Menstrual fictions: languages of medicine and menstruation, c. 1850–1930

Strange, Julie-Marie

Abstract

Gynaecological narratives of menstruation in the late nineteenth century placed woman firmly within the orbit of domesticity by virtue of her biology. In the rhetoric of medical ‘truths’, menstruation was defined as a ‘ldisability’, a physical ‘illness’ and a threat to emotional stability. Thus, it was argued, women could not hope to achieve equality with men when the dictates of Nature (as opposed to society) stipulated that they remain mothers, carers and homemakers. This article explores the notion that narratives of menstruation were created and articulated through subjective readings of social and cultural truths: menstruation was perceived and defined through the medium of ideas relating to what femininity was and ought to be. An examination of the medical languages of menstruation articulated between 1850 and 1930 reveals that the creation of menstrual knowledge was in perpetual flux. What remained a constant, however, was the appropriation of the female body as a field for the definition of ‘difference’

Citation

Strange, J.-M. (2000). Menstrual fictions: languages of medicine and menstruation, c. 1850–1930. Women's History Review, 9(3), 607-628. https://doi.org/10.1080/09612020000200260

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Online Publication Date: Dec 19, 2006
• Publication Date: Sep 1, 2000
• Deposit Date: Nov 25, 2024
• Journal: Women's History Review
• Print ISSN: 0961-2025
• Electronic ISSN: 1747-583X
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis Group
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 9
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 607-628
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09612020000200260
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/3105227