timeimmortal

To be fair, I understand that for almost all women, menstruation is not a pleasant experience. That’s no surprise: cramps and bleeding are, pretty much by definition, unpleasant things to have to endure, especially for extended lengths of time (such things are bad enough if they last but five minutes).

I get that. Being male, I don’t experience it myself, so I probably don’t have an accurate sense of scope about the issue, but I get that it’s uncomfortable, painful, annoying, and all the rest.

Equally, I understand that it is part of the physiological reality of being female; it’s a part of how women’s bodies are designed to work. One would think, then, that in our enlightened Western culture that ostensibly values (and regards as equal to men) women, that things like menstruation would be…well, not promoted, but understood in a proper context. One would think that little girls fearful of getting their first period would be consoled and taught that it’s part of growing up, that it means their body is healthy and that while it is uncomfortable, it doesn’t make them any less a person. One would hope that girls would be told that, in essence, being a girl is a good thing.

One would further hope that any little girls who were so fearful of getting their period that they demand to undergo a sex-change operation would get a bit more counseling, rather than a cheque from the government to cover the expense of the operation.

Have we come to the point where certain aspects of the normative function of the female body are regarded as so repugnant that we regard it as permissible — and perhaps even acceptable — for women to take even extreme measures to avoid them? This is especially true in regard to menstruation, one observes — birth control methods like the pill are often marketed on their ability to reduce the yearly number or severity of menstrual periods. Apparently there is even research being done on birth control supplements that reduce the yearly number of periods to one, perhaps even to zero.

In short, the view that is coming to prominence seems to be that women are biologically flawed somehow, that it is better to circumvent, diminish, and/or attempt to avoid certain natural realities of the female body.

How utterly hateful.