'An Indisposition Ordinary to Her Sex' - Menstruation in the Eighteenth Century 

 

 

 

 

(Hamilton, 1858) 

Menstruation in the eighteenth century was an entirely paradoxical subject. It had the unique and bizarre position of being both commonplace and taboo - despite being intimately familiar to almost half the population, it was a forbidden topic of conversation or writing. It was terrifying yet erotic; immoral yet natural; embarrassing yet empowering; an illness and a sign of health. Unsurprisingly, the topic was very sparingly discussed at the time, and so it is somewhat hard to draw an accurate picture of the menstruating woman in the eighteenth century. What literature we do have upon the subject is generally heavily coded and requires interpretation. The most unapologetic treatments of menstruation were medical, wherein (naturally, male) physicians would publish research and theories concerning the diseases of women or the female reproductive system. The eighteenth century was in fact a period of huge scientific advancement in understanding the menstrual cycle, as it signified the general shift away from two previously popular theories: the humoral theory, and the same-sex model. 

 

Period sources concerning menstruation are particularly hard to find, due to the taboo nature of the subject. Euphemisms for menstruation were plentiful and very wide ranging, often varying regionally. Even now, it is fairly common to use euphemism to describe menstruation – in the eighteenth century however, the term was strictly medical and only used by male physicians. 

These euphemisms tend to fall into three categories – in the first, euphemisms describe a general illness, such as ‘an indisposition’, 'pleading the woman', or simply 'the sickness.' The second set of euphemisms focussed on the periodic nature of the menses. Some of these terms include 'regulars', 'monthlies', 'les règles', and 'les cours'. It was common for englishwomen to use the French phrasing here, assumedly to add another level of propriety.The third set were more symbolic, and often had biblical or poetic origins. The most common by far was floral imagery; a menstruating woman may be said to 'have her flowers' or to 'hold les fleurs'; she may be 'budding' or 'in bloom'. Culpeper reasons this in his seventeenth century Directory for Midwives - 'They are called by some Flowers, because they go before Conception, as flowers do before fruit' (Culpeper, 1652) 

 

 

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'The Cause of Six Hundred Miseries and Innumerable Calamities' - MEDICAL PERSPECTIVES OF MENSTRUATION

Lazare Riviere, 1657 

 

Theories on Menstruation 

 

The Fermentation Theory

 

The fermentation theory of menstruation was perhaps the most popular in the eighteenth century, although it slowly got debunked as the years went on. It focussed upon the concept of bodily humours - black bile, yellow bile, phlegm and blood - and the necessity of maintaining them in balance. Puberty was believed to cause an influx of humours as the body became fertile. Anthropologia Nova states: 'About the time of Puberty or Eruption of the Menses the Breasts begin to swell, and grow prominent probably from a greater Afflux of Humours at that time, which not only fill the Vessels, but dilate the Substance of them.' (1707, 354)

Men, of course, also had humours and required their excrement, yet the theory understood women, with their less active lifestyles and softer constitutions, as incapable of excreting bodily impurities via sweat, as men did. In response, a monthly evacuation of these impurities was required to maintain the health of the blood. One anonymous source posited that as, ‘woman is weaker than man; her flesh is softer and more loosely knit; she works at less arduous tasks, and in consequence dissipates less humour, and by the same account she produces and collects in her body more blood.’. This theory wrote menstrual blood to be essentially malignant, infectious, and putrid, as it is excrement that has been collecting in the womb for a month, and slowly rotting until its evacuation. It posed a danger not just to the woman, but also those around her should they come into intimate contact with her. James Drake’s Anthropologia Nova; or, A New System of Anatomy, following the often reproduced myths about the poisonous nature of menstrual blood, explained that, ‘the Malignancy of them [menstrual periods] is so great, that they Excoriate [pull the skin off] the Parts of Men by the Meer contact’(1707, 322). Astonishingly, these beliefs appeared to remain well into the nineteenth century; the 1878 British Medical Journal published several letters theorising whether a woman would turn meats rancid if she was menstruating. One reader wondered , 'Sir,— It is a verj' prevalent belief amongst females (both rich and poor) that, in curing hams, women should not rub the legs of pork with the brine-pickle at the time they are menstruating, or the hams will go bad. I shall be glad if any of your readers can tell me if this be mere imagination, or if such be really the case...' ("British Medical Journal" 646-657). The letter received a fairly positive response, with many readers agreeing with this statement. One member wrote in that a friend of his, 'had a number of hams spoiled through the thoughtlessness of the cook ; and since then she has had them rubbed by a man.... I have only heard one explanation— the moisture that is on the hands and body during the catamenial period.' He appears to believe that the putrid nature of menstrual blood would cause an excretion of toxins from the skin, likewise infecting anything the woman touched.

 

Despite this, there was a strong backlash against these more primitive theories. Fermentation theory was subject to high debate throughout the century, as medicine moved away from understanding the body in terms of 'humours', and instead focussed upon close examination and analysis of menstrual blood. Physicians were finding irrefutable proof that menstrual blood was in fact clean, thus disproving the fermentation theory. Physician Thomas Denman described in his 1807 book An Introduction To The Practice Of Midwifery, an operation on an imperforate hymen blocking menstruation; ‘an incision was carefully made through the hymen…  not less than four pounds of blood, of the colour and consistence of tar, were discharged; and the tumefaction of the abdomen was immediately removed… the blood discharged was not putrid or coagulated, and seemed to have undergone no other change, after its secretion.’ (36; emphasis mine). Situational evidence like this sowed doubt in the fermentation theory – if menstrual blood was dirty, an internal build up would doubtless be a site of massive infection and rottenness. Freind easily explains the cleanly nature of menstrual blood in his Emmenologies: 'In heathy persons, that blood which is ejected, is not at all impure or tainted, but very good and fragrant: in as much as it is not secreted by any gland, but breaks forth from the capillary arteries, and therefore retains the nature of the arterious, e.g. the most pure blood.' (5) This movement of understanding menstrual blood as, in fact, pure, allowed for more liberal individuals to take advantage of the menstrual flow as an object of safe fetishisation, which is discussed below in the Menstruation and Eroticism section. 

 

The Lunar Theory 

 

Another, rather easily debunked myth of menstruation, was the Lunar Theory, the idea that menstrual cycles correlated directly to the waxing and waning of the moon. In 1730, John Cook claimed that a woman’s periods ‘go very much, as to the Time of Eruption, by the Moon’ (81). Friend quickly countered this statement by pointing out that, should that be the case, ‘all Women in the same Climate of the same Age and Constitution would have their Menses in the same turns, at the same Season’ (82). Despite this, the concept of menstruation as being abstractly connected to the cycles of the moon in some degree remained prevalent. 

 

The Humoural Theory 

 

As perhaps is evident in his arguments for the upper two theories, John Freind was one of the leading researchers into menstrual health and female health in general. His theory also involved the humours and their need to be balanced, as he claimed that women generally ate too many luxurious foods and did not exercise frequently enough, relegated as they often were to the domestic sphere, which caused ‘plethora of blood’ to build up until there was enough mass that it could be discharged via the vaginal canal. This theory was of course very much focused on the wealthier strata of women, but was backed up by frequent amenorrhea among the poor and working class, doubtless due to malnutrition. 

 

 

(Sharp, 1725. pp 154)

 An anatomic diagram of a pregnant woman's reproductive system from 1671. Menstruation was known to be linked to reproduction, but the reasons behind this were still under debate during the eighteenth century. Note the long-stemmed flower covering the model's pubis, its vertical positioning suggesting some kind of fluid; water breaking, or blood loss, perhaps. 

 

Menstrual Disturbances and Green-sickness

 

Green-sickness was a term generally used to describe an illness rooted in a blockage of the menstrual cycle, and was often considered to be caused by the consistency of the blood, and whether it might pass easily through the veins into the vaginal canal. If the ‘solids’ are too thin, they must be fortified with iron and hearty food; if they are too thick, they must be thinned out with a meagre diet and exercise.

William Buchan's Domestic Medicine, like Freind, attributed these difficulties to poor diet and exercise regimes. 

'Fond of all manner of trash, they often eat every out-of-the-way thing they can get, till their blood and humours are quite vitiated. Hence ensue indigestions, want of appetite, and a whole train of evils. If the fluids be not duly prepared, it is utterly impossible that the secretions should be properly performed: Accordingly we find that such girls as lead an indolent life, and eat great quantities of trash, are not only subject to obtrusions of the menses but likewise to glandular obtrusions; as the scrophula or King's evil.' (558)

 

He continues to prescribe a diet he believes will prevent amenorhhea, and thus allow the menstrual cycle to maintain the balance of bodily humours.  

'WHEN the menses have once begun to flow, the greatest care should be taken to avoid every thing that may tend to obstruct them. Females ought to be exceeding careful of what they eat or drink at the time they are out of order. Every thing that is cold, or apt to sour on the stomach, ought to be avoided; as fruit, butter-milk, and much like. Fish, and all kinds of food that are hard of digestion, are also to be avoided...Filings of iron may be infused in wine or ale, two ounces to an English quart, and after it has stood in a warm place twenty-four hours, it may be strained, and a (small cupful drank three or four times a-day; or they may be reduced to a fine powder, and taken in the dose of half 4 B a dram.' (594).

 

James Hamilton suggested the woman suffering from greensickness should take, among other things, an extract from sabina, derived from juniper berries, to alleviate the symptoms. 

 

An eighteenth century Italian medicine jar. The label, 'estr: sabina' deontes it carried the extract of savin, a treatment often used for treating green-sickness, and, by the end of the eighteenth century, pain from menstrual cramps. 

Place made: Italy

made: 1701-1800
Collection:Wellcome Images
Library reference no.:Science Museum A631906

 

'Impetuous Commotions of the Mind': Menses and Mental Health'

 

A symptom of green-sickness, should it be allowed to progress, is hysteria. There had long been a connection between 'hysteria' and the workings of the female reproductive system, evident in the term's etymology; in Ancient Greek, 'husterikos' meant 'of the womb'. This understanding of the condition was of particular importance in the eighteenth century, and the Age of Sensibility. There were a few differing theories on the origins of hysteria, and their male counterpart, hypochondria, and many physicians believed it to be caused by poor 'vapours' in the body. In Bell's The Anatomie of Melancholie, we see how he connects the symptoms of hysteria with fermentation theory. He writes that the putrid nature of the menstrual blood as collected in those who cannot excrete it, as in 'ancient maids, widows, and barren women,' creates 'black smoky vapours' which lead to the irritation and inflammation of the 'brain, heart and mind.' In this way, he accounts for the higher rates of nervous and excitable dispositions in the elderly and the young, as both groups, unable to menstruate, are forced to suffer these vapours within themselves. In the case of the menopausal woman, bleedings were often prescribed in order to allow a release of the fermented blood. John Ball writes that, "in the decline of life the menses cease, various nervous or hysteric symptoms appear, which are generally lessened,and sometimes removed, by frequent bleedings."  (1770) On the other hand, in the case of the pre-menstrual virgin, not only are bleedings encouraged, but, surprisingly, so is sex. R James promotes the 'Highly natural and Efficacious Method of Cure, which is, that to be expected from Marriage. Reason, Experience, and the Authorities of the greatest Physicians, concur in pronouncing Matrimony highly beneficial in removing Hysteric Disorders' (1743). This understanding of sexual activity as important to the mental health of a woman may seem strange, considering the taboo around female sexuality, but at least from a medical perspective, many physicians appeared to lean towards biological health rather than excessive modesty in this case.

 

Many of the symptoms of menstrual hysteria - pain, nausea, faintness, sudden fits of crying or irritability, 'A general langour and weakness, depraved appetite, impaired digestion, frequent headache, and hardness and tightness of the breasts' (Hamilton, 1791) - match up with contemporary conceptions of Pre-menstrual Syndrome, and indeed, it was noted that "the hysteric paroxysm generally precedes the time of menstruation." (James, 1743). It was generally considered a nervous condition, that in various accounts, appears to describe numerous contemporary diagnoses encompassing a wide range of medical severity. Perhaps the most common modern understandings of 'hysteria' is a panic or anxiety attack. However, cases included a number of symptoms, including faintness, syncope, vomiting, mania, uncontrollable emotion, and even incredibly grave conditions such as amnesia, epilepsy, or paralysis. Perhaps counter-intuitively, 'melancholy', 'loss of spirits' and 'indolence' were also considered hysteric symptoms, indicating an awareness of PMDD (pre-menstrual Dysphoric Disorder), and the depressive state which can accompany it. Whilst, as in Evelina's Lady Louisa, hysteria is often mocked, it does also appear to be taken seriously as a diagnosable and treatable medical disorder. Treating hysteria, and other menstrual symptoms, involved much the same methods as treating green-sickness: a wholesome diet and light exercise regime. 

 

''These symptoms require the use of remedies which tend to strengthen the general habit, such as a nourishing diet, small doses of light bitters, preparations of steel, particularly in the form of mineral waters, together with a variation of scene, and moderate exercise.' (Hamilton, 1791) 

 

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SOCIAL PERSPECTIVES 

 

 

Menstruation and Eroticism

 

A Menstruous Beast - The Menstruous Woman and the Lecher

 

In keeping with the taboo nature of the menstrual woman, menstrual blood carried connotations that were both repellent and erotic, evil and yet a source of a kind of natural, primal magic. These paradoxes were demonstrated in the menstruating woman being both tantalisingly sexually unavailable, and an unclean, sinful temptress.

 

The presence of menstrual blood upon a woman was generally used as a means of mocking her. What was ordinarily a substance of life or honour, became the dirty, abjected excrement of the woman who could not control her own basic bodily functions. Many believed the bleeding at first intercourse was in fact the first case of menstrual bleeding, as the widening of the vagina by the entrance of the penis allowed menstrual blood to flow. This added even more sexual promiscuity to a concept already hyper-sexualised - the chaste and self-controlled virgin would assumedly be exercising muscles that kept the Curse at bay, whilst a sexually active woman was being given to periods of bleeding as restitution. This connection between the menstrual woman and the inconstant one is represented in many depictions of female lewds, prostitutes and bawds. For example, In the mid seventeenth century, Francis Lenton published a series of character poems. His description of the 'Old Bawd,', the syphilitic seducer, focussed mostly upon her filthiness and contagious nature. He denotes her unpleasant and immoral nature by calling her; 'a menstruous beast, engendred of divers most filthy excrements, by the stench of whose breath the ayre is so infected, that her presence is an inevitable contaigon' (Lenton, 1653. pp. 357, Emphasis mine)

 

What is particularly interesting in the demonisation of the menstruating woman, is that many saw bleeding as a result of the hymen breaking - the 'defloration' expected during a virgin's first intercourse - as the first period of a girl. This was, of course, the expected and desired result of a husband's intercourse with his assumedly virginal wife, so it appears strange that from then on, vaginal blood is seen as dirty and immoral. This added yet another layer of eroticism to a woman's menstrual blood.

 

Menstrual Sex 

 

Unsurprisingly, the anxieties of the seductive nature of the menstruating woman were often linked to repressed desire and fetishisation on the part of men. Records of menstrual sex were heavily coded and far between, and it was certainly considered by some that having sex whilst a woman is bleeding was immoral or even dangerous. Many philosophers and physicians vehemently advised against it, some claiming it was a sin, some that it was unnatural, and would thus lead to birth defects, and some that it was simply disgusting. Maubray, apparently under the impression that conception was likely during menstruation, published a scathing rant condemning the cruelty of parents who practiced this:

 

"Yet I think, the most common and ordinary one in all countries is an impure and unseasonable copulation: such as is not only precisely forbid by the express word of God, but is also repugnant to right reason and even to common sense. For who can be so stupid as not to conceive that this monstrous contagion will naturally (though insensibly) creep into the blood, invade the whole habit of the body, and tacitly infect the soundest constitution, even sometimes with the venereal pox, or perhaps with elephantitis or the leprosy itself. Nor does this Evil always end here, but such births are also generally as perverse in the mind, as they are heterogeneous in the person; for lie bastards of nature they are commonly denudated, or destitute of all her laudable gifts and graces, which others, her legitimate sons, are happily born with and enjoy in abundance. Hence it is, that, if they become not altogether jolt-heads, foolish or delirious, they are most ordinarily other ways lewd, vicious and licentious persons if not also envious traducers and crafty cozeners of mankind…. If then these be the direful consequences, how unreasonably cruel are such parents, who thus by enterprising the work of procreation without humane decency, and contrary to the very intuition of nature involve their posterity, in such miserable calamities" (Maubray, 1725. pp. 373)

 

Maubray was not alone in linking menstruation with fertility. Whilst some physicians note that it is rare for a menstruating woman to conceive - In the Lady's Physical Directory, women were told that, during her menstrual period, ‘the natural sparkling Briskness of the Blood and Juices is wanting, the lively desirous Faculty is spoiled, neither is the womb fit to receive the spirituous Effluvia of the Masculine Semen, that Conception might follow’ (37) - plenty also believed menstruation to signal the time of a woman's best fertility. Others thought that it caused a surge in desire. This partially explains the great concern taken with maintaining the menstrual cycle to be regular, as a lack of menstruation would mean infertility. Freind explains that many physicians believed 'the menstruous flux to be necessary on the following account, that the blood being purged from any filth or dregs may both the more forcibly excite the women to coition, and also more happily receive the seed.' (Emmenologies, 5) He however, quickly points out that surely menstruation isn't necessary for conception, as many women conceive at other times of their cycles. 

 

Due to medical advancements mostly declaring menstrual blood to be clean (Freind, 55), the more sexually liberal or deviant were offered menstrual sex as a socially taboo, but physically safe activity. Although of course, very few and far between, there are some examples of menstrual sex in period literature. For example, menstruation played a large role in some rather bizarre erotic books at the time called Merryland. They described the female body as a geographic space, essentially allowing male readers and characters the opportunity of imagined colonization. Throughout the series,  menstruation was treated with both disgust and arousal- The first mention is during a description of the ‘great river’ – urine – which has a ‘remarkable quality, like that of the river Adonis near Byblus in Phoenicia, which at certain seasons appears bloody.’ The reader is later told to be wary of monthly fluxes, as, ‘Though the tide is generally very favourable and sets into the harbor, it is to be noted that at the time of of spring-tides, which only flow for four or five days, once in a month, the current then runs strong out, and it is best to lie by till until spring is over, though some people make no scruple of going in when spring tides are at height.’ (25)  

 

There are also a few somewhat cryptic references to menstruation during sex in Fanny Hill. Despite the text's overt treatment of bleeding during 'defloration', or from vigorous intercourse - in fact, a great proportion of the novel's depictions of sexual acts involve blood in some propensity - Fanny's menstrual cycle is only referred to very gingerly. The clearest episode of her menstruating is when she has sex with Will, to spite the infidelity of Mr. H, the man who keeps her. She describes 

'the widen’d wounded passage refunded a stream of pearly liquids, which flowed down my thighs, mixed with streaks of blood, marks of the ravage of that monstrous machine of his, which had now triumph’d over a kind of second maiden-head. I stole, however, my handkerchief to those parts, and wip’d them dry as I could.' (78)

Here, she is clearly insinuating that the blood is caused by tearing during the intercourse, but later, it becomes more clear that it is, in fact, menstrual blood, and the 'kind of second maiden-head' was referring to her never before having menstrual sex. When Mr. H comes in, Fanny must claim that she cannot have sex with him, to hide the evidence of intercourse. 'Here the woman sav’d me: I pretended a violent disorder of my head, and a feverish heat, that indispos’d me too much to receive his embraces. He gave in to this and very good naturedly desisted’'. He does later discover her infidelity, when he comes to see her '[a]bout a month after our first intercourse, one fatal morning (the season Mr H. rarely or never visited me in)'. The connection between monthly periods, seasons of indispositions, and her bleeding during sex all clearly demonstrate that, coded as it was, Fanny was having her menstrual period when she first had intercourse with Will, and proceeded to do so again the following month, utilising the period of indisposition as a means of carrying out her infidelity. 

 

Upon getting out of bed, however, I was dreadfully alarmed at perceiving the tail of my shirt covered in blood, and screamed out. The poor girl seemed to be in a great agitation and distress, which increased my fright; whereupon she eagerly endeavoured to assuage my fears, assuring me that no sort of injury would arise, that what I saw proceeded from a natural cause, though she had not been aware of it coming on.

Menstrual Magic 

 

Despite great medical advancements made in studies of menstruation throughout the long eighteenth century, there remained a strong aspect of mystery around the taboo of female bleeding. There were many superstitions surrounding the supernatural powers of menstrual blood, some of a Biblical origin, and some built upon folklore. Interpreting menses as a facet of God's curse upon Eve imbued the idea of menstruation with ideas of sin, temptation, and seduction. Others believed that the blood would induce fertility or love. Although physicians such as Freind wrote treatises attempting to dispel these myths (Emmenologies, 32), they still held fast, especially in rural areas.

 

It wasn't uncommon for menstrual blood to be utilised in attempted spells and potions. The use of bodily fluids in general was fairly widespread in these sorts of black magic, but menses, being particularly gendered, offered women a potential power over men, which men often found disconcerting. (Van Gent, 124) Although menstrual blood was used in a variety of magic, it was certainly most common in love spells. In 1699, Kerstin Persdotter, a Swedish maid, was tried for witchcraft in court for attempting to seduce a farmhand. In her court trial, she revealed that the man had impregnated her, but refused to marry her. In desperation, she turned to a supposed 'witch' in the village, who offered her a spell which would make the man fall in love with her. The court documents state;

 

‘Kerstin Persdotter admitted that she took from what goes from her with her monthly time and blended it with brandy, also took hair from her secret thing and put in on butter and pancake, all with the intention that she shall get him as a husband…’ 

When she was asked about where she learnt to do this,  she named an elderly woman who had told her that, ‘She should take blood from her monthly and hair from her secret thing and give him [from this] something, so shall that go well’ 

 

The popularity of the use of menstrual blood in magic, and the anxiety of men over the fact, led to numerous witch trials and executions across Europe during the eighteenth century. 

 

 

'Such Confusion and Shifts' - Menstrual Hygiene and the "Toilette Intime" 

 

 

Unsurprisingly, considering the scathing opinions men formed of the menstrual woman, it was considered highly important to keep one's menstruation as secret as possible. However, long before commercialised sanitary products, periods were exceedingly hard to control and manage. Besides the actual hygiene aspect, and managing the accompanying symptoms of the menstrual flux, such as pain, nausea, and lightheadedness, there was also the added stress of attempting to predict when the period would come on. Some physicians noted that, despite the assumed regularity of the cycle, many women could not accurately guess when their next bleeding would occur, often leading to embarrassing accidents. Physician James Drake wrote in 1707 that, '(there is) No other rule to prevent an indecent surprise, than the measure of time; in which some that have slipt, tho' otherwise modest and careful women, have been put to such confusion and shifts.' (Drake, 1707). Not only does he acknowledge the difficulty in managing menstruation, but he clearly references the shame menstruating women should feel if they were 'modest and careful'.  

 

Whilst there are almost no accounts of how a woman was to remain sanitary during her period, it was obviously a well-kept secret that girls were expected to know. Physicians and midwives acknowledged the importance of menstrual hygiene on reproductive and general health, but did not extend their lectures so far into actually instructing readers as to how this hygiene was to be gone about. For example, Scottish physician William Buchan, in his 1769 publication ‘Domestic Medicine’, laments that ‘there are no women in the world so inattentive to this discharge as the English; and they suffer accordingly, as a very great number of them are obstructed, and many prove barren in consequence. . . False modesty, inattention, and ignorance of what is beneficial or hurtful at this time, are the sources of many diseases and misfortunes in life, which a few sensible lessons from an experienced matron might have prevented.’ (Buchan, 1769)

 

We have a few leads as to how sanitation was carried out, from the very rare references to menstrual hygeine in literature and art. Boilly's painting "La toilette intime ou la rose effeuillé", for example, is one of the few eighteenth century pieces to demonstrate a menstruating woman so boldly. It pictures a woman with her skirt hiked up, washing her inner thighs as part of her toilette. The title translates to "Personal hygiene where the rose bloomed", and thus has clear menstrual connotations. The woman is in a white dress, indicative of her nongravid and perhaps virginal state, which is contrasted with the bright red stand she is straddling as she washes between her legs. A rose, its petals spread out evocatively, lies at her feet - as aforementioned, the flower was often used as a symbol for menstruation.

 

 

La Toilette intime ou la Rose effeuillée, or "Personal Hygiene where the rose bloomed"

 Louis-Léopold Boilly (1761) 

 

Linen 

 

The easiest and most common way of absorbing the menstrual flow and avoiding unsanitary or unsightly leakages, was the usage of some form of cloth. Despite the first form of tampon being documented in the ancient period, they did not appear to be popular in the eighteenth century, likely due to the stigma around penetration. (Smith, 12) Therefore, 'shifting' was the sanitary method of choice. This was made much easier in the mid seventeen hundreds, when Indian cotton importations to England became increasingly cheaper, allowing the middle classes to own enough shifts, or menstrual rags, to tide them over an entire period. 

 

In the anonymously published 1776 encyclopedia, Dictionnaire Portatif Des Arts et Metiers, there is a brief description in a footnote on making menstrual napkins, modestly labelled 'chauffoirs', dictating the correct way women should fold strips of cloth, securing them around the body with a 'ribbon'. A very similar description is given for the 'chauffoir' required for post-partum bleeding, but it is written much more starkly and unapologetically. 

 

 

 

Gender Politics and Soiled Linen - The Menstrual Cure 

 

Due to the taboo nature of the menstruating woman, her menstrual rags frequently became symbolic of the hidden, devilish or disgusting nature behind the facade of chasteness and beauty. Because of this, a common use of menstruation in eighteenth century literature or anecdote is as the 'menstrual cure'. Similar to Jonathan Swift's "A lady's dressing room", the menstrual cure involves a woman revealing her bloodied menstrual rags in a demonstration of the true human - generally 'filfthy' or 'sinful' - nature behind her idealised image. 

Burton wrote of the menstrual cure as the ultimate remedy for the enamoured young man:

Let some old woman of the vilest appearance, in dirty and disgusting clothes, be prepared: and let her carry a [menstrual] towel under her apron, and let her say that her friend is drunken, and that she pisses her bed, and that she is epileptic and unchaste; and that on her body there are enormous growths, that her breathe stinks, and other monstrous things, in which old women are knowledgeable: if he will not be persuaded by these arguments, let her suddenly produce that [menstrual] towel, and brandish it before his face, crying “This is what your loved one is like!,” and if he doesn’t give up at this, he is not a man but a devil incarnate. "Burton, 226

 

We can find a more empowering version of the story in Biographium Femineium, or, The Female Worthies, a compendium of tales of the most ‘worthy females’ through time, published in 1776. One of the women discussed is the classical philosopher Hypatia, and the book touches upon the myth that, in response to a persistent suitor, she threw her menstrual rags at him in disgust:

 

‘That the spark vehemently soliciting her (not, to be sure, without pleading the irresistible power of her beauty) at a time when she happened to be under an indisposition ordinary to her sex; she took a handkerchief, of which she had been making some use on that occasion, and throwing it in his face, said, “This is what you love, young fool, and not anything that is beautiful.”’ (Biograhium Faemineum, 1766) 

 

In a rare twist of the usual misogyny and mockery, the object of humour is the foolishness and infatuation of the man, and Hypatia's menstruation is not an embarrassing, abjected part of her womanhood, but a medium to knowledge. She does not feel ashamed over the collapse of the angelic impression he has made made of her, but rather scorns him for his idiocy in making it. 

The author goes on to praise Hypatia’s chastity, and her method of teaching the youth the importance of what he phrases, ‘goodness, wisdom, virtue, and such other things… the only real beauties, of whose divine symmetry, charms, and perfection, the most superlative that appear in bodies are but faint resemblances.’ Thus, instead of expressing disgust or reprobation at her throwing her bloodied menstrual rag at the man, veritably assaulting him with the abject realities so rarely mentioned in the eighteenth century, he celebrates the action, praising her lesson of the unimpressive realities of physical beauties, in comparison to the beauty of internal virtues. 

 

The Imprisonment and Execution of Marie Antoinette 

 

There are also real accounts of the soiled linen of menstruating women, and how this was received - the famous famous case is undoubtedly that of Marie Antoinette. During Marie Antoinette's imprisonment preceding her execution, multiple sources talk of her extremely heavy periods, which dirtied the few pieces of clothing she was permitted to have. Attempting to shame her, she was refused rags to absorb the menstrual flow by the prison guard, and so turned to her servant, Rosalie, who was a maid at the Conciergie, and noted the princess's health in her diary during her last few days of life. 'Her blood was heated, and she haemorrhaged largely. I noticed it myself; she secretly asked me for bits of cloth, and from then on I cut up my own chemises and hid these strips under her bolster' (56). Dignified and defiant, Marie refused to be demeaned by her soiled linen in front of the French public; 'As she was losing so much blood, she had put aside one dress to wear to her death, and I realised that she planned to appear in the most decent attire permitted by her utter destitution, just as she had done on the day of her sentencing.' (Rosalie la Morlière, 1793)

 

Public Speculation and Pregnancy

 

Due to the increased availability of cheap cotton, there was unsurprisingly a rise in public laundering, which had significant effects in social perspectives of menstruation.  In BBC Two's 2015 television series Versailles, a historical fiction programme based upon the reign of Louis XIV, an informant enters a room where bloody rags are carefully strung upon across the ceilings. Surveying these, he is able to monitor which of the ladies in court is getting their period regularly, and who may be pregnant.

 

'Only four courtiers have had their aunts visit this week. One of them says that she's pregnant, but she's not.' - Laundress, Versailles.1, 2015

 

This was, in fact, a not uncommon practice in the eighteenth century, and not just within the nobility. Due to the washing and drying of linen being a somewhat public affair - many would hang out their laundry to dry, or hire a public laundress - it gave an opportunity for public observation and regulation of women's menstrual cycles. In Furtetiere's 1666 novel 'Le Roman Bourgeois', a character suspects that his betrothed may secretly be pregnant, so goes to the laundress and searches through her dirty laundry. 'Seeing a heavily stained woman's chemise, he asked Dame Robert (the laundress), laughing, if it belonged to Mlle Lucrèce. Dame Robert replied to him naively, "Certainly not, it isn't. Mlle Lucrèce is currently the cleanest girl in Paris; for more than three months I haven't seen the slightest stain on her linen, it is almost as white when I collect it as when I return it!"' (Furtiere, 1666). Having ascertained her pregnancy, he quickly breaks off the engagement. 

 

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'Neither Buds nor Blossom' - Old Age and Menopause

 

There is surprisingly little literature on menopause, or as Freind calls it, 'the end of the Flower of Age' (122), considering the eighteenth century's firm interest in maintaining menstrual flow. Despite a basic understanding of menopause marking the end of child-bearing age, there is little speculation as to why it happens, or the mechanisms of the process. The few medical sources that do mention it exhibit concern for the menopausal women, treating the condition as equally dangerous to any other stopping of the menses, and a time where she is especially threatened by green-sickness, despite its expected occurrence. 

 

William Buchan offers an explanation, and some remedies to maintain the patients health, in his Domestic Medicine. 

 

That period of life at which the menses cease to flow, is likewise very critical to the sex. The stoppage of any customary evacuation, however small, is sufficient to destroy the whole frame, and often to destroy life itself. Hence it comes to pass, that so many women either fall into chronic disorders, or die about this time. Such of them as survive it, however, often become more healthy and hardy than they were before, and enjoy strength and vigour to a very great age.

                                                                                                                                                                                    (Buchan, 403)

He claims that the menopausal woman's health can be maintained in this critical period, by 'abating somewhat of their usual quantity of food, especially the more nourishing kind, as flesh, eggs, etc... and taking, once or twice a week, a little rhubarb, or an infusion of hiera picra in wine or brandy.' (Buchan, 529) There were several speculations about the timing of the menopausal state - a popular theory was that menses operated on a cycle of sevens; that a girl usually 'begins (her) Periods at the Second Septenary, and terminates at the Seventh, or the Square of the number Seven’ (Freind, 121). That is; an average woman should menstruate between the ages of fourteen and forty-nine. Whilst it was acknowledged that females frequently did not adhere to these boundaries, this concept remained relevant throughout the long eighteenth century.

 

Vicarious Menstruation, and Menstruous Men

 

As aforementioned, the bleeding of the hymen after defloration was considered an example of menstruation, but this is not the only case in which random bleeding is attributed to a menstrual cycle. Often, especially in girls suffering from green-sickness, menstruation was thought to occur in other areas of the body. The medical conception of menses even included post-partum bleeding and general haemorrhaging – many physicians considered nosebleeds a form of menstruation. Furthermore, possibly due to the extreme male bias of medical professions, there is a misogynistic non-interest in feminine matters, yet almost as much writing on 'male menstruation' from the eighteenth century, as there was writing focussed on menstruation in women. Of course, the general understanding was that menstruation was a mostly female trait – but, perhaps owing to the lingering single-sex model, it was believed that many – non-intersex - men could and did as well.  'As the menses occur each month in women, thus also in some men the superfluity of blood, which could not be discharged through urination, sweating or insensible perspiration, runs to the testicles and is evacuated through the urinary channel.’  (Laguna, 1687) It appears that the men affected by these 'courses' were not stigmatised of feminised; generally these cases were actually viewed as healthy, a blessing for the men affected, as the periodic cleaning of blood would provide them immunity from most ailments. There are many records of men who bleed monthly, grow sick if their cycle is interrupted.  

‘I met another of these men, a citizen from Lebanon, when he was about the age of forty. He likewise from puberty on had been subject to the menstrual flow, and during the period in which the flow occurred he begot many children. Once the flow stopped, his fertility also ceased and he was struck by disease; beset by an obstinate fever, consumption, ravings, and frenzies, he soon ended his life.’ - Johann Baptist, 1706 

 

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Works Cited

 

Unless cited in the bibliography, all French and Swedish translations were completed by me. 

 

Primary Sources 

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Buchan, William. Domestic Medicine. 1st ed. London: Printed for the Booksellers, 1799. Print.

Boilly, Louis-Léopold. La Toilette Intime Ou La Rose Effeuillée. 1761. N.p.

"British Medical Journal". BMJ 1.905 (1878): 646-657. Web.

Cleland, John. Memoirs Of A Woman Of Pleasure. 1st ed. London: [publisher not identified], 1766. Print.

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Cook, John. An Anatomical And Mechanical Essay On The Whole Animal Oeconomy. 1st ed. London: Printed for W. Meadows at the Angel in Cornhill, 1730. Print.

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Dictionnaire Portatif Des Arts Et Metiers: Contenant En Abrégé L'histoire, La Description Et La Police Des Arts Et Métiers, Des Fabriques Et Manufactures De France Et Des Pays Étrangers. 1st ed. Paris: Lacombe, 1766. Print.

Drake, James and Judith Drake. Anthropologia Nova. 1st ed. London: 178, 1707. Print.

FREIND, John and Jean DEVAUX. Emmenologie; Ou, Traité De L'évacuation Ordinaire Aux Femmes ... Traduction Françoise Par J. Devaux. 1st ed. Paris: N.p., 1730. Print.

Furetiere Antoine. Le Roman Bourgeois. 1st ed. [Place of publication not identified]: Nabu Press, 1619-1688, Print.

Hamilton, Alexander. Outlines Of The Theory And Practice Of Midwifery.. 1st ed. London: Printed for T. Kay, NO. 332. Strand, 1791. Print.

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Hickey, William, and Peter Quennell. Memoirs Of William Hickey. 1st ed. London: Century Pub., 1984. Print.James, R. A Medicinal Dictionary. 1st ed. London: Printed for T. Osborne, 1743. Print.

Laguna, 1687, opera anatomica et physiologica, 1687

Lenton, Francis. Lenton's Characters: Or, Witty And Ingenious Descriptions Of Severall Professions, Presented To All Judicious Readers. Written For His Owne, And Now Published For Others Recreation. 1st ed. London: Printed for Richard Harper, in Smithfield, near tae Hospitall Gate, 1653. Print.

Mandeville, Bernard. A Treatise Of The Hypochondriack And Hysterick Diseases. In Three Dialogues. By B. Mandeville, M.D. 1st ed. London: Printed for J. Tonson, 1730. Print.

MAUBRAY, John. The Female Physician, Containing All The Diseases Incident To That Sex, In Virgins, Wives And Widows ... To Which Is Added, The Whole Art Of New Improv'd Midwifery, Etc. 1st ed. London: N.p., 1724. Print.

Payne, J., Physician.,. The Ladies Physical Directory. 1st ed. London: Printed, 1742. Print.Biographium Fæmineum. 1st ed. London 1766. Print. 

Relation de Rosalie la Morlière, servante à la Conciergerie, Gaulot, Paul. Récits Des Grands Jours De L'histoire. 1st ed. Paris: H. Gautier. Print.

Riksarkivet Stockholm, Göta Hovrätt Arkiv, Handlingar Rörande Trolldom och vidskepelse

Rivière, Lazare and William Carr. The Universal Body Of Physick. 1st ed. London: Printed for Henry Eversden ..., 1657. Print.

Sharp, Jane. The Compleat Midwife's Companion: Or, The Art Of Midwifry Improv'd ... Fourth Edition. 1st ed. London: N.p., 1725. Print.

TAGLIAZUCCHI, Girolamo. Poesie E Orazione Di G. Tagliazucchi. 1st ed. Pp. 108. Bergamo: N.p., 1757. Print.

The Female Physician, John Maubray, 1725

vol. 1, 1699, Småland, Kalmar’s county, hundred of Sevede, farmhand Nils Gummundsom vs Kerstin Persdotter

Wenckh, Caspar and Johann Baptist Haas. Dispvtatio Philosophica De Praecipva Passione Mobilis. 1st ed. Dilingae: Rem, 1622. Print.

Woolley, Hannah and T. P. The Accomplish'd Ladies Delight In Preserving, Physick, Beautifying And Cookery.. 1st ed. London: Printed for Benjamin Harris, at the Stationers Arms and Anchor, in the Piazza at the Royal Exchange, in Cornhil, 1683. Print.

 

Secondary Sources

Berkowitz, Eric. Sex & Punishment. 1st ed. London: Westborne Press, 2012. Print.

Delaney, Janice, Mary Jane Lupton, and Emily Toth. The Curse. 1st ed. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1988. Print.

Smith, Virginia. Clean. 1st ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009. Print.

Van Gent, Jacqueline. Magic, Body, And The Self In Eighteenth-Century Sweden. 1st ed. Leiden: Brill, 2009. Print.

"Versailles". BBC, 2015. TV programme.