I remember sitting in sex ed class in 1990 as my 7th grade teacher (of course, a guy) played a film strip about menstruation. It was way outdated—from the early ’70s at best— and it showed us girls in the class how to hook a pad into the metal belt you supposedly had to wear during your period. Only, those metal belts had gone the way of the dinosaur at least 15 years before. I knew this because I’d already started my period and had never once seen one of these terrifying belts. It was embarrassing, but I raised my hand and decided to tell the class how pads really worked—that you simply stick them into your underwear. I remember thinking if 20 years before my time women had to wear a metal belt to greet Aunt Flow, what was it like having your period, say, 100 years ago?
Authors Elissa Stein and Susan Kim must have wondered this too, because they’ve written a whole book—in bookstores today—on the subject. It’s called FLOW: The Cultural Story Of Menstruation and it details all the ludicrous beliefs about women’s periods from ancient times through the present. I asked Elissa and Susan to tell us the ten strangest facts they learned researching this book. Did you know that Lysol was originally a douche? Or that in Biblical times, women had to do an animal sacrifice after their period? Read on for more fascinating period beliefs. Keep reading »
