PMS Defense

From REPORT ON 2003 WORKSHOP ON GENDER ISSUES IN THE SCIENCES held June 11-13, 2003, at Colby College, Waterville, Maine.

“Successful Strategies for Advancement” by Dr. Emily Toth, Robert Penn Warren Professor of English, Louisiana State University.

I am not a scientist by background, though I have lived with a chemist for most of my adult life. But my first book, published in 1976, was one of the few at that time on the subject of menstruation. My first department head couldn’t mention it without blushing. My two co-authors were also literature scholars, and our book is called, The Curse: A Cultural History About Menstruation. It is not about medical, but cultural aspects, of what we call, “the friendly monthly nuisance.” Among other chapters, we had a chapter on the menstrual products industry, which we called “From Rags to Riches.” And we had one on menstruation jokes – “Red Humor” – and
we had one on famous menstruators in history, which we called “The Menstrual Hall of Fame.”

Now, I wouldn’t call these famous menstruators the role models that women need, because one of them was Lizzie Borden, who was probably the most famous New England menstruator of the 19th century. She killed her parents during PMS. She was our first known menstrual murderess. Lizzie Borden was, however, useful in other ways. We were looking for examples of the power of women, and the ability of women to make choices and be resourceful. In that case, Lizzie Borden was a role model. When Lizzie Borden went on trial in the 1890’s in Fall River Massachusetts, everyone in town knew she had killed her parents. The jury was all male, and the judges and lawyers were all men, so when they asked Lizzie Borden why there was blood on her skirt, she said, ”I have fleas,” which is an expression meaning, “I have my period.” The men were so embarrassed that they acquitted her. She spent the rest of her life living in Fall River, Massachusetts, trying to give candy to little kids who ran away screaming in horror.

Well cut off my legs and call me shorty. File this one in the dirty diaper pail.

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