What do Beyonce and Billie Eilish have to do with the follicular and luteal phases of Susannah Hainley’s menstrual cycle? Let’s find out with today’s comic on CYCLE TRACKING!
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↓ Comic Transcript
Cycle Tracking by Susannah Hainley, published December 22, 2025 on ohjoysextoy.com
Susannah Hainley draws in a gentle cartoony style with a soft pastel color palette of yellows, pinks, purples, and browns.
Page 1
Narration: A few years ago, my wife began using a menstrual tracing app to help make sense of her irregular cycles an undiagnosed pain.
Two women with soft peach-colored skin sit side by side in bed. The wife has wavy brown hair past her shoulders and looks intently at her phone. Susannah has shoulder-length blonde hair and looks up from her book to regard her wife.
"Should I do that, too?" Susannah wonders to herself. "There's nothing 'wrong' thought- and I'm not trying to get pregnant..."
Narration: Up until that point, I understood my cycle as two major events:
Title: Ovulation
A white circle with a silly little smiling face bursts into the center of a yellow panel with stars and sparkles around it.
Narration: Invisible! You'd never know about it unless you had a basal body thermometer!
Title: Menstruation
In a pink panel, a white pair of panties has a sad little frown-y face as the crotch area drips with blood.
Narration: VERY visible! Bloating, bleeding, bad mood, etc.
Narration: Around the time my wife started tracking, I had a surgical consult about removing my fallopian tubes for cancer prevention purposes.
From her laptop screen, the doctor asks, "Do you have any questions?"
Susannah thinks to herself, "So I'll still have my cycle, but without the fallopian tubes, do the ovaries just FLOAT around?"
An anthropomorphic ovary floats by saying "weeeeeee"
Susannah's thoughts continue, "And when an egg is released... where does it GO?"
A very distressed egg screams into the void, "I AM CURSED TO WANDER FOREVER!"
Page 2
Popping back to reality, Susannah blushes with a little embarrassment as she responds to the doctor on her screen, "Um, nope! That all makes sense."
Narration: Shamefully, I had to admit to myself that I knew less about the inner workings of my body than I thought.
Susannah holds her phone in her hands, the screen full of the download page for an application called FLOW.
"I'm just going to TRY cycle tracking- it would be nice to have more information.*" She says.
Narration: *IMPORTANT NOTE! These apps store sensitive data about reproductive health. This information has potential to be shared with a third party of even used for legal proceedings in areas with abortion restrictions. To protect yourself, read app privacy policies or consider paper tracking.
Narration: As I tracked and read more, I started to realize that there was a complex symphony of hormones happening throughout my menstrual cycle.
Susannah reads from a book titled, "Period Power". She looks amazed at the pages as swirls and dotted lines fly around her head.
Narration: And that there are two distinct phases.
A phone announces, "You've just entered Follicular Phase."
Title: Follicular
Narration: Estrogen rises- the ovarian follicle matures and prepares an egg for fertilization.
Title: Luteal
Narration: Estrogen declines and progesterone rises while the uterus is prepared for potential pregnancy.
Page 3
Narration: The main hormones that dictate the cycle have VERY different effects.
Title: Estrogen
A glamorous brown-skinned woman who resembles Beyonce confidently sings, "Feelin' myself, I'm feelin' myself, I'm feelin' my, feelin' myself." She wears big gold earrings in the shape of diamonds, a red swimsuit, and a big fluffy pink fur coat. She wears gold stiletto boots.
Title: Progesterone
A morose pale-skinned woman with brown hair past her shoulders who resembles Billie Eilish croons, "I used to float, now I just faaaall down, I used to knoooow but I'm not sure nowwww". She wears a white blouse with a big collar with a thin pink bow nestled between the two sides. A large, fluffy purple fur coat engulfs her. She wears plain, simple shows that buckle with a thin strap.
Estrogen-Beyonce announces proudly into a microphone, "Okay listen up y'all! It is my time to SHINE! Brain- turn up that serotonin! Cervix, let's lube things up real nice! Let's make social plans and let's get LAID!"
Meanwhile, Progesterone-Billie Eilish stands awkwardly, engulfed in her oversize fuzzy jacket as she mumbles with downcast eyes, "Yeah... we might be pregnant now, so let's take it down a notch. Cool it on the feel-good chemicals. Same with the lube. Text your friend to cancel our plans, we're staying in to watch the 2005 version of Pride and Prejudice again."
Page 4
Narration: Of course, all bodies are different, and not everyone is sensitive to these flucations of estrogen and progesterone in the same way.
A spectrum line shows "Less Sensitive" at the left end and "More Sensitive" at the right. The face of Susannah's wife sits left of center, looking content. A cluster of ailing Susannah faces sits to the center right, closer to the "More Sensitive" side.
Narration: After reading Emily Nagoski's book "Come As You Are," I also realized that not everyone experiences desire in the same way, either.
Another spectrum line shows "Spontaneous Desire" at the left end and "Responsive Desire" on the right. Off center towards the left, an enflamed matchstick version of Susannah's wife smiles as she reaches out a fiery hand, offering a small flame to Susannah. Susannah herself is a shy flower who sits to the right of center, towards the "Responsive Desire" end. She looks tentatively at the offered flame, both wanting it but also held back by her own internal struggles.
Narration: As I tracked, I began to realize that the phases of my cycle (for me personally) seemed closely tied to my experience of desire.
Title: Follicular
A glamorous portrait of Susannah shows her surrounded by sparkling little stars and confidently greeting someone off the page. Captions around her narrate, "Feeling desirable and horny", "Easier, more powerful orgasms", and "Lubricated & easily aroused"
Title: Luteal
Now Susannah is enveloped in a big blanket while she nurses a hot mug of tea in her hands. She looks content but tired as she watches the movie Pride and Prejudice. The captions around her narrate, "Feeling moody and not very sexy*", "Takes longer to climax", and "Not as physically affectionate".
Narration: *Except for a horny blip 3 days before my period!
Page 5
Narration: As a queer woman, I think I'd overlooked ovulation (the peak of horny follicular phase) as a primarily heterosexual, biological function.
A woman with pink-ish skin leaps into the arms of a man with brown skin, exclaiming, "I'm ovulation, honey! Let's make a baby!"
Narration: Rather than it being a landmark for my own desire.
Surrounded by little floating hearts, Susannah flirts at her wife, declaring, "Hey love! Guess what phase I'm in..."
Narration: As a woman, I know I've also been socialized into a reductive idea of how hormones influence my brain/body.
A man with pinkish skin announces to laughter, "Must be THAT time of the month!"
Narration: Gaining knowledge about the actual complexity and nuance of my cycle was empowering.
A hand holds up a book titled, "Susannah's Body Manual - New Edition!"
Narration: Like I had found a new way to navigate myself...
Narration: ... and my relationship.
Susannah and her wife make out in the background as Beyonce sings in the foreground to the reader, "Your love's got me looking so crazy right now, your touch got me looking so crazy right nowwww"
Transcribed by Erika Moen on December 21, 2025 for ohjoysextoy.com
Susannah Hainley draws in a gentle cartoony style with a soft pastel color palette of yellows, pinks, purples, and browns.
Page 1
Narration: A few years ago, my wife began using a menstrual tracing app to help make sense of her irregular cycles an undiagnosed pain.
Two women with soft peach-colored skin sit side by side in bed. The wife has wavy brown hair past her shoulders and looks intently at her phone. Susannah has shoulder-length blonde hair and looks up from her book to regard her wife.
"Should I do that, too?" Susannah wonders to herself. "There's nothing 'wrong' thought- and I'm not trying to get pregnant..."
Narration: Up until that point, I understood my cycle as two major events:
Title: Ovulation
A white circle with a silly little smiling face bursts into the center of a yellow panel with stars and sparkles around it.
Narration: Invisible! You'd never know about it unless you had a basal body thermometer!
Title: Menstruation
In a pink panel, a white pair of panties has a sad little frown-y face as the crotch area drips with blood.
Narration: VERY visible! Bloating, bleeding, bad mood, etc.
Narration: Around the time my wife started tracking, I had a surgical consult about removing my fallopian tubes for cancer prevention purposes.
From her laptop screen, the doctor asks, "Do you have any questions?"
Susannah thinks to herself, "So I'll still have my cycle, but without the fallopian tubes, do the ovaries just FLOAT around?"
An anthropomorphic ovary floats by saying "weeeeeee"
Susannah's thoughts continue, "And when an egg is released... where does it GO?"
A very distressed egg screams into the void, "I AM CURSED TO WANDER FOREVER!"
Page 2
Popping back to reality, Susannah blushes with a little embarrassment as she responds to the doctor on her screen, "Um, nope! That all makes sense."
Narration: Shamefully, I had to admit to myself that I knew less about the inner workings of my body than I thought.
Susannah holds her phone in her hands, the screen full of the download page for an application called FLOW.
"I'm just going to TRY cycle tracking- it would be nice to have more information.*" She says.
Narration: *IMPORTANT NOTE! These apps store sensitive data about reproductive health. This information has potential to be shared with a third party of even used for legal proceedings in areas with abortion restrictions. To protect yourself, read app privacy policies or consider paper tracking.
Narration: As I tracked and read more, I started to realize that there was a complex symphony of hormones happening throughout my menstrual cycle.
Susannah reads from a book titled, "Period Power". She looks amazed at the pages as swirls and dotted lines fly around her head.
Narration: And that there are two distinct phases.
A phone announces, "You've just entered Follicular Phase."
Title: Follicular
Narration: Estrogen rises- the ovarian follicle matures and prepares an egg for fertilization.
Title: Luteal
Narration: Estrogen declines and progesterone rises while the uterus is prepared for potential pregnancy.
Page 3
Narration: The main hormones that dictate the cycle have VERY different effects.
Title: Estrogen
A glamorous brown-skinned woman who resembles Beyonce confidently sings, "Feelin' myself, I'm feelin' myself, I'm feelin' my, feelin' myself." She wears big gold earrings in the shape of diamonds, a red swimsuit, and a big fluffy pink fur coat. She wears gold stiletto boots.
Title: Progesterone
A morose pale-skinned woman with brown hair past her shoulders who resembles Billie Eilish croons, "I used to float, now I just faaaall down, I used to knoooow but I'm not sure nowwww". She wears a white blouse with a big collar with a thin pink bow nestled between the two sides. A large, fluffy purple fur coat engulfs her. She wears plain, simple shows that buckle with a thin strap.
Estrogen-Beyonce announces proudly into a microphone, "Okay listen up y'all! It is my time to SHINE! Brain- turn up that serotonin! Cervix, let's lube things up real nice! Let's make social plans and let's get LAID!"
Meanwhile, Progesterone-Billie Eilish stands awkwardly, engulfed in her oversize fuzzy jacket as she mumbles with downcast eyes, "Yeah... we might be pregnant now, so let's take it down a notch. Cool it on the feel-good chemicals. Same with the lube. Text your friend to cancel our plans, we're staying in to watch the 2005 version of Pride and Prejudice again."
Page 4
Narration: Of course, all bodies are different, and not everyone is sensitive to these flucations of estrogen and progesterone in the same way.
A spectrum line shows "Less Sensitive" at the left end and "More Sensitive" at the right. The face of Susannah's wife sits left of center, looking content. A cluster of ailing Susannah faces sits to the center right, closer to the "More Sensitive" side.
Narration: After reading Emily Nagoski's book "Come As You Are," I also realized that not everyone experiences desire in the same way, either.
Another spectrum line shows "Spontaneous Desire" at the left end and "Responsive Desire" on the right. Off center towards the left, an enflamed matchstick version of Susannah's wife smiles as she reaches out a fiery hand, offering a small flame to Susannah. Susannah herself is a shy flower who sits to the right of center, towards the "Responsive Desire" end. She looks tentatively at the offered flame, both wanting it but also held back by her own internal struggles.
Narration: As I tracked, I began to realize that the phases of my cycle (for me personally) seemed closely tied to my experience of desire.
Title: Follicular
A glamorous portrait of Susannah shows her surrounded by sparkling little stars and confidently greeting someone off the page. Captions around her narrate, "Feeling desirable and horny", "Easier, more powerful orgasms", and "Lubricated & easily aroused"
Title: Luteal
Now Susannah is enveloped in a big blanket while she nurses a hot mug of tea in her hands. She looks content but tired as she watches the movie Pride and Prejudice. The captions around her narrate, "Feeling moody and not very sexy*", "Takes longer to climax", and "Not as physically affectionate".
Narration: *Except for a horny blip 3 days before my period!
Page 5
Narration: As a queer woman, I think I'd overlooked ovulation (the peak of horny follicular phase) as a primarily heterosexual, biological function.
A woman with pink-ish skin leaps into the arms of a man with brown skin, exclaiming, "I'm ovulation, honey! Let's make a baby!"
Narration: Rather than it being a landmark for my own desire.
Surrounded by little floating hearts, Susannah flirts at her wife, declaring, "Hey love! Guess what phase I'm in..."
Narration: As a woman, I know I've also been socialized into a reductive idea of how hormones influence my brain/body.
A man with pinkish skin announces to laughter, "Must be THAT time of the month!"
Narration: Gaining knowledge about the actual complexity and nuance of my cycle was empowering.
A hand holds up a book titled, "Susannah's Body Manual - New Edition!"
Narration: Like I had found a new way to navigate myself...
Narration: ... and my relationship.
Susannah and her wife make out in the background as Beyonce sings in the foreground to the reader, "Your love's got me looking so crazy right now, your touch got me looking so crazy right nowwww"
Transcribed by Erika Moen on December 21, 2025 for ohjoysextoy.com