What she means: How did women 100s of years ago control their periods? What did they use to collect the blood? Were tampons and pads invented yet, or did they use some sort of cloth? How did they get rid of bloodstains without bleach? How did they deal with cramps? Did they use crazy medical remedies like toothaches and stomachaches? I'm concerned and I want answers.
DID THIS SERIOUSLY STRAIGHT UP NOT SAVE MY LONG-ASS RESPONSE
I'LL REWRITE IT IN THE MORNING
OKAY IT IS MORNING NOW HERE ARE ANSWERS
MOSTLY FOCUSED ON THE 19TH CENTURY BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT I KNOW BEST
A LOT OF HISTORIANS (MOSTLY CIS MEN) WILL THROW UP THEIR HANDS AND SAY "WELL WE HAVE NO IDEA WHAT THEY USED" BUT THAT IS BULLSHIT
MULTIPLE GYNECOLOGICAL TEXTS FROM THE 19TH CENTURY EXPLAIN EXACTLY WHAT MOST CIS WOMEN DID (DOCTORS LEARNED BY INTERVIEWING THEIR PATIENTS): THEY USED LONG CLOTH BANDAGES, PAD-LIKE, ATTACHED TO A RIBBON WAISTBAND AT BOTH ENDS. SOME EVEN MADE TAMPONS FROM COTTON-WOOL, WITH A STRING FIRMLY ATTACHED FOR REMOVAL. OTHERS CLAIMED THEY DID NOTHING AND JUST WORE AN EXTRA, THICK PETTICOAT, BUT AT LEAST ONE DOCTOR SUSPECTED THAT WAS ONLY EFFECTIVE WITH A VERY LIGHT FLOW
(DRAWERS WERE BASICALLY CROTCHLESS BACK THEN, HAVING CAUGHT ON DURING A FAD FOR SHORTER SKIRTS IN THE 1830S. BUT NOBODY WAS GOING TO SEE A LADY'S BITS- WHATEVER THOSE WERE, BECAUSE TRANS WOMEN WERE NOT INVENTED IN 1975 HEY FANNY PARK AND STELLA BOULTON I SEE YOU -UNDER LIKE FOUR LAYERS OF SKIRTS)
BLOOD STAINS CAN BE GOTTEN OUT QUITE EFFECTIVELY WITH SOAP, SALT, AND COLD WATER. HYDROGEN PEROXIDE WAS DISCOVERED IN 1818, SO BLEACHING AGENTS DID EXIST. THAT WOULD DO WELL ENOUGH FOR UNDERCLOTHES, OFTEN UNBLEACHED OR WHITE SO AS TO TAKE HEAVY WASHING WITHOUT COLORS RUNNING AND SUCH. OUTER GARMENTS MAY HAVE BEEN CLEANED OR, FOR THE WEALTHY, SIMPLY THROWN AWAY IF STAINED. I HAVE A FRIEND WHO SELLS ANTIQUE CLOTHING AND SHE'S FOUND CHEMISES (A BASIC WOMEN'S UNDERGARMENT LIKE A LONG LOOSE SHIRT THAT WENT RIGHT NEXT TO THE SKIN) WITH BLOODSTAINS AROUND THE CROTCH AREA, SO SOMETIMES I GUESS THEY WEREN'T TOO CONCERNED ABOUT GETTING STAINS ENTIRELY OUT OF THEIR UNDERWEAR. JUST LIKE TODAY
AS FOR PAIN, VARIOUS KINDS OF HERBAL REMEDIES LIKE WILLOW BARK TEA WERE POPULAR. WILLOW BARK CONTAINED THE ACTIVE INGREDIENT IN MODERN ASPIRIN, SO IT PROBABLY WORKED. LATER IN THE 19TH CENTURY, OPIATES (LAUDANUM) AND PATENT-MEDICINES (MOSTLY ALCOHOL; SOME HERBS) WERE USED. LYDIA PINKHAM'S VEGETABLE COMPOUND WAS A POPULAR MENSTRUAL REMEDY DESPITE BEING, AGAIN, MOSTLY ALCOHOL WITH SOME HERBS. I GUESS IF YOU'RE TIPSY YOU DON'T NOTICE CRAMPS AS MUCH? ANYWAY THE HERB BLACK COHOSH WAS POPULAR FOR CRAMPS, SO ANY MEDICINE ADVERTISED WITH THAT INGREDIENT WOULD PROBABLY SELL LIKE HOTCAKES
MEN WITH UTERII, I HAVEN'T FORGOTTEN YOU. UNFORTUNATELY, TRANS MEN BY NECESSITY LIVED VERY SECRETIVE LIVES (AT LEAST ABOUT PERSONAL HYGIENE MATTERS). I IMAGINE, THOUGH, THAT THEY KEPT DOING WHAT THEY WERE RAISED DOING SINCE ALMOST ALL I KNOW OF TRANSITIONED IN ADULTHOOD. SO PROBABLY ALL OF THE ABOVE. THEY HAD THE ADDED BENEFIT OF PANTS HELPING HOLD BANDAGES IN PLACE AND THE MASSIVE ADDED DRAWBACK OF "MUST KEEP BLOOD 100% HIDDEN OR MY ENTIRE LIFE WILL BE DESTROYED." PLEASE TO IMAGINE CHARLEY PARKHURST, LEGENDARY STAGECOACH DRIVER OF THE OLD WEST, PERFORMING ALL HIS ESCAPADES WITH A SCREAMING UTERUS. SO BADASS. FOUR FOR YOU CHARLEY PARKHURST; YOU GO CHARLEY PARKHURST
SO YEAH THAT IS SOME STUFF ABOUT MENSTRUATION IN THE 19TH CENTURY. SOURCES AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST.