims to tackle the taboo and stigma around reproductive Continue Reading
Weight Stigma is defined as bias of discrimination towards individuals who are perceived by others to be overweight or obese. Having Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) I’ve experienced it myself. Here’s one example. A few years ago, I attended a Gynaecologist appointment on the 9th floor of the hospital block. I was feeling very poorly at Continue Reading
