Why is Menstruation Considered “Taboo”?
Understanding why female menstruation is considered a “taboo” topic in our society may contribute to why menstrual products aren’t widely available.
The earliest negative record of periods can be found in the first Latin encyclopedia from AD 73, stating 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 an incurable poison.”
While an obvious overexaggeration, and undoubtedly history written by a man. This begs the question, when did male-centered societies become so abundant in human history?
Paralleling the animal kingdom, humans are a part of the very few non-matrilineal species on Earth. It seems how our modern, human-centered society views gender roles is the root of the issue.
Sophomore Visual Arts major Mariah Nitch says, “Misogyny and sexism is just so normalized and natural, and people just don’t want to bring [menstruation] up.”
Patriarchy, meaning “rule of the father,” pictures men as the head of the households and lineages, therefore, how can they hold space for menstrual cycles if no one who “holds power” experiences them?
It has been studied that in human matriarchal societies, power is more divided between the sexes and usually makes no difference to how the men and women live.
Sophomore Visual Arts major Daniel Correll says, “For some people, due to the way that they grew up with and their lifestyle, it can be a more private thing.”
Because of these ways of women being seen as lesser and blood is seen as unclean, menstruation became an uncomfortable subject that people, especially men, do not like to discuss. This discomfort has stuck around until recently when people started to highlight the issue.
Anthropologists theorize that the source of patriarchy is rooted in society becoming more advanced, and population and agriculture needed to grow to sustain that.
As plants and animals became heavily domesticated, the image of the woman doing the brunt of agricultural and “domestic” work began to be engraved in society.
Understandably, as these ancient cities grew, the population required expansion to fill them. Men turned to women to take on the responsibility of growing their families, while men focused on maintaining strong colonies through wars. Everyone played their part, as necessary.
But when did it stop becoming necessary?
Bleeding in a Capitalistic World
Let’s look at the perspective on “why things cost money.” Considering economy over human necessity, giving goods away for free without limitation is even less efficient than the goods not existing at all.
One question women may ask is, “Why aren’t female hygiene products in all public restrooms?” Freshman Guitar major Lydia Cannon put it simply, “Probably money.” Unfortunately, female hygiene products are seen as a way to make money more than anything. Then owners of businesses want to put in the money to supply it to public restrooms.
Female needs in the eyes of the producer are just as cold and lacking as they are in the eyes of patriarchy. As we touched on earlier, how can they hold space for menstrual cycles if they don’t experience them?
Just because it is considered “right” in a capitalist society, doesn’t mean its right from a humanitarian point of view.
Since this is an large issue, people have looked into finding solutions.
Junior Vocal major Nyomi Perry suggests, “Make it cheaper, because almost $10 for a box of pads is kind of ridiculous.”
Due to the high prices of quality period products, it’s hard for many women to gain access to them. By making the producer realize that period products aren’t a privilege but a need that many women can’t afford, can encourage that change.
Similarly, Correl suggests, “We should stop putting such expensive things in them,” he says. “Female hygiene products that are scented, they have a lot of chemicals in them. They can cause infections, but also are more expensive because of those chemicals.
Producers putting things into pads that can be harmful and expensive are a part of the problem. Anything someone can make money off of is taken advantage of, even in healthcare. But of course, why would they care if someone couldn’t afford important hygiene products, if most of these industry tycoons don’t bleed themselves?
Nitch says, “If people understood human rights… it’s a right to live comfortably.” They continue, “[We] shouldn’t have to earn this right, it should be a right that we already have.”
Maybe society should shift its views, because something as uncontrollable and natural as periods should be understood rather than played for profit. If menstruation was known as just something that happens, which it very much is, maybe we’d have a chance to turn the tides.
Normalize bleeding because it definitely won’t make your crops die, we promise.
