Reversing the curse

It’s time to reverse the curse. No, Midol commercials, I don’t mean ending my period. I mean reversing the curse you have conjured up against periods. \nProducts marketed for women have long cashed in by exploiting women’s fears and insecurities about their bodies. Exaggerating the inconvenience of menstruation is yet another ploy churned out by the pantheon of myth-making advertising bull to scare up some dollars. But in the meantime it damages the ultimate goal of achieving equality between men and women.\nNotable proponents of the period myth are YAZ, a brand of birth control, and of course Midol, an ibuprofen marketed towards women. Advertising for both products portrays periods as loathsome and even debilitating to women’s abilities to function like normal people. Yaz and Midol are selling an idea about periods first (period, bad), and a product second (liberation from period, good). \nFeminist language of liberation and independence underscores attempts to transform periods from a mundane part of life to a woman’s burden, a relic from her pre-liberated past. We’ve got people to see and stuff to do, YAZ tells me, and my period seriously interferes with my on-the-go lifestyle!\nThis implies that women must compensate for the monthly handicap by getting rid of it, that modern women’s lives must be period-free (like men’s) in order for them to be free and successful. \nFor those of you who don’t have periods, don’t let anyone tell you differently: they’re not that bad. Really. Are there exceptional cases? Certainly. But women with health problems seek legitimate medical help, not advice from commercials. Aside from actual medical conditions, periods are mild inconveniences that most of us don’t even notice anymore. \nNow I know I’m in the minority here. I know a lot of ladies who like to get together and commiserate about periods, but seriously, they’ve just been watching too many Midol commercials. Everyone likes to complain and be a victim; this amazing capacity for self-pity is the fuel for the Midol fire. People are more willing to believe a myth if it tells them they’ve got it hard and someone understands their pain. \nBut demonizing periods seriously undermines feminist goals; it does not further them. Midol calls periods “a curse” their product will “reverse.” Calling menstruation ‘a curse’ is hilariously un-feminist, as it brings to mind a whole slew of anti-woman craze buried in our cultural heritage, from Deuteronomistic rules about women’s ‘uncleanliness’ to medieval anti-witch (anti-curse) hysteria.\nThen there is the anti-anti-curse view, a new-age philosophy in which periods are celebrated because they are a ‘natural’ part of ‘womanhood.’ I do not endorse that view, either. \nI’m not suggesting we pretend periods are no problem for the sake of equality. I am suggesting they’re not a big deal: they are neither an awesome part of womanhood nor a ‘curse.’ It’s time to stop buying into the myth and start being practical. \nMy advice is, if you’ve got cramps, don’t pop a pill and lay in bed. Take a walk. It’ll fit right into your on-the-go lifestyle!