Monthly: what is the criticality?

Their arrival disrupts the usual routine. Their delay is worrying. And it is not customary to talk about their very fact: historical, poetic, or metaphors taken from children’s language have practically excluded the word “menstruation” from use. It was only thirty years ago that a scandal erupted in Spain when the word regla was first used openly in an advertising campaign, and even today sanitary pads in television commercials absorb only a pale blue liquid.

Pure and impure

Menstruation is taboo, because it is associated with blood, and therefore with a wound, suffering. For a long time, various religions declared this liquid unclean and required women to perform special cleansing rituals. In ancient times, doctors considered menstrual blood to be poisonous. Until the middle of the XNUMXth century, bloodletting was prescribed for pregnant women: it was believed that since “harmful” blood no longer flows out, it means that it can poison the unborn child.

The myth about the impurity of a woman is reflected by superstitions: during menstruation, one should not approach the beehives, otherwise the honey will turn sour; pour wine into bottles, otherwise it will turn into vinegar … In the Judeo-Christian tradition, a woman during menstruation is forbidden to enter the temple, in the Muslim tradition she is ordered to avoid her husband.

Blue blood

“The girl experiences the same disgust over and over again, feeling this vulgar stagnant smell emanating from herself – the smell of the swamp, the smell of withered violets …” Simone de Beauvoir wrote in 1949 in her book The Second Sex. Today, despite advances in medicine and information, the view of women’s “affairs” has hardly changed. Many women still admit that it is not easy for them to talk about this even with a doctor. Wanting to “break the silence that surrounds the woman’s body,” a group of American feminists have chosen menstruation as their symbol – they call themselves bloodsisters, “sisters by blood.”

“The attitude of women to their menstruation depends on how they experience them,” says gynecologist Elena Egorova. “If they are not too plentiful, fairly regular and painless, then there are no special problems.” Although … for most women, the cycle someday goes astray, and there is nervous tension. The delicate expression “critical days” also reflects the current bad reputation of menstruation, as well as the stamp “she’s not in the spirit, so she has PMS.”

“There is a rational grain in this,” Elena Egorova explains. “During PMS, the hormonal background changes in the body: a drop in progesterone levels affects mood, sexual desire, and causes discomfort in the abdomen and chest.”

Gestalt therapist Olga Dolgopolova believes that menstruation causes unpleasant emotions or even pain if a woman does not accept her feminine nature, if she cannot feel loved and desired. According to her, at an unconscious level, all this can affect the basic processes of the body. According to various studies, about half of Russian women who visit a gynecologist complain of PMS.

Not today…

It is very common among men that this syndrome is just an excuse to refuse sex. But everything is not so clear. 32-year-old Marianne abstains from sex during her period: “First of all, for practical reasons, because you need to contrive not to get everything dirty. And then, the very thought that you can see my blood on a man stops me.

And 29-year-old Elena admits that she gets more pleasure at the same time than on ordinary days: “And I have not met men who would somehow be embarrassed.” “From the point of view of physiology,” explains Elena Egorova, “the maximum level of attraction is observed during ovulation. The surge of sexual desire during menstruation is explained more by emotions. You can finally allow yourself to have sex without fear of getting pregnant – it liberates.

“In fact, the problem is in men,” says 30-year-old Sofia. – The phrase “I’m on my period” they perceive as “Don’t touch me.” Before my husband, I have not met a single man who would like to make love to me at such a time.

The requirement found in many religions to refrain from sexual activity during a period when a woman is “unclean” actually protects not the “purity” of a man, but the health of a woman.

Вот как комментирует это гинеколог Марина Остроумова: «Иметь половые контакты во время месячных не противопоказано, но опасность для здоровья все же есть: поверхность матки становится очень уязвимой, для женщины усиливается риск любых инфекций. Например, вероятность заразиться СПИДом увеличивается примерно в пять раз».

“A man’s attitude to menstruation is a projection of his attitude to a woman in general,” explains Olga Dolgopolova, a Gestalt therapist. – If a man accepts a woman as nature created her, then any manifestations of femininity only increase her attractiveness. However, in our society, female energy and all its manifestations are still less accepted than male. This often introduces insincerity into the couple’s relationship: for example, when a woman feigns an orgasm because she is afraid that he will “fall out of love” with her. If a man does not actively accept everything related to menstruation, it is likely that a woman will be forced to lie to him in other cases.

In the presence of an absence

Menstruation has come, which means that there is no pregnancy. Relief. Or disappointment. “I have always had an irregular cycle, and that suited me,” says 36-year-old Marina. – Problems arose when I decided to have a baby. Everything was fine in the medical line, and I started a course of psychotherapy. Six months later, the cycle returned to normal!

And yet, the absence of menstruation can be a sign of ill health, for example, when a woman suffers from anorexia or abruptly and significantly loses weight. But the cessation of menstruation during intense sports training is familiar to many completely healthy athletes.

“Fear causes something that is actually completely logical from the point of view of physiology,” says 26-year-old Inna, an international master of sports in artistic gymnastics. – When I prepare for competitions, I have to train hard. The amount of fat is reduced to such an extent that the intelligent body considers it insufficient to ovulate and make conception possible. Accordingly, there is no menstruation. At the same time, I do not feel less feminine and I know that I am healthy. And I am even grateful to my body for the fact that during this crucial period I do not waste my energy on menstruation. With the return to normal mode, the cycle is restored.

Take and cancel?

On average, a mature egg may be useful to a woman only a few times in her entire life – when she is about to have children. The rest of the time, menstruation only complicates her existence. Why not just do away with them altogether?

“Menstruation seems completely meaningless to me,” says 38-year-old Anna, a photographer. – During my period, I try to behave as if they are not there: I don’t change my daily routine, I use tampons that allow you to wear any clothes … If I could be sure that it is absolutely harmless, I would gladly get rid of them with medical help.”

In Europe, for more than a decade, women over forty have been offered pills to eliminate menstruation. And those who are younger can use birth control pills all the time.

“It is possible,” explains gynecologist Marina Ostroumova. – But a woman needs to keep in mind that if you take hormones continuously for five years or more, there is a risk of oppression of the ovaries – it may be more difficult for her to become pregnant after that. Another negative factor is the effect of hormonal contraceptives on blood clotting. This should be taken into account by those who have a predisposition to varicose veins.

To get rid of stress and discomfort is an absolutely natural desire of a woman. It does not matter whether this stress is associated with the presence of menstruation or their absence, with their delay, or, conversely, with their disappointing regularity, that is, with the inability to become pregnant. “The role of medicine is precisely that,” Marina Ostroumova is convinced, “to take into account the needs of all women and give everyone the opportunity to live more comfortably.”