Bloody Fascinating: The Material Culture of Menstruation

In mid-April, the WPAMC students are asked to propose their thesis topics which they will spend the next year researching and writing about. After discussions with various classmates, I became curious as to how menstruation was managed throughout history- a topic about which little is known. My first impression was that it was not feasible, how can you study something that is used up and discarded? While searching for other topics though, I kept being drawn back to the subject.

Hoop skirt, England, 1871.  Steel and linen. Victoria and Albert Museum, T-195, 1984.  Displayed in V&A exhibition, “Undressed.” Photo courtesy of the V&A.

During our trip to England, we visited an exhibition at the V&A titled “Undressed: A Brief History of Underwear.” This display barely touched on menstruation despite focusing on the very materials intimately tied to feminine hygiene. The exhibit displayed corsets and hoop skirts, yet did not explain how women would have used or altered these items when menstruating. Searching for answers online I discovered MuM, the Museum of Menstruation; I was not alone in my search for understanding.

Tucked away in a basement in the D.C. suburbs are countless artifacts relating to menstruation. The taboo collection was open to the public briefly in the mid-1990s. Now, the pads, tampons, belts, cups, aprons, medicines, videos, and advertisements, all dismounted from their displays, sit waiting patiently to be properly displayed (hopefully in the near future). Harry Finley, the man who amassed the incredible collection, was happy to let me visit this past weekend. He hopes to find a way to make the museum accessible to the public once again.

Shelves filled with feminine hygiene products from the collection of the Museum of Menstruation. Photo by author, courtesy of Harry Finley.

Such a collection must be seen to be believed. Considering the taboo surrounding feminine hygiene products, in addition to their use being equivalent to toilet paper, it seems miraculous to discover that this material culture is not altogether ephemeral. In fact, the Winterthur collection itself is home to some menstruation materials such as recipe books with instructions for removing blood stains, bottles that once held concoctions for easing cramps, and books informing young people what to expect from puberty. This is not surprising given that nearly half of the entire population has managed this monthly occurrence throughout history. What is perhaps more surprising is how little attention history has paid to the material culture of menstruation. In the next year, I hope to enrich this history by looking to the material culture that does indeed survive.

 

By Tess Frydman, WPAMC Class of 2017