Was trying to think of a discreet title for this post but I think there are enough euphemisms out there already.
I saw a question on Yahoo today which read:
- I am reading this book in social studies called “Red Scarf Girl” and in it the girls house is searched and when she is cleaning up she finds her “sanitary belt”. she feels like she has been “stripped naked” and she says she never lets her father or brother see it. i dont understand exactly what a “sanitary belt” is. This book takes place in the 60’s.
The reply was:
- sanitary belt is an old fashioned way of keeping a sanitary pad in place. Kinda of like a garter belt only for pads…
They had been used for eons until the invention of “belt-less” pads came into play. They could be literally be a “pain”. They were elastic with a hook for the front and back. The pads used to have “tails” on them to hook onto the belt. belt is an old fashioned way of keeping a sanitary pad in place. Kinda of like a garter belt only for pads…They had been used for eons until the invention of “belt-less” pads came into play.
This is what the belt and pads looked like:
These belts I am featuring things were the bane of womens’ existence in the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s. This was before the days of stick-on pads and wings and all kinds of things they have nowadays. I did an internet search and came up with a few different pictures. The ones above are like the one like my mother gave me in anticipation of my first period.
If you wish to explore this subject further, one man (yes, a man, surprisingly enough) has a Museum of Menstruation here
And in English euphemisms for period are:
- That time of month
- Eve’s Curse
- The Monthly Curse
- Riding The Stick
- Ragging
- On the Rag
- Aunt Flo’s visiting
- My Kitty’s Bleeding
- Period/having a period
- The Monthly Volcano of Doom
- Bloody Mary
- Redrum
- Nature’s Course
- Devil’s Juice
- The Crimson Tide
- Surfing the Crimson Wave
- Aunt Flo is Visiting
- Got the Painters in
- On the Rag
- Cousin Red
- Riding the Cotton Pony
- Shark Week
- Women’s Trouble
In the past women were housebound when they had their periods because there was no great way of coping with it. However, most women now will have 350 periods in their lifetimes. Our female ancestors had only about 100 periods, due to constant pregnancy and breastfeeding. Today women also start their periods earlier and enter menopause later so we menstruate for longer.