In the recently released film Black Widow (2021), Florence Pugh’s character Yelena Belova punches Alexei (David Habour) with the back of her hand once they are settled in the helicopter. As a response, he asked “Why the aggression, huh? Is it your time of the month?”.
Eric Pearson, the screenwriter, explained that the joke was meant to play into Alexei’s character (1). The joke was then countered by Yelena’s explanation of forced hysterectomies which rendered those trained in the Red Room unable to have their period (2). While the scene aims to establish character and world-building, it, nevertheless, brings forth the perpetuating myth of the “irrational menstruator” in popular culture.
When scrolling through Instagram or TikTok, one often finds memes with similar themes regarding the experience of menstruation. For example, one particular meme shows an image of an angry dog and a menstruator with a note that says “will bite'” (3). Another popular image is the text that reads “menstruation, mental breakdown, and menopause all contain the word men” (3). While the purpose of the note is to point out the association between men and women’s oppression, it immediately links menstruation to a state of extreme emotional stress. Thus, in turn, the joke serves as an example of the depiction that all women go through emotional distress during their period. The media representation of the irritated and easily-angered menstruator can also be seen in comedy skits on Youtube portraying “every girl on their period ever”.
According to the media, the nasty mood of menstruators is not limited to the time they are menstruating, but is extended to the period immediately prior. Comedy skits also attribute the “irrational menstruator” experience to Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS). Despite PMS being a medical diagnosis encompassing physical and emotional changes in the days leading up to menstruation (4), phrases such as “Are you PMS-ing?” are often thrown around whenever a menstruator seems to become easily emotional.
Although the specifics vary, the perception of females as “emotional creatures” is historically intertwined with their reproductive physiology (5). For example, the intellectual capacity is thought to be limited and concentrated in the lower mental process, such as emotion and perceptual skills, because blood needs to be diverted away from the brain to the uterus (5). This explanation placed the female intellectual capacity as lesser than men (5). Thus, the depiction of the “irrational” menstruating experience feeds into the historical belief of menstruators as inferior due to their reproductive physiology. The emotional distress and anger in that depiction becomes a way to explain away how females are not able to make rational decisions on their periods. This representation of the menstruator can be extremely harmful in the workplace, and especially for females seeking higher positions. During the 2016 United States Presidential Election Campaign, a letter was sent to an editor of the Sun Gazette expressing, “They call us sexist just because we are critical of Hillary Clinton and her health. What if that time of month comes and she is sick at the same time?” (6).
While some women do experience emotional, behavioural and mood changes due to PMS or during their period, the experience of these changes have historically been exaggerated. At one point, these premenstrual/menstrual symptoms were used by the defense team in court (7). In 1982, when Sandie Smith was put on trial for using a knife to threaten a police officer, her lawyer explained that she turned “into a raging animal” each month (8). Christine English, who was tried for killing her lover, also used the explanation that she was in “an extremely aggravated form of premenstrual physical condition” (8). In both cases, these points were seen as mitigating circumstances (8). Whether these were strategic excuses used by the defense teams or the beliefs of the accused remains unknown. However, these examples depict the long-standing myth of the “irrational menstruator” and the extreme effects it can bring.
Although such stories are unlikely to occur in modern times, the myth of the “irrational menstruator” continues to carry harmful effects. For example, attributing a person’s emotional distress simply to their menstruating status dismisses their actual problems or mental state (9). Imagine this.
You are sitting with your friends at lunch as you begin to express how irritated you have become lately due to a certain person you have encountered. You continue to explain why you find their behvaiour infuriating, especially during a busy week at work such as this one. As you get lost in the discussion about the situation with your friends, you slowly take on a slightly more aggressive tone. A friend suddenly stopped your speech, “Are you sure you’re not just on your period?”. You shake your head. “Maybe you’re just PMS-ing.” Your point of view is immediately disregarded.
The depiction of the overly “irrational” menstruator and its association with PMS can bear harmful consequences to those experiencing actual menstrual health complications (3,10). The focus on emotional distress and “normalizing” PMS as everyone’s experience can lead to dismissal of other physiological symptoms that might require proper examination.
In conclusion, the myth of the “irrational female” in relation to the menstrual experience is deeply rooted in historical conceptions about female physiology. The belief that women are “too” emotional has led to many harmful stereotypes used to oppress females such as that women are unfit to make rational decisions, and thus, should not have the right to vote (10). While to a lesser extreme, the portrayal of the “irrational” menstruating body continues to perpetuate in modern pop culture and media. These depictions often over-exaggerate the emotional distress the menstruator is experiencing yet dismisses it as a temporary problem. Although menstruators can experience premenstrual symptoms, sometimes to an extreme degree, the overly negative experience is not true for all menstruators. Thus, the pop culture portrayal of “irrational menstruators” remains an important topic in the advocacy for reproductive health as it asks for the realistic menstruating experiences to be addressed.
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