Wednesday, June 11, 2003

Found a wonderful article
over at Christendom Awake on a topic I blogged about earlier.

Created in Whose Image? Menstrual Suppression as a Dualistic Approach to the Female Body-Person by Katherine H. Bergman. Here's a quote...

A reflection on the marketing techniques for menstrual management discussed above is apropos at this point. The benefits proposed for the suppression of menstruation included 'no cramping, no tampons, no bloating, no backaches,' not to mention that the elimination of that added nuisance for employers – absenteeism and decreased on-the-job productivity. Woman’s body, as given, is problematic. Menstruation is a hindrance that prevents woman from functioning without interruption in her productivity. In order to 'fully participate' in what has become normative for post-industrialized culture, she must make her body like a man’s. The natural rhythms of her body are considered an inconvenience and an obstruction to her full participation in a career, or in any of her other societal roles. When the practically sterile, menstrually suppressed woman becomes normative, it can no longer be denied that society refuses to accept woman precisely as woman. It will only accept her insofar as she is willing to modify her person (including her body) to fit with societal expectations.

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