Caution: Girl Stuff

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In matrifocal cultures, menstruation is powerful and sacred. In our patriarchal society, menstruation is disempowered and chemically suppressed. Menstruation is not "the curse".

Women's menstrual and reproductive problems often begin during periods of stress. One cause of the stress is the conflict of being female in a male-oriented, male-dominated society where there are few positive views of the feminine and little support of the female cycle. In many cultures women are highly revered, but also avoided because of their relationship to blood, which is seen as a symbol for life and death. In the past, blood mysteries were seen as the divine power of women; they formed the basis of religious rites which we enact even today in some cultures. The power of woman-say the Native Americans-lies in her ability to give life and to use this creativity in different ways. Patriarchal societies, however view women's blood mysteries as a threat to their power, and have suppressed woman and their knowledge of their menstrual power.

-Women's Blood Mysteries by Adelheid Ohlig