Menstrual hygiene’s practical burdens transform girls’ bodily revulsion into chronic anxiety about discovery

Evidence

And once the first surprise has passed, the monthly unpleasantness does not fade away at all: each time, the girl finds the same disgust when faced by this unappetizing and stagnant odor that comes from herself—a smell of swamps and wilted violets—this less red and more suspicious blood than that flowing from children’s cuts and scratches. Day and night she has to think of changing her protection, watching her underwear, her sheets, and solving a thousand little practical and repugnant problems; in thrifty families sanitary napkins are washed each month and take their place among the piles of handkerchiefs; this waste coming out of oneself has to be delivered to those handling the laundry: the laundress, servant, mother, or older sister. The types of bandages pharmacies sell in boxes named after flowers, Camellia or Edelweiss, are thrown out after use; but while traveling, on vacation, or on a trip it is not so easy to get rid of them, the toilet bowl being specifically prohibited. The young heroine of the Psychoanalytical Journal described her horror of the sanitary napkin; she did not even consent to undress in front of her sister except in the dark during these times. This bothersome, annoying object can come loose during violent exercise; it is a worse humiliation than losing one’s knickers in the middle of the street: this horrid possibility sometimes brings about fits of psychasthenia. By a kind of ill will of nature, indisposition and pain often do not begin until the initial bleeding—often hardly noticed—has passed; young girls are often irregular: they might be surprised during a walk, in the street, at friends’; they risk—like Mme de Chevreuse—dirtying their clothes or their seat; such a possibility makes one live in constant anxiety. The greater the young girl’s feeling of revulsion toward this feminine defect, the greater her obligation to pay careful attention to it so as not to expose herself to the awful humiliation of an accident or a little word of warning. — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 750

Categorization

• XREF: Pairs with later chapters’ account of women’s bodily alienation; also echoes shame dynamics reminiscent of Iris Marion Young’s ‘Throwing Like a Girl’ phenomenology. — connects to: Factual knowledge about birth cannot override visceral dread for girls; Girls’ body disgust can escalate into eating disorders and psychosis — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 739; Puberty’s bodily changes alienate the girl from herself and the world — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 835 (+5 more)
• ADDENDUM: Supports the article on sacrifice/complaints about the body by showing how bodily functions are socially hidden and treated as defiling.

Broader Connections

• Girls’ symptoms arise from their situation rather than a mysterious feminine soul #expands (0.85) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 712
• Puberty’s bodily changes alienate the girl from herself and the world #qualifies (0.78) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex, 835
• Severe psychological stress can cause chronic menstruation that resolves with relocation #corroborates (0.72) — Moustafa Bayoumi, How Does It Feel to Be a Problem? Being…, 672