Fiction and Periods. (and not the grammar kind)

Um, Julie...why are we talking about this? Everyone knows there's a writer's code which clearly reads (*clears throat*):

   

All adventurers, whether 5 or 505 - without exception-, have not, are not, and shall not be in need of toilet or toiletries during the length of their adventure. Especially pertaining to the certain (*clears throat again*) needs concerning womenfolk. 

     Well, you know what? Screw it. I think it's actually kind of interesting to look at the history of menstrual cycles in the classic Medieval fantasy (excuse the pun) period.
Okay, so I get it. It's kind of gross and you're not about to describe your protagonist taking a dump, so why start depicting this other call of nature? Well, for one, this was REALLY hard to handle for a woman in history. Like, really frick'n hard. And since it comes literally every month, it was (and is) and pretty important part of a woman's life. This could cause many things in fiction, including plot points.
      But...how? How does a period help a plot along? Well, first let's take a look at the sad history of the woman's cycle.
      Back when they thought the heart was a useless organ and leach/open-bleeding people was literally the hight in the haute physicians practice, they were also completely confused as of why literally every woman got her visit from Aunt Flo.
      Which is kind of stupid because if they paid any attention to God they would have noticed that he explains these things to early people but, MOVING ON. 
      Since people were pretty harsh with their Roman-derived versions of Christianity, they liked to misinterpret the Bible (as per usual) and assumed that when it says the woman is 'unclean' during her cycle, it, therefore, means that a woman is pretty much damned while on her period (I'm actually using that word correctly, don't freak out.).  They also were pretty mean to women in general (a known fact I'll try not to dwell on too much in this post) and thought that women's organs were literally just malformed men's organs. 
      Slow clap. Just....slow clap. I wonder who was given a medal by the King for making that scientific breakthrough.
      As I mentioned before, bleeding people was a very common practice for a very long time. They believed that sick people had 'sick blood', which also came from a slew of beliefs of illness coming from demon-possession and yadda yadda. After they came to the conclusion that women weren't, surprisingly, deformed men, they then decided that a woman's bleeding was her punishment for being a woman, whom they thought were sickly and diseased beings, since women were known to be the 'weaker gender'. Because women were so 'sickly and diseased' a period was thought to be a woman's natural way of bleeding out bad blood. Which is like, an interesting theory, but so, so wrong.

   












       Even later on into the Medieval period, when science and biology were actually being properly ('properly') studied, they came to the conclusion (FINALLY) that a period had something to do with reproduction.
      Unfortunately, that's as close as they got to what the heck is actually going on. They decided that it was the body draining access blood and forming a cavity of air so that if a baby does begin to form, it won't drown. Again, interesting theory. But again. Wrong.
   
      Until much later, that's pretty much the stigma that went around periods. They were this mysterious, curse-like thing that was both revered as a 'blessing' and the 'worst thing that could happen to you'. There are a few early documents that show that people tried to 'cure the blood' by fasting and taking herbs that would stop their periods (AHHHHGHHGH) and a few documents that would warn men to stay away 'lest they caught the disease'. You just gotta laugh at that. Like. Come on.

     Anyways, that's my quick hash up version of the history (if any of these facts are wrong, feel free to call me out...I honestly am not an expert and just did a bit of reading out of curiosity)

      But on to the fun part (or at least what I thought was the 'fun part') How does this change anything in writing? Well, a lot of fantasy books are written in the same sort of age as the Medieval period in Earth's history. Which means they'd have pretty much the same scientific knowledge, and most likely same stigma around periods. Although you might get away with giving the girls some slack if the Church doesn't exist in your books (the Medieval Church is a JERK) there still are a few things that the women in your books would have to struggle with, social or physical.

1. The blood - it's pretty obvious that women, no matter what era, would have to deal with the blood of their periods. This could change the plot simply by the fact that the woman would have to find some sort of sanitary cloth to help her out during this time. There are conflicting thoughts on what cloth they would have used, some saying cotton, and others saying linen due to the price of cotton in certain areas. It would usually be washed rags tied in place (ugh) or cotton used as a tampon (double ugh). They'd have to find a river to wash up in and clean of their rags (hope no one's upstream).
It was also rumoured from some diaries and paintings that women would wear red skirts on their periods in hope to cover up stain marks. Not much has changed...

2. The smell - back before the age of scented pads, body butter, and minding your own business, women had to go through great lengths to hide the smell of, um, blood?! If any male readers are surprised (kudos if you've survived this long. You're a decent dude and dedicated author) just think about it: it's blood. It stinks. Women would carry around fragrant flowers, fennel, thyme, cloves, and other herbs and spices to hide the smell. Some (I'm already shuddering) would put honey and spices onto their homemade tampons and pads. Ew. Ewww. Okay, I'm better. This can change your plot for two reasons: 1. your female adventurer might want to take a trip into town for 'needed' stuff, like honey (EW), and 2. If you are female and you own a dog, you will know that animals know. They smell it from a mile away. Which poses a tricky situation. When you're in bear/wolf country, and you got a half cup of blood coming from you every day (lol, heavy flow, man) that's a threat to safety. Everybody harps on leaving food out...what about fresh blood? 

3. The pain - I will bet right now that 8/10 girls don't really want to have a sword battle whilst on their period (the two out of ten are just being difficult or are lucky butts). It's uncomfortable, draining, and sickening feeling. Not to mention when you don't have proper sanitation, nutrition, or hydration, the cramps. would. be. heckkk.

4. The society - as I mentioned before, the Chuch was a jerk. So if you're planning on placing your fantasy adventure-woman in Medieval Europe, think about that. Women on their periods weren't to be touched, were disgusting in the eyes of many, and were pretty much feared (lol, kind of still are, if we're honest). You wouldn't really get much support from your average Medieval man, and if you did he was very progressive. Not to say there weren't any men like that back then, but when you grow up with that sort of society, I don't expect many men would be jumping up to go help a woman wash her clothes if men still feel awkward today when they hear the word 'uterus'.

5. The malnutrition - YEAH! So you're body's dumping all of its iron stores! Whoopie! This kind of ties into number 3, the pain, just in the way that a woman would be very tired back then, especially since malnutrition was a big problem without adding a period onto that. That often attributed to the early menopause or lack of periods women would endure. A woman's body can barely hold iron as it is, but with a monthly drop of it, it can be pretty horrible to go through. Iron deficiency is super tiring and awful. Thankfully, some healers/herbalists/physicians back then actually knew about these things and would give women tinctures and such to help. If tinctures and the ever-helpful modern capsules aren't present in your world, have no fear! Leafy greens and red meat is to the rescue!

6. The moodswings - so, although nowadays a healthy woman shouldn't actually go through the I'm-going-to-murder-you-while-hugging-you-as-I-cry-and-laugh moods that have been pinned on the Monthly, some still do. It's called hormones. Literally everybody has them. But when your body is dumping blood and such, it also plummets in certain hormones and spikes in others. Your character might be a bit moody during this time. I wouldn't rely too heavily on this, however, cause it's just rude. Many problems brought up and 'overreacted' on during a period are actually kind of important. Pro tip. However, a girl who has just gotten her first period will probably not know which way is up under all the hormones and will be more likely to cry at literally everything.

7. The danger - I think this is maybe one of the most important ones to think about. I've talked about the pain, threat of animals, and grossness (WHY HONEY??) of a Medieval woman's period, but we can't completely dismiss Toxic Shock Syndrome, where your body freaks about because bad things enter it and start to go funky. Bad things...like honey and thyme and cloves. Many women won't touch a pad that's been slightly opened in their own drawers, let alone take old rags and wrap it around their thighs and call it a day. A woman could get really sick to the point of death. Worst part? With their super knowledgeable physicians, they wouldn't know what the crap was wrong with a TSS victim.

      I don't think you need to add a woman's period to a book to make it realistic, faaar from it. Honestly, I don't care that much at all. BUT, it does seem like a big thing to overlook, since it would be such a draining part of a woman's life. And if you're in the mind of a woman in a journey that takes over a month, you might want to think of adding this at least as an afterthought. Plus, what else are they going to use their honey for? (*gag *).

     Again, all these factiods were either found on various blogs, books, Wiki pages, or pamphlets and I can't verify anything as true. Honestly, half the modern stuff came from my own experience. SO, if there are any facts that you can verify as not true, feel free to do so in the comments. This is more just food for thought and not hard facts. Back everything up with actual research before you believe anything. Seriously. Anything.

After this super long and kind of awkward blog post, you probably want to move on with the rest of your life. Perhaps I have bored you into actually getting to that writing you were procrastinating on. So, before I find an excuse to make this post longer, I'm going to stop talking.