Feminist Pub XVIII, in which the Bluestocking greets the first signs of spring with a glass of something soothing

Good morning.

Nothing to report (well, if I did post I might out myself) but thread in danger of falling off my horizon.

I've not read Phillipa Gregory...

To be fair to Baldrick I did find it very confusing when I first found out I was pregnant and the magic stick thing said 1-2 weeks and the NHS calculator thing said 4 weeks. So I was pregnant for two weeks when I wasn't pregnant??

I haven't read any of those books. However, I do quite like historical fiction these days. Although I always end up reading around the general period to separate the fact from the fiction (academic tendencies never quite leave you).

Noooooooooooo!

Talking about the war of the roses, has anyone read the Phillipa Gregory books? Some truly amazing women that I had only sort of vaguely heard of before now.

They do vary it from country to country, though, don't they? I think France has 41 weeks as norm.

But still

It also assumes that the pregnancy was full term, rather than a week or two early or late (am assuming that earlier births than that in mediaeval times wouldn't have had much chance of survival.)

Mind you, I've just remembered: my GP got my due date wrong as she worked out 40 weeks from conception (which I knew to the hour, due to fertility treatment) rather than 38, and I had to explain to her her how it worked, then get my records changed, as there is a BIG difference between a scan at 5 weeks or 7 weeks.

OMG - just watched a Time Team thingy about War of the Roses, and Baldrick has just done a big thing about where the Duchess of York was while her husband was fighting wars, and then attempted to decide if Edward IV was legitimate or not. They did this by dating the conception of Edward 40 weeks before his birth.

If the entire historical community, the BBC and Baldrick himself can't understand that pregnancy lasts 38, but is dated by 40 weeks from the previous period as the most reliable date, then what hope do we have for women's bodies EVER to be understood?

I'm sure that they know really, but shifting the date to the correct one makes Edward's legitimacy far more likely, and pretty much wipes out the rest of the program, so hey, ho. Let's ignore facts and spread complete piffle about pregnancy just for the sake of a bit of TV!

I lasered my bikini line off. Well, enough of it to be swimsuit ready but no more than that. Still, I don't recommend it. Oh the pain!

I'm just thankful my Celtic roots mean my body hair is mostly invisible, allowing me to accrue feminist points without really putting myself in the firing line for social thingy. What's the word? I want to say opprobrium but suddenly realise I have no idea what that word actually means. And now I feel too stooopid for this thread. Anyway. I'll never be in a position to choose whether to stick two fingers up at the patriarchy by growing a splendid moustache.

I have nothing to add to the discussion about women shaving body parts as it's none of my business.

I wax my top lip & chin about every 3 weeks or so - doesn't hurt at all.

Never wax if you have a bug of any sort - always leads to a nasty red rash.

I like the way you think Chopper

Sera, there's tons of IT in Reading, which is why I feel it won't out me too much by saying I work in IT in Reading. Not the same company, though.

I quite enjoy waxing in a mildly masochistic way - it's more a moment of discomfort than pain - don't do it when you're cold, though. It's easier if the pores are warm and open.

Suggest he changes his title to Mrs if he likes it so much?

I epilate when legs, armpits and bikini line will be on show in public. I fully accept this is my socialisation.

Morning all. Is it too early for vodka?

I only ever shave my legs and pits when they will be on show. I do trim my facial hair though otherwise PCOS would leave me looking a bit beardy.

I wiĺl be getting married in 2017 and will be changing my surname ( because I dislike my own) but using Ms rather than Mrs. Apparently DP is disappointed. Which surprised me a bit

I only have experience with epilating rather than waxing. It hurts like an absolute buggery the first time you do it, but after that it's just a slight prickles.

Ebearhug - DH does indeed work in IT but surely there's lots of it in Reading? He's a database developer for a well-known used car sales website. But I don't think you can work there too or you'd have been grumbling about being made to relocate or be made redundant.

Waxing gets less painful the more you do it. I don't feel it when I do my underarms any more (have been waxing them for about 10 years) or my ankles (which I wax due to wearing trousers with heels at work, too lazy to do whole leg!) but the rest of my legs - ow.

Yup. But the pain fades fast,

I've never waxed anything. Sounds painful. Is it?

I'm quite shortsighted and somehow have got into the mindset that if everyone looks blurry to me at the swimming pool then I must look blurry to them too.

DHs inability to grow facial hair (its patchy and short at best) is actually quite well matched to my (patchy and short) attempts at body hair.

So he's left feeling like a crap man while i feel like a crap feminist!
(Only joking btw, neither of us care that much)

I don't think anyone I know is on MN (apart from the lovely people I know from MN ). Some of them find it too sweary.