"Menstruation is one of women's unique abilities, and medical doctrines of menstruation have been an important expression of medical ideology, reflecting social ideology about women in general. For example, when women are acting in a threatening way, using menstrual cyclicity as a vehicle for keeping women in their place. The Nineteenth -century women's movement was met with the doctrine of the supremacy of the uterus, and the twentieth century women's movement with the concept of premenstrual syndrome. One of the big problems with this ideology of that women remain chained to an inexorable cyclicity that disables them from full participation in the outside world.
Menstruation, then becomes simultaneously a biological event and a cultural event, acted upon by medicine as a cultural institution reflecting, and reinforcing mainstream cultural values."
two things i want to do about this:
1. highlight how medicine has created a medical ideology that has used menstruation to keep 'women in their place'
2. secondly, find a way to educate women about these misconceptions through a woman knows best frame-work - which many feminist groups use to empower and strengthen women/trans people when they have been abused, traumatized or raped. - although it would seem menstruation is a separate issue, it can be quite similar when we contextualize our collective need to find answers within and for ourselves.
to be clear some common medical ideologies about menstruation include:
1. women being defined precisely by her anatomical lack
2. A woman's uterus is just an inverted penis ( this came prior to the above belief )
3. Painful menstruation as a neurosis ( thank you Freud )
4. what women can and cannot do during their period was enforced and still adhered to by Doctors and in some cases ourselves ( when we skip gym class, or call in sick for work.) - and in no way do i mean this statement to undermine those individuals who go through extreme and intense periods, i Bring it up to highlight how menstruation as a disability is an ideology that began as far back as 1881, and is still working through our cultural ideologies. )
in the coming days I will try to expand on this HIStory. I feel its incredibly important for all of us to understand the stories of our bodies and why we believe ideologies that in many ways can be so damaging.
source
Red Flag
