What My Mother Never Taught Me About Birth Control

Camrese birth control

 Photo taken by T.C.

It must have been around the age of 10 when I overheard a telephone conversation my Jamaican mother was having with a relative: "All I know is when Tamika get her period, mi a go put a coil up her ass!"

Terrified is an understatement of how I felt when I heard her say this. I thought I was going to get a beating for getting my menstrual cycle. "What kind of punishment is a coil?" I thought to myself. It took my mother almost a year and half before she found out that I started my period. My first cycle came around the age of 13.

What My Mother Never Taught Me About Relationships

I’ve been having a difficult time figuring out what is expected of a man and a woman who are in a committed relationship?

It would have been nice if my mother gave me the answers to the following:

• Are men supposed to shower women with gifts in the beginning and then slowly taper off after a couple of years
• Are women not supposed to ask for what they want or should they just wait?
• At what point do you give up a little bit of your independence? Is that even an option?
• How to explain exactly what you want in a relationship?
• What’s the true meaning of 50/50? There must be more than just splitting living expenses...right?
• When do you start building a life together? And what does “building a life together” even mean?

Do you have the answers to any of these questions?

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