Full Answer
How did women deal with their periods throughout the ages?
Here’s a brief rundown of how women throughout the ages dealt with their periods. Even Cleopatra had to deal with her mood swings and bloating once a month. During the ancient times when tampons and pads didn’t exist, women got creative in dealing with their periods.
Did Women in the 19th century pamper themselves during their periods?
Most women, though, did not have the luxury to lay around for a couple of days just because they were menstruating. Nineteenth-century diaries give little indication of women pampering themselves during their periods.
Did Women in the 1800s bleed on their period?
Women held their pads up with suspenders in the American West in the 1870s. In the 1800s, it was normal for German women to free-bleed onto their pouffy Victorian dresses. A century earlier in France, the scent of a woman on her period was considered a turn-on, since it demonstrated her fertility.
How did people in different cultures deal with periods?
Here are some of the most fascinating facts the show teaches us about periods in different cultures: In Ancient Rome, people believed menstruating women could ward off natural disasters and farm pests. Women held their pads up with suspenders in the American West in the 1870s.
Why did people believe menstruation was important?
Why is the scent of a woman on her period considered a turn on?
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What did women in the 1800's call their menstrual periods? - Answers
Did women have jobs in the 1800s? Some women had jobs or worked for themselves in the 1800s. Most middle class and upper class women were what we now call home makers or house wives.
Why did people believe menstruation was important?
In Ancient Rome, people believed menstruating women could ward off natural disasters and farm pests.
Why is the scent of a woman on her period considered a turn on?
A century earlier in France, the scent of a woman on her period was considered a turn-on, since it demonstrated her fertility.
When were menstrual rags used?
Such “menstruous rags”, as they are called in the Bible (in 1600s England they were called “clouts”) continued in use for millennia, despite the fact that most Western women wandered about knickerless between the medieval era and the early 1800s, with the only exceptions having been the fashionable ladies of 16 th century Italy.
What did ancient scholars believe about menstrual blood?
Vesuvius’ famous eruption of 79AD, warned that contact with menstrual blood: “turns new wine sour, crops touched by it become barren, grafts die, seed in gardens dry up, the fruit falls off tress, steel edges blunt and the gleam of ivory is dulled, bees die in their hives, even bronze and iron are at once seized by rust, and a horrible smell fills the air; to taste it drives dogs mad and infects their bites with an incurable poison.” Such superstitious attitudes clung on through the ages, and reinforced the medieval Church’s suspicion towards women.
What to do if your vagina doesn't work?
If that didn’t work, gentler remedies included potions of herbs and wine, or vaginal pessaries made up of mashed fruits and vegetables. The barber’s knife was wisely the last resort.
How often did Queen Lizzie take a bath?
Queen Lizzie also famously took a bath once a month “ whether she needed it or not ”, and this was likely at the end of her flow. Such intimate hygiene may now strike us as purely practical, but there was an ancient spiritual significance to such things. In Judaism’s Halakha laws, as soon as a woman begins bleeding she enters into the profane state of Niddah and is not allowed to touch her husband until she has slept on white sheets for a week, to prove the bloodshed is over. Only when the fibres are verifiably unstained can she then wash herself in the sacred Mikvah bath and return to the marital bed. Similarly, Islamic tradition also dictates that a woman must have conducted her post-menstrual ritual ablutions before she can make love to her husband. What’s more, during her period a Muslim woman is not allowed inside a Mosque, and cannot pray or fast during Ramadan.
What were the problems women faced in the pre-antibiotic age?
In the pre-Antibiotic Age, when nourishing food could be scarce and workplace Health & Safety didn’t exist, many women were likely to suffer from vitamin deficiency, disease, or bodily exhaustion. As is still the case, such stressors could interrupt the body’s hormonal balance and delay or accelerate the arrival of menses.
Who made the tampons?
It was clearly a good idea but, after struggling to market them himself, in 1933 Haas sold the patent to an industrious German immigrant called Gertrude Tendrich who started making the tampons by hand with little more than a sewing machine and an air compressor.
Did medieval women have supernatural powers?
Given Pliny’s dire warnings of bloody peril, coupled with the Church’s institutional misogyny, it’s unsurprising that medieval European women were therefore believed to temporarily possess supernatural powers of evil during their monthly visits from Mother Nature. These outlandish scare-stories could be truly bizarre.
Why were women not allowed to work during their periods?
(We’ve all bled through our pants. It’s not fun.) In France, some girls weren’t allowed to work while they were on their periods, especially in food factories because their employers thought they would spoil the products.
What did Cleopatra do to help her period?
Using what they had, they crafted tampons out of soft papyrus around wood or made pads out of wool, paper, moss, animal skins or grass. Generally that time of the month was considered a “cleansing time” for women, and some believed that menstrual blood had healing powers.
What was the trendiest fashion statement of all time?
Eventually, pads became more popular and girls stopped worrying about ruining their clothes. The only catch? The pads were attached to suspenders, aka the trendiest fashion statement of all time. As time went on, the suspenders were replaced by menstrual belts, which were as pleasant as they sound.
What culture was considered impure?
However, not all ancient cultures were as accepting as the ancient Greeks, Egyptians and Romans. In the Jewish culture, women were considered “impure” while they were on their periods. They were even physically separated from men and their husbands! During that time, if you were on your period and you touched something, that object was also considered impure and a rabbi had to bless it before anyone else could use it. Talk about harsh.
What were tampons made of?
Using what they had, they crafted tampons out of soft papyrus around wood or made pads out of wool, paper, moss, animal skins or grass.
What did medical writers say about women during their period?
Nineteenth century medical writers certainly seemed convinced that women were complete wrecks when they had their periods. In 1869, Dr. James MacGrigor Allan told the Anthropological Society of London that during menstruation, women were invalids, “unfit for any great mental or physical labour.” [2] In his 1891 Ladies’ Guide to Health and Disease, health reformer John Harvey Kellogg opined that it was important for girls’ development to rest completely during menstruation. A teenage girl “should be relieved of taxing duties of every description, and should be allowed to yield herself to the feeling of malaise, which usually comes over her at this period, lounging on the sofa or using her time as she pleases.” [3]
What were the four humors of the Victorian period?
They believed that the four humors—blood, yellow bile, black bile, and phlegm —needed to be properly balanced and circulating in the body to maintain health. Menstrual periods were thought to rid women’s bodies of superfluous blood. If the blood did not flow and instead stagnated in the body, it could cause all kinds of illness. Menstrual suppression that we now understand to be a symptom of systemic illnesses such as tuberculosis and cancer was, instead, assumed to cause those deadly diseases. Therefore, while women continued most of their daily work, they avoided activities they believed could halt the flow. The most salient precaution was avoiding getting chilled, whether by bathing, doing the wash in cold water, or working outside in cold, damp weather.
Why did they use cloth pads?
They used cloth pads tied or buttoned to belts to soak up the menstrual blood. As Mary Hanson,* who got her first period before the introduction of Kotex in 1921, explained to me, “We had diapers… they weren’t very comfortable… you’d have to shape it, fold it over, just as you put on a baby.”.
Did women lay around for a couple of days?
Most women, though, did not have the luxury to lay around for a couple of days just because they were menstruating. Nineteenth-century diaries give little indication of women pampering themselves during their periods. They appear to have continued their usual household and family duties, Allan’s disparagement and Kellogg’s recommendation notwithstanding.
Is menstrual suppression a symptom of cancer?
Menstrual suppression that we now understand to be a symptom of system ic illnesses such as tuberculosis and cancer was, instead, assumed to cause those deadly diseases. Therefore, while women continued most of their daily work, they avoided activities they believed could halt the flow.
Why did people believe menstruation was important?
In Ancient Rome, people believed menstruating women could ward off natural disasters and farm pests.
Why is the scent of a woman on her period considered a turn on?
A century earlier in France, the scent of a woman on her period was considered a turn-on, since it demonstrated her fertility.
Ancient Greeks, Egyptians and Romans
- Even Cleopatra had to deal with her mood swings and bloating once a month. During the ancient times when tampons and pads didn’t exist, women got creative in dealing with their periods. Using what they had, they crafted tampons out of soft papyrus around wood or made pads out of wool, paper, moss, animal skins or grass. Generally that time of the m...
Biblical Times
- However, not all ancient cultures were as accepting as the ancient Greeks, Egyptians and Romans. In the Jewish culture, women were considered “impure” while they were on their periods. They were even physically separated from men and their husbands! During that time, if you were on your period and you touched something, that object was also considered impure and a rabbi …
The 1800s
- That time of the month wasn’t much easier for women in 19thcentury Europe. While some women were lucky enough to wear pads, most could not afford them and just bled into their clothing. (We’ve all bled through our pants. It’s not fun.) In France, some girls weren’t allowed to work while they were on their periods, especially in food factories because their employers thought they wo…
1870s
- Eventually, pads became more popular and girls stopped worrying about ruining their clothes. The only catch? The pads were attached to suspenders, aka the trendiest fashion statement of all time. As time went on, the suspenders were replaced by menstrual belts, which were as pleasant as they sound.
Post WWI
- During World War I, French nurses found that cellulose bandages absorbed blood well when treating soldiers’ wounds. So they ditched the cotton makeshift pads they had been wearing and used the bandages instead! Around the same time, Kotex launched its first products, saving women with disposable pads.
1930s-1980s
- Tampax was created during the 1930s giving women another option besides pads with belts. The first tampons were sewn and compressed in-house; however, they didn’t gain much popularity until the 1940s. In the 1970s, the modern pad was born with the adhesive strip, which finally replaced the menstrual belts. Companies continued to improve their feminine products through…
Today
- Today when we have to deal with our periods, we have a variety of products that come in different sizes, colors and scents to choose from! While most guys still don’t want to hear about our PMS, at least we’re not being exiled or shunned during our times of the month. Sure we might feel a little gross for a couple days, but we just deal with it and move on. Oh the joys of being a girl! From cr…