Menstruation. The Myths, The Madness and The Quest For Dignity


MENSTRUATION. THE MYTHS, THE MADNESS AND THE QUEST FOR DIGNITY

THE WISE WORDS OF PLINY THE ELDER!

Well, if you haven’t heard what Pliny had to say about menstruation, be ready to be astonished at the remarkable insights of this Roman sage (23-79 AD) who confidently declared that:

Contact with [menstrual blood] turns new wine sour, crops touched by it become barren, grafts die, seed in gardens are dried up, the fruit of trees fall off, the edge of steel and the gleam of ivory are dulled, hives of bees die, even bronze and iron are at once seized by rust, and a horrible smell fills the air; to taste it drives dogs mad and infects their bites with incurable poison

So, there we have it. The power of the period. And you won’t be surprised to know that dear old Pliny was only one of many many men who have felt entitled to give their crackpot views about a normal bodily function. Medieval writing shows them to be terrified of menstrual blood, seeing it as a deadly poison, linking it to leprosy, shrivelling of the penis, the destruction of children’s eyes and various other horrors. One particular book, with the creepy title of De Secretis Mulierum (The Secrets of Women), is a seriously misogynistic work by someone falsely claiming to be the monk Albertus Magnus. One of his claims asserts that pubic hair from a menstruating woman can be used to grow a snake.

And these bonkers theories continued through the centuries. Women were widely regarded as being hysterical and over-emotional and bleeding came to be seen as nature’s way of calming them down. The link between periods and ovulation was not made until the 19th Century, but the myths and superstitions still continued to hold sway.

For example, in 1920, after some bizarre experiments with his maid and a bunch of flowers, Bela Schick , a Hungarian paediatrician, concluded that menstruating women exuded a plant killing toxin which he labelled ‘menotoxin’. Scientists nodded sagely, pompous papers were written, and his ideas actually continued to be taken seriously right up to the 1970s.

MISOGYNISTIC TABOOS

Although some cultures have celebrated menstruation as a positive sign of fertility, major religions have often portrayed women as dangerously impure. The Christian Church viewed menstruation as a punishment, linked to the curse on Eve for succumbing to temptation in the Garden of Eden. In the Middle Ages menstruating women were banned by churches from using painkillers. Other religions have prohibited sexual relations or physical contact with holy texts during menstruation.

Unfortunately, women and girls can still be subject to archaic taboos. In a recent horrifying incident, 16-year-old Anita Chand died from a snake bite during isolation outside her home in a Nepalese village. In the practice of chhaupadi menstruating women are treated as unclean and untouchable and are required to spend time alone in a windowless hut. Declared illegal in 2005, thousands of ‘period huts’ were destroyed. But deaths from animal attacks and smoke inhalation from hut fires have continued and amid signs that huts are now being rebuilt.

To counter some of the myths UNICEF has produced a leaflet titled ‘Seven Alarming Myths about Menstruation'. These include beliefs that menstruating girls should not touch certain foods and must refrain from exercise and bathing – behaviours that directly impact on health and safety.

LADIES’ FAULTLESS SERVIETTE SUPPORTERS

Theories about ways in which women have staunched the flow include the uncomfortable idea that Egyptian women fashioned tampons from bits of wood wrapped in papyrus. It’s more likely that women have generally used pieces of cloth – hence the term ‘on the rag’ which appeared in the 19th Century.

It wasn’t until ordering items by mail became popular in the late 19th century that ‘health napkins’ became available, together with devices like ‘The Hoosier’, and the ‘Ladies’ Serviette Supporter’, which supported a pad by means of a rubber belt round the hips.

The use of absorbent cellulose material for wounds in World War 1 led to the development of Kotex disposable pads in the 1920s, and by the 1970s self-adhesive pads had become popular. Tampons were introduced in 1936. In 1975 a brand of super-absorbent tampons called Rely was linked to cases of toxic shock syndrome and was withdrawn in 1980.

DIGNITY

Menstruation is now being discussed more openly, but there is still a long way to go. Women may talk cheerfully about needing to go to the loo but are more circumspect about announcing a need to change a tampon or pad. The words ‘sanitary towel’ and ‘sanitary pad’ are an irritation to many and there are increasing demands for ‘menstrual product’ to be used as a more accurate description.

It is encouraging to see charities and activists fighting hard to normalise periods. Plan International  has produced a ‘Menstrual Manifesto’ aiming to change the conversation about periods in the UK and proclaiming that ‘No girl should feel shame about her period’. And ‘Supporting Everyone’s Period’ is the bold aim of GirlPack a Milton Keynes based charity providing emergency period packs to schools and communities.

The Global South Coalition holds regular conferences and workshops to challenge long held beliefs. In an article on their website, Abigail Lennox says:

‘To address menstrual discrimination effectively we must examine it through the prism of dignity- a state of freedom from prejudice that encompasses stigma, taboos, abuse and violence associated with menstruation.’ 

However, we can see that for all the concerns about ending period poverty, and in spite of the tax changes on products, retailers in the UK have profited hugely by not passing price reductions on to customers. And the much advertised ‘Period Pants’ are still subject to VAT because they are classified as garments. So not much change there.

Still, if you type the word ‘menstruation’ into your phone, you do accessa little emoji in the shape of a tiny drop of blood. This image came second in a vote organised by Plan International and is shared with the NHS blood donation service. The real winner was in fact a pair of period pants with blood on them – but that was rejected in favour of the blood droplet. It’s OK, apparently, to have a pile-of-poo emoji, but bloodstained pants! That’s a step MUCH too far for the king of the emojis to cope with.

But let’s finish with a big splash of celebratory colour. Pantone has produced a lovely bold red colour called simply ‘Period’. You can’t really miss it. Time to paint the town red!



Location: Milton Keynes, UK

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