From REPORT ON 2003 WORKSHOP ON GENDER ISSUES IN THE SCIENCES held June 11-13, 2003, at Colby College, Waterville, Maine.<\/p>\n
“Successful Strategies for Advancement” by Dr. Emily Toth, Robert Penn Warren Professor of English, Louisiana State University.<\/p>\n
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\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t 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, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153the friendly monthly nuisance.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Among other chapters, we had a chapter on the menstrual products industry, which we called \u00e2\u20ac\u0153From Rags to Riches.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d And we had one on menstruation jokes – \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Red Humor\u00e2\u20ac\u009d – and
\nwe had one on famous menstruators in history, which we called \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Menstrual Hall of Fame.”<\/p>\nNow, I wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t 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\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s 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, \u00e2\u20ac\u009dI have fleas,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d which is an expression meaning, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I have my period.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d 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.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Well cut off my legs and call me shorty. File this one in the dirty diaper pail.<\/p>\n