Great Moments in Menstrual History
There are many time periods, and many ways of measuring them. The Jurassic. The Victorian. The Dot-Com. But there is one period that goes across all periods, and that is the menstrual period. Menstruation is as old as humankind! And yet, it is so often left out of the history books. This erasure is rooted in a cultural legacy treating bleeding as if it’s something to be ashamed of. Advertising menstrual products on television was banned until 1972, despite more than half the population purchasing and using them around once every 28 days. If that ban hadn’t been lifted, we never would have had Courteney Cox’s glorious 1985 Tampax commercial, above.
It’s time to rewrite history. Welcome to a period-positive space, and a new look at time, through a lens of menstruation. Grab your BFF and peruse this slideshow that’s dripping with information. From the invention of the beltless pad to the free-bleeding run of a marathon, we put together a few moments in menstrual history that will make you proud to be a member of the club.
1831 Menstruation is linked to ovulation for the first time, by a French physician named Charles Négrier. Before this, popular opinion sug...
1831 Menstruation is linked to ovulation for the first time, by a French physician named Charles Négrier. Before this, popular opinion suggested menstruation was a form of detoxification, allowing women to release poisoned blood or cool heightened emotions, which actually sounds not bad.
1870s The first advertisements for menstrual products begin to appear, mostly for reusable menstrual pads that were held in place by suspenders w...
1870s The first advertisements for menstrual products begin to appear, mostly for reusable menstrual pads that were held in place by suspenders worn under the clothes. C'est chic!
1885 An advertisement in Harper’s Bazaar offers menstrual belts that can support a napkin as well as panty hose. Menstrual belts continue to...
1885 An advertisement in Harper’s Bazaar offers menstrual belts that can support a napkin as well as panty hose. Menstrual belts continue to be used to hold sanitary pads for much of the next century. We look forward to seeing these recirculate on the runways next year.
1920s Kotex, the first disposable sanitary pad goes on sale. It was manufactured by paper company Kimberly-Clark and inspired by Red Cross nurses...
1920s Kotex, the first disposable sanitary pad goes on sale. It was manufactured by paper company Kimberly-Clark and inspired by Red Cross nurses during World War I, who realized that the disposable cellulose bandages they used on patients were perfect to use as menstrual pads since they soaked up blood better than cotton, and didn’t need to be washed out and reused. Great for convenience, not so great for the environment.
Photo: The Advertising Archives/Everett Collection
1931 American doctor Earle Haas invents the modern-day tampon, made out of compressed cotton, a string, and a tube-in-tube applicator. Earli...
1931 American doctor Earle Haas invents the modern-day tampon, made out of compressed cotton, a string, and a tube-in-tube applicator. Earlier versions of the tampon trace back to ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome. Pretty sure the cheap kind they leave out in fancy bathrooms is still some version of this.
1933 After failing to find a market for his product, Dr. Haas sells the patent for the tampon to a businesswoman named Gertrude Tendrich for $32,...
1933 After failing to find a market for his product, Dr. Haas sells the patent for the tampon to a businesswoman named Gertrude Tendrich for $32,000. She founds a little company called Tampax. Maybe you've heard of it?
Photo: The Advertising Archives/Everett Collection
1937 The first commercial menstrual cup is invented and patented in the U.S. by Leona W. Chalmers, an actress who apparently had many talents.
1938 Midol, previously marketed as a headache and hiccup reliever is advertised for relief of “periodic pain.” One ad reads, “The Calendar Said —...
1938 Midol, previously marketed as a headache and hiccup reliever is advertised for relief of “periodic pain.” One ad reads, “The Calendar Said — ‘Give In!’ Midol Said — ‘Go On!’” Ugh, if I must.
1946 Kotex-maker Kimberly-Clark commissions the Walt Disney Co. to produce an animated video called The Story of Menstruation, as part of a serie...
1946 Kotex-maker Kimberly-Clark commissions the Walt Disney Co. to produce an animated video called The Story of Menstruation, as part of a series of Disney films produced for American schools. The film, which conveniently does not mention sexuality or reproduction, is viewed by an estimated 105 million American school children.
1969
We may have gone to the moon in 1969, but the year was marked by another possibly more important advancement: the first menstrual pad with...
1969
We may have gone to the moon in 1969, but the year was marked by another possibly more important advancement: the first menstrual pad with adhesive strips. The Stayfree beltless Mini-pad hits the market, spelling the end of the need for garter belts, safety pins, hooks, and clips to keep a pad in place.
1970 Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. by Judy Blume is published, introducing a generation of preteen girls to a frank discussion on puberty...
1970 Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. by Judy Blume is published, introducing a generation of preteen girls to a frank discussion on puberty, letting them know that it’s okay to pray about the hard questions, like: “When will I get my first period?” Be careful what you wish for, Margaret.
1972 The National Association of Broadcasters lifts the ban on advertising for menstrual pads and tampons on the television and radio. Finally, A...
1972 The National Association of Broadcasters lifts the ban on advertising for menstrual pads and tampons on the television and radio. Finally, American women can be equally pandered to by advertisers.
Photo: 13/Steven Errico/Corbis
1973 Our Bodies, Ourselves by the Boston Women’s Health Book Collective is published by Simon & Schuster, the first commercial, expanded edit...
1973 Our Bodies, Ourselves by the Boston Women’s Health Book Collective is published by Simon & Schuster, the first commercial, expanded edition of the book that started out as 193 pages of stapled newsprint. The book becomes a cultural touchstone for the women’s-lib movement, sharing frank health information to and from women about formerly taboo topics like sexuality, abortion, and menstruation.
1976 With the passage of the 1976 Medical Amendments to the Food, Drug, Cosmetic Act the tampon and menstrual pad are officially classified by th...
1976 With the passage of the 1976 Medical Amendments to the Food, Drug, Cosmetic Act the tampon and menstrual pad are officially classified by the FDA as “Medical Devices,” (which ironically means they do not need to disclose all of their ingredients on a label).
Photo: Manny Ceneta/Getty Images
1978 Gloria Steinem publishes an essay in Ms. magazine entitled: “If Men Could Menstruate: A Political Fantasy.” She imagines that if men had the...
1978 Gloria Steinem publishes an essay in Ms. magazine entitled: “If Men Could Menstruate: A Political Fantasy.” She imagines that if men had their periods instead of women, “menstruation would become an enviable, boast-worthy, masculine event.” Oh, and sanitary products would probably be federally funded and free.
1983 As Sally Ride prepares to be the first American woman to go into space, NASA engineers ask her how many tampons they should pack for her wee...
1983 As Sally Ride prepares to be the first American woman to go into space, NASA engineers ask her how many tampons they should pack for her weeklong trip on the Challenger. “Is 100 the right number?” they ask. Boys, please.
Photo: © Corbis. All Rights Reserved.
1985 In a totally '80s Tampax commercial, a pre-Friends Courteney Cox (sporting an excellent aerobics getup) is the first person to use the word ...
1985 In a totally '80s Tampax commercial, a pre-Friends Courteney Cox (sporting an excellent aerobics getup) is the first person to use the word period in a national commercial. Edgy!
1992 During a rowdy set at the Reading Festival, Donita Sparks, of the band L7, removed her tampon and threw it at the crowd, being metal and men...
1992 During a rowdy set at the Reading Festival, Donita Sparks, of the band L7, removed her tampon and threw it at the crowd, being metal and menstrual at the same time. (This was the year of the tampon throw; Bratmobile member Allison Wolfe also tossed one, at a show in D.C. "I envisioned my bloody tampon sailing into the mouth of one of these hypocritical jock fans,” she wrote, “and it made my day.")
Photo: Mick Hutson/Redferns/Getty Images
1997
Representative Carolyn Maloney of New York introduces the Tampon Safety and Research Act to require tampon manufacturers to release inform...
1997
Representative Carolyn Maloney of New York introduces the Tampon Safety and Research Act to require tampon manufacturers to release information about the levels of certain chemicals used in tampons. The Act is not passed. Since then, Representative Maloney has reintroduced different versions of the bill, now named the Robin Danielson Act, in 1999, 2003, 2005, 2008, 2011, 2014, and 2015.
Photo: Ron Galella/Getty Images
1999 Journalist Karen Houppert follows her widely read Village Voice exposé on the tampon industry’s use of a likely carcinogen with a boo...
1999 Journalist Karen Houppert follows her widely read Village Voice exposé on the tampon industry’s use of a likely carcinogen with a book: The Curse: Confronting the Last Unmentionable Taboo: Menstruation.
2005 Nepal’s Supreme Court bans the practice of “chaupadi,” the Hindu tradition which sends menstruating women to isolated huts because of the be...
2005 Nepal’s Supreme Court bans the practice of “chaupadi,” the Hindu tradition which sends menstruating women to isolated huts because of the belief that their touch can contaminate family members, crops, and animals. However, in many rural areas in the country chaupadi is still in practice today.
Photo: NAVESH CHITRAKAR/Reuters/Corbis
2008 Hillary Clinton puts “about 18 million cracks” in “that highest, hardest glass ceiling” in her presidential run, despite regularly facing pu...
2008 Hillary Clinton puts “about 18 million cracks” in “that highest, hardest glass ceiling” in her presidential run, despite regularly facing pundits questioning whether those female “hormones” render a woman unfit for the presidency. On a segment of Fox News’ The O’Reilly Factor discussing the “downside” of having a woman president, pundit Marc Rudov replied: “You mean besides the PMS and the mood swings, right?”
Photo: Stefan Zaklin/Corbis
2011 A Reddit AMA with an anonymous male tampon designer lasts ten hours because he gets so many questions. The public wants to know!
2013 HelloFlo, a company that sends monthly period-care delivery kits breaks from the monotonous, baffling tradition of vague feminine-hygiene-pr...
2013 HelloFlo, a company that sends monthly period-care delivery kits breaks from the monotonous, baffling tradition of vague feminine-hygiene-product commercials by delivering hilarious, viral videos to promote their product: like The Camp Gyno, and First Moon Party.
2014 Dutch journalist Paula Kragten starts Period! magazine, the first magazine devoted entirely to the topic of menstruation. Obviousl,y it come...
2014 Dutch journalist Paula Kragten starts Period! magazine, the first magazine devoted entirely to the topic of menstruation. Obviousl,y it comes out once a month.
March 2015 A woman from Toronto, Rupi Kaur posts a photo on Instagram showing blood on her sweatpants and bed as part of an art project aimed to ...
March 2015 A woman from Toronto, Rupi Kaur posts a photo on Instagram showing blood on her sweatpants and bed as part of an art project aimed to “demystify all the taboos around menstruation.” Instagram initially removes the post twice, saying it does not follow the “Community Guidelines.” After Kaur’s story made global headlines, however, Instagram said the photo was removed accidentally.
April 2015 Kiran Gandhi, the drummer for M.I.A. and a Harvard Business School grad, ran the London Marathon on the first day of her period withou...
April 2015 Kiran Gandhi, the drummer for M.I.A. and a Harvard Business School grad, ran the London Marathon on the first day of her period without a tampon. In interviews later Gandhi said she ran while free-bleeding to challenge the objectification of the female body and raise awareness for the struggles faced by women who still don’t have access to tampons and other menstrual products. She wrote on her website: “I ran to say, it does exist, and we overcome it every day."
Photo: Courtesy of Kiran Gandhi
August 2015 Donald Trump is disinvited from RedState, one of the biggest gatherings of conservative activists in the country, after suggesting Fo...
August 2015 Donald Trump is disinvited from RedState, one of the biggest gatherings of conservative activists in the country, after suggesting Fox News’ Megyn Kelly was aggressively questioning him during the presidential debate because “you could see there was blood coming out of her eyes. Blood coming out of her wherever.” RedState’s organizer, Erick Erickson, called Trump’s comments “a bridge too far.”
Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Sept 2015 The end of menstruation? Women using long-acting reversible contraceptives including the IUD or implant may have lighter periods or ski...
Sept 2015 The end of menstruation? Women using long-acting reversible contraceptives including the IUD or implant may have lighter periods or skip them altogether. In 2006 the FDA approved Seasonique, a pill that reduces periods to four times a year. Some women specifically seek out these methods in order to experience fewer or no periods; others just skip the placebo week of their regular pill. Ob-gyns have confirmed that there is no harm in not having periods — removing the device or stopping the Pill means the cycle returns. You can never break the chain.
Photo: B. BOISSONNET / BSIP/Corbis
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