Personhood and the Mechanics of Masculine Menstruation

    In its application as a symbol, blood is one of the most varied of all icons. Some associate the flow of blood with death, others with signs of life while even others associate blood with resurrection implications or healing properties. In some readings, it's seen as pure, while in others blood is a putrefying substance. Blood is completely universal in its appearance in both literature and mythic traditions, but its meaning is interpreted on a spectrum which touches all ranges of societal implications from class, gender, race, religiosity, and humanity. With all of this taken into consideration, it is fascinating to note that societal implications as to how one bleeds factors with equal importance to the nature of the blood itself. In fact, assertions have been made throughout history concerning the nature of bleeding, both conscious and otherwise, especially in distinguishing a kind of otherness in a group of people. For example, numerous early to late Medieval tracts declare that Jews possess an otherness of blood, going so far as to say that Jews require blood for ritualistic practices and that Jewish men have a similar flow of blood to that of women, hexed eternally with "cursu menstruo sanguinis" (Katz 441). However, in total there were numerous instances of overlapping bodily mechanics which blurred the lines between the masculine and feminine body and the demonstrable traits they possessed.

     The understanding of what menstruation was helped shape the conceptions of male menstruation in medieval literature. The thought behind menstruation in the first place according to Galen was that women used their monthly cycle as a kind of run off for excess blood building up in the body and thereby disrupting the humors (Kats 442). Pubescent boys were also noted to have a similar release valve reminiscent of their female counterparts, noted by Seperto. He is quoted as stating that the seemingly notable increase in nosebleeds in pubescent boys was a mechanical synonym for girls of the same age who first achieved menses (Katz 446). In all of these respects, however, the feminizing of monthly bleeding still dominates ideas surrounding the mechanics, and in this Jewish men found themselves as targets for effeminate as well as unclean suppositions. There are other recorded instances of masculine lactation, or stand-ins for menstruation present in males such as hemorrhoids or bloodletting through various orifices. 

     All told, medieval medicine tried in many ways to note the corresponding aspects of both the feminine and masculine bodies and demonstrate similarities between gendered bodily mechanics. This overlap continues to demonstrate the medieval ideas of gender and defining characteristics by means of the observable. As medical understanding grew, the corresponding attributes waned, but the assertions and assumptions surrounding these mechanics stayed present in both culture and literature.


Works Cited:

Katz, David S.. “Shylock's Gender: Jewish Male Menstruation in Early Modern England”. The Review of English Studies 50.200 (1999): 440–462. JSTOR