Emily Toth

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I came into it with my own feelings and experiences about menstruation, including the fact that the generation reading this updated version (mine, my sisters) is the first group in history to bleed as often or as not often as possible. No longer are we married off at 13 and giving birth by 14, no, we can decide when pregnancy occurs, how to treat menopause.

The history, as with all things relating to women, is incomplete. There is a disturbing lack of information about women of colour, outside of some very racist (NOT THE AUTHORS FAULT) studies done on African women and Native American women in the 1800s and early 1900s. This racism/lack of intersectionality was discussed, and the racial bias of the studies that says that African women bleed first because they are animals only capable of sexual reproduction, and the delicate western white women do not begin to bleed until their late teens or early 20s.

Over all, a well done look at how the human race has handled the most mysterious and vital of all human functions. I was also pleased to discover that Virginia Woolf was quite 'into' her periods, saying that she finished my favorite novel (Orlando) after her 'flood' broke the 'dam' of her writer's block.

Well written and well researched, and worth a read, especially with the updated additions to each chapter.

Who wants to get together and talk about their menarche?… (meer)