Periods Suck, but They Give You Powers

         The articles we browsed in class, particularly "The Seeds of Rotting Fruit," spent a large deal of time focusing on the utter disgust of womanly fluids. Medieval menstruation was categorized under an overwhelming labeling of pollution and disgust. The mere association of the divine Jesus Christ with a human woman's womb was a concept of revulsion, for women's bodies and fluids were tantamount with excrement. Yet, in modern Western culture, the topic of menstruation is broached as a positive, if not merely necessary, attribute of entrance into womanhood. Though menstruation is an uncomfortable topic of discussion for most young preteens/early teenagers, I have never heard an adult openly criticize or degrade menstruation (unless they were bitching about their own period problems). I was therefore interested in seeing if there were any other positive views on menstruation in other cultures.

         The website http://www.maximhy.com/blog/2012/05/30/perspectives-on-menstruation-from-different-cultures/ relates that some cultures and healers actually believed that their were health benefits to periods and placenta, though a lot of the information seemed to confirm the ancient deleterious views on womanly fluids that we discussed in class. A patriarchal tribe in Papua New Guinea, dubbed the Sambia, paralleled Aristotle's thoughts (from "Woman Defamed and Woman Defended") on body fluids. Like Aristotle, they believed that semen was a source of masculine power—but they even went so far as engaging in "ritualized homosexuality," "semen ingestion practices," and blaming women for trying to steal their semen (and therefore power) throughout intercourse. We discussed in class how others throughout history, like the Jews, isolated menstruating women—with Hasidic Jews still engaging in this practice today—and the site states that traditional Muslims and Hindus also classified menstruating women as impure, thusly banning them from holy places.

         But finally, someone actually has something different to say about periods! The Cherokee cited menstrual blood as a source of "feminine strength" according to the website, and the Cherokee actually believed that menstrual blood contained the power to destroy enemies. (So basically if you were on your period, grab a weapon, and get to the front line.) Additionally, Pliny the Elder of Ancient Roman times wrote that when a menstruating woman uncovered her body, she had the ability to stave off lighting, whirlwinds, and hailstorms, and rid the crops of irritating pests. So though there are certainly more negative cultural conceptualizations of periods than positive ones, at least some cultures were able to counter the popular ideology of the time by citing examples of female—rather than masculine—strength in relation to the production of body fluids.

         Therefore though I have managed to find some traditionally positive views on female body fluids, the customary rhetoric on female body fluids is still overwhelmingly negative. This really causes me to reflect for a moment on how far society—at least Western society—has come since these Medieval times. [Urban Dictionary “red badge of courage” if you don’t believe me... men are surprisingly down for this, more than woman even, at least based on my humble experience J]. We still have a lot of strides to make in terms of gender equality, but I think it’s pretty remarkable that in Medieval times the fact the Jesus was birthed from a human woman’s womb was a source of much woe and anguish, yet in 2016, celebrities—such as Gwyneth Paltrow—openly champion the concept of ingesting their infant’s placenta in the name of health and science. What a time to be alive!

Who runs the world?; Female Empowerment

Gaining power as a woman in the medieval, and neo-medieval, times was difficult and often required being married to the right person. Unlike today where feminism is circulating through society and a woman being in charge is not so far-out, in the past women struggled to gain power. 

However, they did not fail to gain power. Through stealth and strategic political manipulation females were able to reach points of power. In the case of Emma in the tale of Encomium Emmae Regina she was able to briefly gain power through marriage and being the mother of the king. In Game of Thrones Daenerys is able to gain power through a strategic arranged marriage. 

Though the arranged marriage was made by her brother and with the intention to bring him power, it ultimately empowered Dany. It made her the queen of a powerful group of people and it also empowered her to stand up against the abuses of her brother. This empowerment happened when she was allowed to feel like she had self-worth. When she was just with her brother, she was abused and not respected or given any sort of power over decisions regarding her future. Once she was allowed to be placed in a position of authority, Dany was empowered. In the third chapter focusing on Dany, this empowerment starts to show through her resistance of her brother’s abuse and her increased comfort with giving orders, her title, and her husband. 

In Encomium Emmae Regina, Emma was able to find empowerment by being the mother of the king. This was possibly one of the most powerful positions in the kingdom, even above being Queen, which was a position that she also held. The most influential kind of power that she could have obtained was indirect power. This indirect power would have been exercised by influencing her son and exerting her power over him as her mother to have him influence the kingdom in the way that she wanted. It is because of this power that leads Emma to back up one of her sons to be king over the rest. While she has been criticized for this, her motives for empowerment and influence justified her selective support. 

Now, do not read this and assume that the females in these stories did not have this inside of them before they gained power. This empowerment was merely suppressed for survival reasons. If Dany were to have defied her brother before she had become a queen, she would have been severely beaten for it. Their empowerment was waiting to come out at a time when it was safe for them to exercise their power. 

Sibling Rivalry: Power Play in "A Game of Thrones"

In George R.R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones, the progression of the relationship between Daenerys Targaryen and her brother Viserys shows Darnerys development as a woman of power. In the beginning, Daenerys is subjected to Viserys power over her, as she has no choice but to endure his cruelties in fear of “waking the dragon” (29). He thinks of her as his property that he can sell to Khal Drogo for his own personal gain in getting his crown back. When she marries Khal Drogo, she is no longer, in this sense, her brother’s property. While she clearly does not have freedom in the way she belongs to Khal Drogo, she becomes more in control. This agency begins when she takes away her bother’s horse so he has to walk back to the khalasar, which “among the Dothraki” is “the lowest of the low” a man can be to have his horse taken away (231). Viserys threatened her for giving him a simple command but he cannot fathom the idea of her being more powerful than him. This is seen before at Daenerys and Khal Drogo’s wedding when Viserys is made to sit in a place below the Khaleesi causing “his mood” to grow “blacker by the hour at each insult to his person” (101). In her marriage and new position though, Daenerys has the power to not submit to her brother’s will. She, backed by the Dothraki, has the ability to control her brother. Ironically, it was Viserys’s own actions that caused him to loose his power over his sister. He used his sister as a means to get back power without taking into account her wishes and in doing so he lost his control over his sister and is still no closer to his crown, giving him even less power than he had before. While she does not have power over her husband, she is no longer under the power of her brother. The Dothraki people honor her and in this way she holds Viserys fate in her hands.

Viserys and Daenerys Targaryen

Daenerys new sense of self-empowerment is seen, after she stands up to her brother, in her sexual affairs with Khal Drogo. She leads him outside and does not pay attention to the rest of the Dothraki watching them, as “it was nothing to her” being justified in her position: “was she not the khaleesi?” (236). Her sex life was still not under her control but she was starting to use her situation to her advantage.

Khal Drogo and Daenerys

The moment that Daenerys stands up to her brother is a turning point in her evolution of becoming more in control of her own actions and decisions.