Did you know there are actual health benefits to period sex? Here’s why you should bang during the Crimson Wave, and how this new “period sex blanket” can help wash away your messy anxieties.
This article was created in partnership with THINX.
There’s nothing sexier than a partner who’s not afraid of your body. But given how much stigma still surrounds period sex, you’d think sex with someone who’s menstruating was the coital equivalent of being tricked into doula-ing for Sigourney Weaver’s Alien baby. (FYI, period sex is not as bloody.) But seriously, it’s about time we all got over ourselves on the topic of period sex. In my experience, the best sexual partners are unfazed by all the various fluids and bodily surprises that come along with a good, energetic fuck. Better yet, they make you feel all the more sexy for it. (Besides, um, blood is nature’s lubricant?)
Firstly: What’s the best way to navigate sex while on our period? And how do we broach the topic with a partner or hookup? Well, perspectives on this differ. Recently, a friend told me that she had sex with two different guys during a week she was bleeding, and she just decided to not tell them. (Yolo?). “It was a light flow,” she shrugged.” Still, the fact that telling them was more trouble than the potential for a bloody surprise speaks to our culture’s lingering sense of taboo on the subject. Generally, in casual hookups, I’ve texted the person casually in advance, to warn them about impending spillage—I felt it was a nice, clear-cut approach. Most people I know with long-term partners insist that period sex, if messy, is a non-issue. And honestly, if the person you’re sleeping with thinks something completely natural and normal is “gross,” then they’re probably not going to be very fun in bed, anyways.
But period sex is not all about what the non-bleeding person thinks is hot or gross. It’s about how you—said bleeder—can feel comfortable and sexy on your period. The truth is, being on your period doesn’t always make you feel like Angelina Jolie on MDMA. Sometimes it makes you feel blobby, crampy, weepy, and able to eat seven times your body weight in a single bound —none of which are key ingredients for sexiness. “I don’t like to fuck on my period,” my friend Claudia told me, “because I feel gross and sluggish. If it’s light then whatever, but if it’s horror movie vibes then I don’t want anyone to touch me.”
A key to period-sex comfort is knowing in the back of your mind that, post-coitus, your bed won’t look like the scene of a stabby murder, and you won’t be left sleeping among the Pollock-esque detritus. Let’s be real: sex isn’t very lol and/or orgasmic when you spend the whole time feeling self-conscious about how much of a mess your body will inadvertently make. Towels have been the favored period-sex-bed-coverup of yore, but if, like me, you don’t have four towels you can spare in colors ranging from ruby to black, you might be in the market for another option. Say, for example, a blanket specially designed for the task…
Thankfully, THINX (ya know, the people who invented those swanky THINX period-proof undies you may have spotted in the many NYC subway ads) have developed a blanket designed to make period sex the Normal But More Naturally Lubricated Sex it was always meant to be. One side features the same super-absorbent 4-layer tech as the underwear; the other side is made of quilted satin, so you don’t even…so you don’t even have to worry about taking it off the bed in your post-fuck zombie state, because it’s super soft angd cozy (and perfect for cuddling, aww). There are lots of fluids flying around during sex, and this blanket is made to absorb and de-odorize them all: periods, jizz, lube, squirt, Sriracha, etc…
Also, did you know there are actual health benefits to sex on your period? A period fuck can help alleviate cramps, headaches, and boost your mood (all thanks to sex-producing hormones)—all of which tend to be at their worst during the Crimson Wave. Period sex is also a pretty good litmus test (or Rorschach test? Sorry…) for gauging a partner’s willingness to communicate, and their openness to everything that comes with getting intimate with another person’s body. Sex on your period should not be a time for self-consciousness, self-scrutiny, or concern for the state of your sheets. It should be a time for practicing better communication and becoming more attuned to your and your partner’s bodies.
Working to undo the stigma surrounding periods and period sex isn’t an overnight job, but creating a space (even if that space is the size of a double bed) where you feel free to get messy and embrace your body in all of its leaky glory is a process that can start with access to things like the THINX sex blanket for people with periods.
Check out the THINX Period Sex Blanket, and use the code SLUTEVER5 for a $5 discount :)