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

Dude Periods?

Women suffer, we all know this, women have suffered from a multitude of things over time and there is one thing that continues to plague every single woman every single month. Menstruation. Not only do we have the blissful gift of birthing children but the ability to give birth to those children comes from a painful sometimes week long ordeal starting around our teenage years until we hit menopause (another gift from God to women). Thankfully the women of today have many options for dealing with our monthly gift, unlike the women from the medieval period. Medieval women had the awesome choice between a cotton scrap of fabric somehow attached to their lady bits to absorb the blood or they could “also wind cotton fabric around a twig and use it as a proto-tampon” (Source One). So while medieval women were walking around with cramps and twig tampons inside of them the medieval men composed stories and myths about the effects of menstrual blood. It was believed that it was poisonous, dirty, and acid-like, it could defy nature and create trenches, etc. All around menstruation was a pretty negative thing to have and talk about in the medieval era, yet it was not reserved solely for women but it also was believed that Jewish men menstruated as well. What’s worse than a menstruating woman? A menstruating Jewish man. 

People believed that Jewish men bled from their bottoms just like women because their bodies were not fully formed like Christian male bodies (same was believed about female bodies), their body temperature did not reach that of Christian males therefore they bled just like women. This butt bleeding was apparently believed to be karmic retribution for crucifying Jesus, which makes you wonder what exactly did women do to deserve periods (according to medieval men)? There even was circumcision ceremonies held for boys to replicate the coming of age period ceremonies for young girls so that it seemed that men too could possibly have children. It’s comical nowadays to look back on the crazy medieval people who thought that menstrual blood was like acid or that Jewish men bled from their bottoms but have we really come that far ourselves? Periods today are still an almost taboo thing to talk about, at least around men and kids. The commercials use blue liquid to “test” the absorption of pads and for some reason they always show women doing things like tennis in all white clothing, which is not something I think any woman wants to do while on her period. One of the articles I read mentioned that the brand Kotex is “running a campaign to explain that no, you won't get eaten by sharks if you wear a tampon in the sea during that time of the month” (Source Two).

Over the course of a woman’s lifetime she might spend around $18, 171 on things she needs for her period (pads, tampons, pain relievers, etc.) (Source 3). So yeah maybe society as whole does not believe that women’s periods can cause leprosy anymore and that Jewish men aren’t defying biology by also having butt periods but we’re still at a point where it’s shameful to see period blood and where women are spending almost twenty grand on something they can’t control. 

Source One:  http://onthetudortrail.com/Blog/2015/02/10/the-lady-in-red-medieval-menstruation/

Source Two: http://www.bustle.com/articles/80289-7-crazy-period-myths-from-history-because-people-once-thought-menstrual-blood-could-kill-crops

Source Three: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/18/period-cost-lifetime_n_7258780.html

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!