35: Pre-Tampon vs Post Tampon World: The Dark History of Menstruation
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This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Most of you listening right now are probably multitasking. Yep, while you're listening to me talk, you're probably also driving, cleaning, exercising, or maybe even grocery shopping. But if you're not in some kind of moving vehicle, there's something else you could be doing right now. Getting an auto quote from Progressive Insurance.

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What are your self-care non-negotiables? The things you know make you feel better, even when it's impossible to make time for them. Like that workout you try to squeeze in between kids' activities, work, and everything else you have going on, and before you know it, it gets pushed to tomorrow.

Sound familiar? But it's the moments when you feel like you have no time for yourself when those non-negotiables are more important than ever. Those are the things that keep you strong, healthy, motivated, and prepared to take on everything life demands of you. So why not make therapy one of them?

BetterHelp Online Therapy makes it easy to get started with affordable phone, video, or live chat sessions you can do from anywhere, and the option to message your therapist between sessions if anything comes up. Never skip therapy day with BetterHelp. Visit betterhelp.com slash darkhistory today to get 10% off your first month. That's betterhelp, H-E-L-P dot com slash darkhistory.

Hi friends, I hope you're having a wonderful day today. How are you? How's it going? My name is Bailey Sarian and I'd like to welcome you to the Library of Dark History. This is a safe space for all the curious cats out there who think, hey, is history really as boring as it seemed in school? Oh, nay nay. This is where we can learn together about all the dark, mysterious, dramatic stories our teachers maybe didn't teach us in school.

Maybe they didn't want us to learn it. I don't know. We didn't learn interesting topics in school, let's be honest. It was all just like bullshit. Okay, whatever. Today's topic is kind of fun. It's fun. It's uncomfortable, but it's fun. And...

The inspiration came because, you know, there's been a lot of talk about women's bodies in the news lately. Not even lately, just since forever. I mean, from pop culture to politics, us ladies and our reproductive bits are always making headlines. Our bodies are always up for conversation. It's very bizarre, isn't it? And the headlines, they really aren't that great.

But they did get me thinking about how no one really ever likes to talk about periods and maybe menstruation. Oh yeah, I said it, menstruation. Or if someone does talk about menstruation or periods, people always say something like, oh, it's that time of the month or like, she's just on the rag. I don't think anyone says that as much anymore, but it definitely was a thing. I call it getting my oil changed.

I think it's fun. It's cute. I love it. Getting my oil changed. Yeah.

It makes sense. It's just a gross way to avoid talking about women going through something that's completely normal and human. I mean, how dare we bleed? How dare we? You know? And like, it's just funny because I don't know about you guys, but I get really, really bad cramps. It feels like somebody's ripping my insides out. It's not pleasant. It's not fun. I do not like it. I give it like one out of five stars. But I would pay nothing.

good money for just all men one day to experience really bad cramps. I would just want just one day so they could understand that. Can I have the day off? Can I do nothing today? Is that okay? The cramps, the hormonal acne, the mood swings, the stress, the bloating.

It's not fun. No one wants to do this. We didn't choose this, okay? Besides all of this, it made me realize that I don't really know a lot about periods throughout history. Like I'm really curious about how did women handle their period or menstruation throughout time? What's it like in different cultures? Is it shameful? Is it praised? How is it viewed? And what did people use before tampons or like...

What did they use before pads? What did they... How did they... Could you imagine being in, like, the 1800s? What were they doing? They had all those layers of clothes. It's probably hot. It's stinky. You're bleeding. I'm... Look, that's... I'm kind of... We're kind of spoiled. I don't want to say spoiled, but, you know, like, we're lucky that we're not in that situation. But then again, I also know that in different cultures, it's not the same. So...

Today, we are going to be talking about menstruation. So buckle in and get ready to be uncomfortable, okay? Because we're gonna learn, it's normal. This is what happens. So look, I started doing some research and right away I found out that on average, women spend about seven years of their lives menstruating. Oh, little side note here. If you wanna play a game, every time I say menstruation, menstruating, menstruation. If I say menstruation or menstruating,

Take a shot. But if you die, is that a liability? Okay, well, it could be fun. Anyways, seven years of our lives we spend menstruating, which is just a waste of time if you ask me, but whatever.

I mean, that's how long it takes people to become a doctor, right? And it's like, wow. And even in our advanced, quote unquote, society, menstruation still feels uncomfortable and embarrassing to talk about at times. So yeah, we're gonna talk about it and I'm gonna get those answers to all of my burning questions. That's right, baby. This was all my idea. I wanted to do the dark history of menstruation.

Let's dive right in. There's a chapter in my book all about it. Okay, opened up my book here to the chapter about menstruation. It should be fun, shouldn't it? Let's go. Menstruation! Men-stration!

Okay, so look, a lot of these times with these stories, I like to go back to the very beginning. But this one is a bit different because what is the beginning? What's step one? I don't know. Because women have been menstruating since human beings have been walking the earth, right? Well, at least, yes.

Not only has it been around forever, but it affects half the population across the globe. So safe to say there's a lot to discuss here and there's a lot we actually have in common. But we won't be able to cover it all, obviously. But today, you know, I just want to like scratch the surface, learn some fun facts, talk about it. I'm going to start the story where I started my research. When did menstruation start to catch a bad rap? You

You know, like when people use it against you, like, are you on your period? You're like, shut the fuck up, Brad. Anyway, so before the year 3000 BCE, a ton of human tribes and communities were matriarchies. Matriarchies were where women were front and center. Women were the head of the household. They held the position of power and people mostly worshiped

You know, the goddesses. Now in these communities, women made their own choice and had full control over their bodies. Now because of all that, this time was kind of considered the golden age of being a woman, a lady. But then human society got flipped on its head and like everything changed.

Human tribes and communities went from being, you know, women in charge, this flip-flop, right, to men in charge. I guess men just decided they wanted to take over. They claimed their space, as they do, and they did, which is a bummer. It's a bummer for us because everything seemed to be going just fine.

It seems. Women in these societies were building families and interacting with community members every day while the men were out hunting wild animals and finding food and, you know,

Yeah. Anyway, even though goddesses remained important to some cultures for thousands of years after this, they too became less of a focal point and a growing number of warrior figures and male gods started to be worshiped instead. So men had the power now, and one way they were able to hold onto it was by tearing women down. I mean, that's how they keep the top. And their main strategy for that was telling women that menstruation, something that again, happens naturally,

was yucky, it was gross, and it was a point of shame, okay? And this is when shame enters the picture. If someone is constantly being told that there's something wrong with their body, like we experienced today, of course, it's going to mess with their head and you're going to believe it

Ew, I am different. This is weird. And you start to be filled with shame. You get it. We get it. We've been there. Now, to be completely fair, having men in charge by definition isn't bad. But the way in which it had been established over the centuries –

Real bad. So as time went on, a whole bunch of different cultures continued to thrive. And since women all over the world and from all kinds of cultures get their period, we're going to see a bunch of those cultures and how in their own ways they weaponized menstruation and used it to control women. So let's start with ancient civilizations.

Now, when it comes to ancient times, not a ton of sources discuss menstruation. Why? Most historical accounts of ancient history were written by men. So it's not super easy to find much about how women and menstruation were viewed. And even the accounts we do have are like, they're a tad slanted. Let's start with one of the most studied ancient civilizations, the Greeks. Togepardy.

Now, okay, they were a society full of philosophers just questioning everything, questioning life. What is this? Why are we here? What are we doing?

What's up? What's for dinner? They were a bunch of incredible female philosophers, but only the men are household names, like Aristotle, I'm sure you're familiar maybe, who himself said, quote, as regards the sexes, the male is by nature superior and the female inferior. Great, we like that. Anyway, with all those philosophers around, they started to ponder why women menstruate, which is a great question. Their answer, mm-hmm.

Some Greeks thought women menstruated because their skin is soft and spongy. Therefore, you bleed. But this made me wonder if the ancient Romans got it any better. So during ancient Roman times, menstruating women were linked to mystery, magic, and sorcery. Oh yeah, that sounds way more fun. We're like wizards. You're a wizard, Harry.

In the year 77 AD, a Roman author named Pliny, the elder wrote an encyclopedia called The Natural History. In this encyclopedia, he explained a theory, and this is so funny, that a naked menstruating lady could stop hailstorms and lightning from happening. Oh yeah. Not only this, she could protect crops from insects.

Oh yeah, so next time there's a rainstorm, let's get butt ass naked and go outside and do our wizard shit. Who's with me? I don't know if this is creepy or badass. Either way, I like that I'm a wizard. I'm not sure. But Pliny wasn't the only one who thought about women's bodies. It was happening all over the world around the same time. I mean, let's be honest here, who isn't thinking about women's bodies?

So let's head over to the Americas for a hot minute and see what was going on over there. So like the Greeks and Romans, the ancient Mayan civilization had their own mythology, and this included a moon goddess. Oh yeah. Now this lunar babe represented femininity, sexuality, and fertility, which sounds great.

while the Mayans believed menstruation was a result of the moon goddess being saucy. The story goes that after she slept with the sun god, her menstrual blood was stored in a bunch of jars, and then it just magically turned into snakes, poison, and diseases. The blood, that is. They could have like said, hey, it turns into cupcakes and lollipops, but they didn't. They were like...

Look, death, murder, snakes, meh, meh. It was a choice. A choice was made. So we start to see in the ancient civilizations how religion influenced a society's view of menstruation. And this was definitely carried through to some more modern religions. And we see this really kick off when a book came out that people were really into. It was a bestseller long before the New York Times lists were even a thing. I'm talking about the Bible.

Hey, the Bible, bitch. Oh, but let's pause for an ad break really quick. Hold on. BRB. This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Most of you listening right now are probably multitasking. Yep, while you're listening to me talk, you're probably also driving, cleaning, exercising, or maybe even grocery shopping. But if you're not in some kind of moving vehicle, there's something else you could be doing right now. Getting an auto quote from Progressive Insurance.

It's easy and you can save money by doing it from your phone. Drivers who save by switching to Progressive save nearly $750 on average. And auto customers qualify for an average of seven discounts. Discounts for having multiple vehicles on your policy, being a homeowner and more.

So just like your favorite podcast, Progressive will be with you 24, 7, 365 days a year. So you're protected no matter what. Multitask right now. Quote your car insurance at Progressive.com to join the over 28 million drivers who trust Progressive.

This is an ad by BetterHelp. What?

What are your self-care non-negotiables? The things you know make you feel better, even when it's impossible to make time for them. Like that workout you try to squeeze in between kids' activities, work, and everything else you have going on, and before you know it, it gets pushed to tomorrow.

Sound familiar? But it's the moments when you feel like you have no time for yourself when those non-negotiables are more important than ever. Those are the things that keep you strong, healthy, motivated, and prepared to take on everything life demands of you. So why not make therapy one of them?

BetterHelp Online Therapy makes it easy to get started with affordable phone, video, or live chat sessions you can do from anywhere, and the option to message your therapist between sessions if anything comes up. Never skip therapy day with BetterHelp.

Visit BetterHelp.com slash Dark History today to get 10% off your first month. That's BetterHelp, H-E-L-P dot com slash Dark History. Before we get into it, I want to let you know that I'm not coming for religion in any way, shape, or form. It doesn't matter to me who you pray to. If you find support, comfort, and happiness in religion...

Great. You know, as long as you're a good person, kind to others, what you do ain't none of my goddamn business. That all said, religion seems to be a little, let's say, obsessed with us. They're obsessed with women. So I was not surprised to find out that menstruation and reproduction have been intertwined with religion forever. I mean, literally.

For Hebrews, it all goes back to the Garden of Eden. If you don't know, this is where the biblical story of Adam and Eve took place, not the sex store, the real Adam and Eve. In this story, God was like, I'd like to create someone in my own image and likeness. So God created Adam and put him in this cute little garden. So of course, because Adam's alone, he got bored. He's like, this is boring. So God took one of Adam's ribs and used it to make a companion for him.

Her name was Eve. Nice. So Adam and Eve were just kind of walking around the garden, butt naked, just vibing. And when Eve grabbed, well, look, I'm giving a summary here, so don't come for me. But Eve, she grabbed some fruit off a tree and she takes a bite. Now, she wasn't supposed to take a bite of this fruit, but we get hungry sometimes, okay? Look, whatever. And this poor girl, she just wanted a snack, okay? Okay.

But little did she know, this changed everything because Eve had eaten forbidden fruit from the tree of knowledge. Oh shit, Eve. And after Eve's naughty snack time, God banished humans from the garden, evil crept into the world, and things got ugly. It's even written in the first book of the Bible that God said to Eve, quote, "'I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing.'"

With pain, sorry, I'm laughing because that's so rude. With pain, you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband and he will rule over you, end quote. To this day, everyone blames E for all the world's problems. Even though Adam, he chomped some of that forbidden fruit too, but whatever.

And ancient Hebrews used this story to maintain control over women. It also didn't help that in their religion, childbirth and menstruation were considered unclean. Not like, ew, that's messy, but unclean as in impure or morally wrong.

It's kind of like a sign that like Eve ate the fruit. It's like a reminder of that. We're being punished. It's weird because they're telling women to be fruitful and multiply, but the natural process to allow that to happen is frowned upon. It's like, make up your damn minds, you guys. My God.

So later in the Bible, it says that whenever a woman menstruates, she's unclean for seven days and anyone who touches her becomes unclean. And anything she sits on or lies down on becomes also unclean. This would eventually be known as menstrual pollution. Yeah, we're polluting everything. And it's an insane belief that has been around for many centuries. And that misinformation pops up in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Ssss.

Speaking of Islam, I wonder what they would have to say about menstruation.

What are their thoughts? Let's find out. Did you know that 1.9 billion people practice Islam? That is literally 25% of earth. And people who practice Islam are called Muslims. Within Islam, there is a holy month of fasting called Ramadan. This is the most sacred time of the year in Islam. And during Ramadan, people don't eat or drink a thing from sunup to sundown. Everyone must follow this mandate, but there are a few exceptions.

One of these exceptions is women and girls who are on their period. But I found out it's really not that simple. Menstruating women don't have to be a part of prayer rituals or fasting because they're thought of as, quote, less pure. And they also have to make up for the days of fasting they missed. Now, on top of this, it puts these women in a freaking awkward position because if they do eat publicly, they'll be shamed for not fasting.

So to recap, if a Muslim woman is menstruating during Ramadan, they don't have to fast. But if they eat, they're shamed for not following the fasting rules. Talk about confusing. But they're not supposed to follow the rules because they're menstruating. And of course, they're not comfortable telling everyone that because they've been told it's impure. It's just a loose-loose situation. And bitch, I'm hungry. Ha ha ha.

Just kidding. And because it's a hugely important holy month, sorry for making a joke about it, this makes some Muslim women feel dirty or ashamed of something that, again, I've said, you know, a couple times now, that's totally natural. And even though their bodies were doing what they're supposed to do, this is just what it does. The woman couldn't help but feel like

Outcasts. This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Most of you listening right now are probably multitasking. Yep, while you're listening to me talk, you're probably also driving, cleaning, exercising, or maybe even grocery shopping. But if you're not in some kind of moving vehicle, there's something else you could be doing right now. Getting an auto quote from Progressive Insurance.

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Your cash back really adds up. So this whole feeling like an outcast vibe reminded me of a rumor I once heard. That in some cultures, women were sent away to stay in like little houses until their bleeding was over. But there's actually some historical accuracy behind this little hut situation. And it's called menstrual seclusion. Mm-hmm.

Hmm. Now it's not all bad, but unfortunately there are some cultures where it turns horrible and deadly, but let's start with the good first. Yeah, that's different. Good. Well, there's a ton of examples of menstruation being weaponized to dominate women. And there are also some groups who viewed it as a point of pride. Being able to have a child was a form of power. No matter how the egg is fertilized, a woman's womb creates the conditions to create life.

It's an incredible thing. And menstruation is a sign of that power. So it makes sense to respect this power. Meet the Ojibwe. They are one of the biggest indigenous groups. Now they have tribes up in Quebec Island.

Canada all the way to Montana. And they have something called the Berry Fast, which is a really cool fasting ritual for girls who are experiencing their first period. When Ojibwe girls begin their first menstrual cycle, they stop eating strawberries. I know it's weird. Yeah, I don't know, but they do. And they wouldn't eat it for a full year. And during this year, the older woman in the tribe would impart a lot of wisdom onto the girls. It was like a moment to share stories.

and pass on their knowledge. Now, a huge part of this ritual were these little houses made of wood that the female elders made. These houses allowed the girls to live away from the tribe while they were menstruating every month. Now, initially, this might be sending up some red flags for you, like, "Meh, I don't know about that," and I get it, but think of it more as like a spiritual retreat. The houses were meant to be a safe haven for personal reflection.

In this little space, girls had alone time. No sexual expectations, no cooking, no religious stuff. It was a time for self-care. These houses are also where other women in the tribe, friends, and family checked in on the girl to see if she needed anything. Plus, the older women would come over and drop knowledge, share their stories, share anything, you know?

But how did people know if the girl needed to be checked on? Well, in their community, they'd hang branches of cedar on the door. Now, if the cedar was missing, it was a sign for other women to visit and check in. And I like this story because it involves communication, storytelling, and I love that. In so many other male-dominated cultures and traditions, menstruation is so taboo that like nobody talks about it.

While the Ojibwe aren't shouting it from the rooftops, we see communication entering the picture. Everyone's on the same page. They understand what's going on. And that's important because you've got to remember what it was like to start puberty. It's a time of uncertainty and your body's changing. It's just a fucking weird time. It just messes with you. Today, the Ojibwe honor the past, but the Berry Fast has evolved.

Girls and women don't live in their own structures anymore. They just step away from the family and public commitments for a bit. And after a girl has her first period, there's a big party where the community celebrates. The girl gets some gifts. She gives some gifts. Strawberries are served to her to mark the end of the berry fast. Keeping these traditions alive is just beyond important to them. And honestly, doesn't it sound like such a great idea to like

I'm bleeding. I'm going to go to my hut. I love, I want to, can we, can we do that? That's not self-reflection, tell stories, gossip. Oh, come on. So this is an example of a very happy cultural tradition. But of course there's always the not so happy history story.

show side of things, you know? In the country of Nepal, menstruating women are forced to live alone in a hut. They practice something called chapati. That's fun to say, chapati. And it's something that is going on to this very day. When women in this culture are menstruating, they are considered, once again, impure.

There's that word again. All this is tied to Hindu beliefs and how important purity is. Hinduism is the main religion practiced in Nepal and dictates a lot of the day today. If a group practices chapati, women can't go to church. They can't clean themselves with communal water or use other people's kitchen utensils while they're on their period.

These women are also forced to leave their homes and live in huts made from either mud or rock. Now when I think of hut, I always think of pizza, but also I think of like okay there's a place to sleep, maybe there's a window, maybe there's like somewhere to like stand and cook.

But not here. These huts are about the size of a closet. Not to mention it's very cold in Nepal. It's guaranteed that a couple women who are going through this practice die every year. If it's not the freezing cold temperatures, they could die from the fire they have to build to survive in their tiny hut. And then there's also the threat of...

wild animal attacks because these women have no protection while they're out there. It's not like the Ojibwe where the whole community is like looking out for these women, kind of they have each other's back and it's unfortunate, right? And if that's not enough for you, there's also reports of men who sexually assault the women while they are alone and unprotected.

Fucking gross. Now, the government of Nepal made chapati illegal in 2018, but many women are still expected to do it. A survey done by the government of Nepal found that almost one-fifth of women between 14 and 49 still follow chapati. In other regions of the country, the number is as high as

In 2019, a 35-year-old woman named Aba Buhara, apologies if I mispronounced, she died during the practice. She and her children were just trying to stay warm by building a fire, but because her hut had no windows, she suffocated and died.

In the same year she died, two women made history by entering a Hindu temple in India. Now this temple historically did not allow women inside who were of menstruating age, which is like 10 to 50 years old.

But the Supreme Court in India overturned that ban, but it pissed a lot of people off. It sparked months of protests where women were attacked and tear gas was used by police. Still, the two women entered and, of course, temple officials said they defiled the place. It's just another prime example of that whole menstrual pollution idea that we had talked about earlier. They came in and they contaminated the place.

How dare you? So menstruation is a global thing that's been around forever. We've touched on that. Yes, we did. But all of this gives us a little look into how menstruation has been viewed back in history, as well as how it's celebrated by different cultures. But how did women handle the period itself? I mean, they had to have like cramps,

Emotions, bloating, the bleeding. Like what were the actual logistics of having a period back in the day? I wanna know. This episode is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Most of you listening right now are probably multitasking.

Yep, while you're listening to me talk, you're probably also driving, cleaning, exercising, or maybe even grocery shopping. But if you're not in some kind of moving vehicle, there's something else you could be doing right now. Getting an auto quote from Progressive Insurance. It's easy and you can save money by doing it from your phone. Drivers who save by switching to Progressive save nearly $750 on average. And auto customers qualify for an average of seven discounts.

discounts for having multiple vehicles on your policy, being a homeowner, and more. So just like your favorite podcast, Progressive will be with you 24-7, 365 days a year, so you're protected no matter what. Multitask right now. Quote your car insurance at Progressive.com to join the over 28 million drivers who trust Progressive.

Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates. National average 12-month savings of $744 by new customer survey who saved with Progressive between June 2022 and May 2023. Potential savings will vary. Discounts not available in all states and situations. This is an ad by BetterHelp. What are your self-care non-negotiables? The things you know make you feel better even when it's impossible to make time for them.

Like that workout you try to squeeze in between kids' activities, work, and everything else you have going on, and before you know it, it gets pushed to tomorrow. Sound familiar? But it's the moments when you feel like you have no time for yourself when those non-negotiables are more important than ever. Those are the things that keep you strong, healthy, motivated, and prepared to take on everything life demands of you. So why not make therapy one of them?

BetterHelp Online Therapy makes it easy to get started with affordable phone, video, or live chat sessions you can do from anywhere, and the option to message your therapist between sessions if anything comes up. Never skip therapy day with BetterHelp. Visit betterhelp.com slash darkhistory today to get 10% off your first month. That's betterhelp, H-E-L-P dot com slash darkhistory.

In a bunch of ancient cultures like Aztec and Korean, historians say women would do vaginal steams. So maybe Gwyneth Paltrow and Goop were onto something. Remember that? But anyways, how this worked was a pot of water was brought to a boil and women would kind of like stand over it to give their lady bits a steam treatment.

Yeah. Among other health benefits, it was believed to ease menstrual pain. Have you tried it? Let me know down below. I'm kind of actually curious because I hear really bad cramps and I'll stand over a pot of burning water if I have to. I will. In ancient Egypt, a mix of honey and cannabis would be ground up and inserted directly into the baby maker to deal with cramps. Have you tried that? Let me know.

Down to try that as well. The early Greeks used plants like motherwort to help with anxiety and period pain. And fun fact, people still use motherwort today to help with menopause. Natural remedies like this continued through the middle ages when women turned to things like lemon and caraway seeds to help with the pain.

Native Americans used the root of a plant called black cohosh as a sedative and reliever of menstrual issues. This too eventually made its way into Western medicine. But for hundreds of years, the best solution on the market was opium.

Yeah. From the Greeks to the Benedictine monks, this drug made from the seeds of poppy plants was used all over the world. And this shit worked, okay? It was so strong and effective that a synthetic version of opium shows up in drugs all over the world today in things like heroin and oxycodone. So that's how the situation that was going on inside the body were handled. But what was happening outside the body? What about, what about that?

You know, periods aren't just about cramps, headaches. There's blood, right? Great. And sometimes there's lots of it. So what did they do? How did they handle the situation? I like to break this down into two time periods, pre and post the invention of tampons.

Welcome to the pre-tampon era. Have you ever heard of the Greek philosopher Hypatia? Well, she's a badass. And she's also considered the first female mathematician. You go, girl. But there's a story that says a man was bothering the hell out of her, okay? And he would not leave her alone. He was just bugging her, bugging her, bugging her. So what did she do?

Well, she happened to be on her period and she took off her menstrual cloth and threw it at him. Very effective. Now this story tells us a couple of things. One, our girl could stand up for herself. And two, Roman women probably used cloth to soak up menstrual blood. Historians also know that around this time, African and Australian women were making bandages made of grass and vegetable fiber for the same reasons.

Yeah, grass and vegetable fiber. Ouch. I just feel like that would chafe. So in addition to menstrual cloths, the Middle Ages brought all kinds of things to help hide the fact that women were on their period.

Because remember, this is the idle ages and shame is all the rage. Some women would carry around little bags of sweet smelling herbs to counteract the smell of the situation. One of the more unique beliefs at the time drove some women to burn a toad and wear the ashes around their waist to ease a heavy flow. This is a situation. What?

How? How did they get to that conclusion? I am going to burn a toad and wear the ashes around my waist to help with my period. That's wild. Burn a toad, put the ashes. I don't know.

Back then, you had to get creative, and that's what they settled on, and it worked for them. From then until the 1800s, women all over the world would simply walk around wearing rags of various types. And that's, you've heard that term, when someone is on the rag, that's what it comes from, because literally women were using different types of rags. But later in the 1800s, ladies started putting rubber in their underwear to collect blood. Step one,

Find rubber. You gotta get a toad. You gotta get rubber. I mean, we really are wizards. We are wizards with this shit. We make shit disappear because we put it up there and say, they would get rubber, put it in the underwear, collect blood. Great. Now this is the kind of the first example of what we would know today as a menstrual cup. So through 1880s, women all over the world were doing it for themselves, you know, like super DIY things.

They had to come up with it themselves. You get it. The Museum of Menstruation, yes, real place, road trip, let's go, said women used to make their own pads and some were even washable. But that tended to be a little bit more expensive. So most women just use their clothes to absorb the blood, which was easier to do back then because they had petticoats and bigger dresses to cover everything up underneath. Doesn't mean it was comfortable, but it worked.

I think they should go back to the toad idea. I'm really into that one. Kind of want to try it. And up until 1925, some women in the United States would wear this thing that resembled a diaper. It was made of flannel and was uncomfortable as hell. Still, what other option did they have? So they washed it and reused it. They reused this like diaper thing. That was your only option. You had no other option. What are you supposed to do?

You get frowned on if you bleed all over the place, but there's no good option. Yeah. Anyways, sometimes I think we should just all get together. We should all just stop wearing pads and stuff and just free bleed everywhere and just ruin everyone's day. And maybe then, maybe then we could get something like, I don't know, a day off. Who's with me? I'll get the toads. Toad party.

Okay, so not only did these women have to continually wash their bloody clothes, they had to hide the fact that they were even on their period. Because remember, it's gross and it's shameful and you're a woman. You're being pressured into believing that women who hid their menstruation were more ladylike, more hygienic, right? She doesn't bleed. That's not a thing. No.

So women have this fear of discovery deeply ingrained. And maybe you feel it now because I remember back in like middle school when everyone was getting their periods, it was so embarrassing. Like you didn't want anybody to know and you were trying to be so quiet. Why are we so fucked up? I don't know. And as we have learned on the series, fear can be used to make people a lot of money. Tick.

By the end of the 1800s, there were a bunch of concerns about bacteria and if women were cleaning their reusable menstrual cloth appropriately. So this created what we know today as the feminine hygiene market.

So between 1854 and 1915, 20 patents were filed for menstrual products. This included the first formal menstrual cups and something called Lister's Towels, which actually paved the way for maxi pads. So there were also these things called Hoosier belts.

It was a pad that was attached to a belt that women wore around their waist. And these belts kept the pad in place. And some of the stuff was just sold door to door, like knock, knock, hello, who's there? Hi, miss.

Perfect stranger, but I want to talk about your vagina. And thankfully, menstrual products started to be advertised in catalogs around the 1890s. Now around this time, specifically 1896, Johnson & Johnson was manufacturing sanitary napkins. I hate that word more than anything. Sanitary napkins. Shut the fuck up. But they were taken off the market because advertising something like this was considered socially immoral.

Shame. Shame. Shame. Then during World War I, French nurses found out that bandages used to stop soldiers from bleeding out and dying could actually be used for women while they're on their period. I mean, they were super absorbent. And these bandages were made of a wood pulp called cellucotton.

So these cloth diapers and all those rags were like on their way out. And the timing for all these developments was perfect because more women were entering the workforce and they didn't want to lose out on jobs by staying home. Believe

bleeding, you know? So this is when attitudes about menstrual products started to change. It was no longer about hiding women away during their period. Companies had to figure out a way to keep them involved and productive. And in 1927, along came a woman named Lillian Gilbreth.

She was a pioneering psychologist and industrial engineer hired by Johnson & Johnson to study how to sell feminine hygiene products. Now, after interviewing thousands of women, she learned a ton about size, fit,

and preferences. Most products were too large with like rigid edges and most ladies preferred smaller, discreet packaging because we're embarrassed. Her work inspired marketing campaigns centered on young women maintaining their innocence while separating menstruation from sex.

It also positioned menstrual products as something that allows girls to continue active lifestyles. Lillian's findings were used by companies to overcome public perception that menstrual products were embarrassing. And thank God, okay? And a lot of her work forged the way into a post-tampon world. On October 15th, 1937, a historic day in American history, not even in world history,

The Tampax company introduced the tampon to the world. This should be a national holiday, shouldn't it? I think it should. And now we have arrived to the post-tampon world. So I had to Google really quick, were tampons made by a man or a woman? Because I was just curious, you know. Tampons were made by a man, but the company Tampax-

Women owned. The ad was geared toward active ladies aged 13 to 45, and it had a very medical vibe to establish a certain amount of trust. But what this ad also did was lean into something women have been craving forever.

Independence. And word of mouth spread like wildfire. But like all revolutions, there was opposition. Because the idea of a woman touching herself, it honestly scared the shit out of people. Even if it's just to place a tampon up there so she can go on about her day, it was like, ooh, can she do that? We don't know. That's a little weird.

Now before we go further, it's worth mentioning that early versions of tampons were documented in Europe as early as 17 and 1800s, but they weren't specifically geared to menstruation. In the late 1800s, a gynecologist described eight particular uses for a tampon. The very last thing on the list, the absorption of vaginal and uterine discharges.

But with the invention of the modern tampon, it jumped to number one use. So tampons are crushing it. They're like, yeah, we're here, we're here, we're absorbing, fuck yeah. And in 1969, a company called Stay Free brought a game-changing version to the maxi pad to the market. Now, maxi pads are just another term for that nasty word sanitary napkins or menstrual pads, right?

So this company didn't invent them per se, but Stay Free had the bright idea to add adhesive strips to help secure the pad in place. Oh yeah, no more like diapers and belts and hoo-hahs, you know, you just place and go. Shortly after this in 1972, variations of the pad were created to address things like heavy and light flow.

Then in the 1980s, we started to see the modern maxi pad along with pads that had wings, you know, all the who's and who's ha, shoo, da, ooh, love it. It's just, there's so many options now.

The popularity of pads and tampons only increased as time went on, and the products continued to evolve. But along with these developments came some darker things, things that were both toxic and shocking. Now you know where we're going with this, don't you? We're going to pause for an ad break.

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And we're back. Hi. So right now, before we jump into the toxic shock syndrome conversation, I'm going to share a little story because I swear I thought I was going to die. Let me tell you. And look, nothing to be ashamed of. It happens. It happens. And it happened to me. Not TSS, but like

Here's my story. Let's do it because I'm vulnerable and embarrassing. One time I got a tampon stuck inside of me and I thought I was going to die because there's that warning label on the side of the tampon box where it's like, if you leave this shit in, you are going to die. You know, it's loud and clear. So one time I was drinking too much. Don't worry. It was, I was like, I was of age. I was like 22. Drinking too much. I tried to put another tampon up there and I shoved the other one in further and

Let me just tell you something. Let me just tell you something. It was, I had to go to Planned Parenthood. Shout out to Planned Parenthood. You guys are the real ones. And they had to use these big old fucking tongs, shove it up there, grab the tampon and yanked it out. It was the most embarrassing day of my life because it was like, I don't know why it was embarrassing, but it was embarrassing. I'll never forget. She showed me these huge tongs. It happens.

Don't be embarrassed, embrace it. And I didn't die. So in the early 1980s, a massive health issue broke on the news involving something called toxic shock syndrome or TSS.

TSS resulted from bacteria releasing a bunch of toxins linked to the use of synthetic menstrual products. So between 1979 and 1996, there were 5,000 cases of TSS reported. Most of the reports related to a tampon no longer on the market. Now since 1976, tampons had been considered by law to be a medical instrument.

But unlike other medical instruments, tampons and menstrual products had no real regulations. And the TSS outbreak really exposed this lack of regulation. So the Food and Drug Administration or FDA, they got involved to ensure the safety of tampons and that they were ingredients, were properly labeled and they were safe.

But awareness about TSS and the environmental concerns about tampon waste pushed consumer groups in the 1980s to find out more. And they did. Investigators found out that there was something in tampons called dioxin. Now, dioxin is super toxic and can cause reproductive issues, damage the immune system, and cause cancer. Well, shit.

How did something that dangerous get in there in the first place, deep inside of you? In there. Well, dioxin is created when wood pulp is turned into a synthetic fiber called rayon. Oh, rayon is in all of our clothes. Oh, we are so fucked. And tampons are also made of a combination of cotton and rayon. So up until the late 1990s, high levels of dioxin were found in tampons.

But then the FDA was like, hey, we should probably stop doing that. So they changed the process to get rid of the dioxin. But here's the thing. Dioxin is actually still found in tampons because...

That shit is everywhere. Manufacturers can't completely get rid of it. And even though the FDA requires tampon makers to monitor how much dioxin is in their products, the results are not made available to the public. So we just have to trust them that they're being honest. Cool. Because they've never lied to us.

Have they? But thankfully, there are advocates out there. Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney has been vocal about this issue since 1997. Now, she has put forward legislation to require manufacturers to be more transparent about what really goes into tampons, pad, and menstrual products nine freaking times. Most recently, a bill was introduced in 2019, but it still hasn't even passed.

Baby girl, Lisa, we've had periods forever, right? And we're in 2019 and still...

What are we doing? What are we doing? I say let's go back to the freaking toads. I'm still on that, okay? And she isn't even asking for anything crazy. She just wants companies to tell the public what materials they use and whatever contaminants, fragrances, dyes, preservatives there are in these items that are going in our bodies. The federal government can't get their shit together to pass legislation or maybe there's just no incentive to pass legislation because...

They don't give a fuck. Maybe that's because only 27% of Congress is female and that's an all time high. However, New York and California have passed legislation requiring companies to disclose all ingredients in menstrual products. The 48 other states, they're just sleeping or something. I don't know, they're busy. They're real busy. Okay, so you figured chemicals in the thing you put inside you to help you on your period would be bad enough.

But come on, you know, there's always more. Almost half of the world menstruates every month. And yet even in the United States, horrible stigma still push girls to feel uncomfortable talking about it. This stigma makes people treat menstruation like a dirty little secret. Women feel like they can't talk about it and therefore can't ask for help when they need it or have questions, stuff like that. And this has led to something called period poverty.

Period poverty happens when women can't afford menstrual products. Look, if you're not buying the menstrual products, you're not aware of how expensive it can be.

And this is a painful reality for millions of women across the globe that has very real consequences. For example, a survey sponsored by the menstrual product brand Always founded that in the United States, one in five girls miss school because of period poverty. Also in the United States, tampons and pads cannot be purchased with public assistance like food stamps, which makes no freaking sense.

And even though federal law considered them medical devices, they are not covered by health insurance or Medicaid. It makes no sense. Make it make sense. And

And we see similar stats all over the world. In Kenya, 65% of women say pads are just too pricey. Some Kenyan women report that they have to trade sex to get menstrual products. And it's a fact that period poverty disproportionately impacts low-income communities. Almost 13% of women and girls in the world struggle to access resources to help with menstrual management. So what hope is there?

Assistance can come in the form of getting rid of taxes on these products, known as the tampon tax. Yes, tampons have their own special tax. Do we ever catch a break? Why are we being punished? But getting rid of it would make them more accessible to the people who need them. In 2018, Scotland became the first country in the world to make menstrual products free to students and low-income families.

Yeah, we like that. England started doing the same thing in 2020 and countries like India, Australia, Canada, Ireland, Jamaica, Nicaragua, South Africa, Nigeria, Lebanon, Malaysia,

Columbia and a whole bunch of others have gotten rid of taxes for menstrual products. What about the United States? As of 2021, 30 states still have a tampon tax because they hate us. But thankfully, dedicated organizations like Period Equity, a national advocacy group, are working really, really hard to change that.

and we applaud them. So women have been told for literally thousands of years that we're dirty, we're bleeders. Well, you know what? And also that we're wizards. Wizard! Love that. Like, give me a break though. It's exhausting. And then on top of that, we get taxed more for it and we get treated like it's something that we signed up for. It's very bizarre, isn't it? Like, I don't know why it makes people so angry that they thought that maybe we can get these items for free. We didn't

We didn't choose to bleed, goddammit. None of us signed up for this. And if we all could get off this train, we would, okay? Why are we being harassed for bleeding? But societies have worked weirdly hard for centuries to convince us that our natural bodies are impure or unclean, and they're not.

I'm sorry, but they're not. Whether it's ancient mythology, religious practices, governments regulating female bodies, or just plain old batshit crazy theories, it all comes down to one thing. Suppressing the natural power of women through shame and embarrassment. So unsurprisingly, that has damaged the psyche of millions of women all over the world. And then...

They go off and make millions of dollars off that shame. In today's society, blood is everywhere. Sports, TV, movies. Did you watch Squid Games? That was fucked up, right? So gory. Texas Chainsaw Massacre. They came out with a new one. Did you see that?

Girl, so much blood, okay? And if a man gets a severe cut or like wound, we just like don't think it's gross or weird. We don't tell him to hide it because it's unmanly or unhygienic or maybe unpure. We rush and like help them. Yet when it comes to menstrual blood, it's weird to even talk about it. And honestly-

If you like bleed through your pants or something, it's so fucking embarrassing, right? And it shouldn't be, but it is. We are your sisters, your mothers, your aunts, your grandmothers. So let's all be better. Let's talk about it.

If you have your period, feel no shame. Share your story. Share your knowledge. And help someone out. I'm trying to think on how to close this, you guys. Because, look, what do we want? What is the end goal here? For me personally, I think my end goal is to be able to openly discuss our periods and not feel bad or shameful about it. Not feel gross. And...

Honestly, I think it should just, tampons and pads should be free for all. Don't come for me. I don't know why it's such a touchy subject, but it should be. None of us are choosing to have this. It just fucking happens. Give us a break, will you? It fucking hurts. Let me know what you think. What do you want from this? What is our end goal here? I would love to hear down below what you think. Yeah, what is our end goal?

Let's start discussing it because we need to evolve. We need to grow and we need to reclaim our fricking spot as top champions again.

You down? Who's down? I'm down. I'll bring the toads. Thank you for learning with me today. I hope you learned something new. Did you learn something new? I most certainly did. I learned that we women are pretty badass. We, our bodies are incredible, right? And we're fucking wizards. Like that's cool.

Remember, don't be afraid to ask questions to get the whole story. Be a curious cat, okay? Because you deserve that. I'd love to hear your guys' reaction to today's story. So make sure to use the hashtag dark history over on social media so I can follow along.

Join me over on my YouTube where you can watch these episodes on Thursday after the podcast airs and also catch my murder mystery makeup which drops every Monday. Down below if you can also recommend any kind of remedies for super bad cramps because your girl needs some recommendations. I hope you have a wonderful rest of your day. You make good choices and I'll be talking to you next week. Goodbye.

I'll get the toads, girl. I'll get the toads. Dark History is an Audioboom original. This podcast is executive produced by me, Bailey Sarian, Kim Jacobs, Dunya McNeely from 3Arts, Ed Simpson, and Claire Turner from Wheelhouse DNA. Produced by Lexi Kiven. Research provided by Tisha Dunstan.

Writers, Jed Bookout, Joey Scavuzzo, Kim Yeagid. And edited by Jim Lushi. A big special thank you to our historical consultants, Helen King and Shara Vostral, PhD, Professor of History, Purdue University. And I'm your host, Bailey Sarian. Thank you. We appreciate you. Goodbye. Dispatch, this is Mindy M. E. Flo.

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