Menstrual Menace: Difference between revisions

 

 

Here's a riddle for you.

 

 

 

In most fiction, [[No Periods, Period|periods are rarely mentioned]]. [[Speculative Fiction]] does likewise. But on the rare occasions that [[Speculative Fiction]] does mention menstrual periods, the characters should tremble. SF periods serve as the trigger for every supernatural menace you can think of. Gruesome [[Body Horror]] is the favorite, but a period can also serve as a source of great power (and [[With Great Power Comes Great Insanity|great insanity]]), a magnet for [[The Fair Folk]], a gateway to a hell dimension, or even a semi-sentient [[Reality Warper]]. Periods cause all sorts of supernatural evil, and never cause supernatural good (aside from the occasional [[Puberty Superpower]], or [[Un-Equal Rites|attunement to magic]]).

 

 

Menstruation in [[Speculative Fiction]] also causes mundane misery and angst, which tend to lead to stupid mistakes that create all of the previous supernatural problems.

 

This trope is for supernatural horrors only; for trouble caused by mundane periods, see [[No Periods, Period]]. Compare [[Women's Mysteries]]. See also [[Hysterical Woman]] and [[All Women Are Lustful]], two beliefs brought on by this very trope.

{{examples}}

== [[Advertising]] ==

* Reversed in almost any commercial for sanitary towels, which have the magical power to make women happy and somehow erase the colour red from the world.

** Although, inexplicably, their effectiveness is usually demonstrated by absorbing ''blue'' colored liquid. As though the human body were [http://www.cracked.com/article_18496_the-6-most-baffling-things-every-tv-ad-assumes-are-true_p2.html full of windshield wiper fluid].

 

== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==

* In [[Karin]], the eponymous character has a monthly release of blood...from her nose (unless, of course, she injects it into a human). The similarity to a menstrual cycle is frequently lampshaded, especially in the beginning.

 

** Artist Richard Case also made sure to draw Dorothy with red shoes, a longtime symbol for menstruation and a woman's maturation (see [[Wizard of Oz]]).

* Back in the 80's there was a black and white comic called 'MS. PSM'. A woman is infected by an alien device that locks her into a permanent state of PMS; frazzled hair, bad attitude, super-human strength. The aliens were present too, wearing their environmental armor called P.A.N.T.I.E shields. This comic lasted about two issues. Yeah.

* [[Alan Moore]]'s [[Swamp Thing]] story, "The Curse," draws parallels between menstruation and the traditional lunar-cycle-based activity of werewolves.

 

 

* ''[[Dog Soldiers]]''. The sole female character quips "It's the wrong time of the month" {{spoiler|as she turns into a werewolf.}}

* During the superhero "tryouts" in the movie ''[[Mystery Men]]'', a woman calls herself the PMS Avenger, and "can only work 4 days a month". Her outfit is of course red in color.

* In ''[[I'm Gonna Git You Sucka]]'', a henchman tries to kidnap the heroine, and she turns into a demon on him. He thinks she's possessed by the devil, but she says, "No! Cramps!"

* ''[[Ginger Snaps]]'' also makes the menstruation/werewolf connection.

* In the 1993 remake of ''[[Attack of the 50 Foot Woman]]'', a doctor speculates that Nancy's condition is caused by a hormonal imbalance. Her husband's response is "Congratulations, doctor. You've just discovered a new form of PMS."

 

 

== [[Literature]] ==

* In Suzy McKee Charnas' short story ''Boobs'', the narrator, when she reaches puberty, changes into a werewolf for several nights per month instead of having periods.

* In the book ''Cycler'' by Lauren McLaughlin, every month before her period the main character, Jill, turns into a boy.

* Justine Larabestier's ''Liar'' also connects menstrual cycles and {{spoiler|lycanthropy. There is a excellent scene in the book when the reader is certain that the parents are locking up their daughter for having her period.}}

* The title character of Stephen King's ''[[Carrie]]'' theretofore mild telekinetic powers become much stronger after her first period starts.

 

== [[Live Action Television]] ==

* In ''[[Star Trek]]'', pon farr in Vulcans can be compared to this, with the added drama of having to [[Mate or Die]]. Notable in that both males and females are affected.

** [[Fridge Logic]] would dictate that this means all of the [[Slash Fic]] writers are comparing Captain Kirk to a tampon.

** [[Fate Worse Than Death|If the cramps are bad enough and you have no painkillers ... yes, yes it is.]]

* Played for laughs in ''[[The IT Crowd]]'', where Jen's very angry period sees her literally turn into some kind of hell-demon at some points. This results in the image of a red-and-white skinned woman in a business suit screaming things like '''''"I CAN NEVER FIND A BLOODY PEN AROUND HERE!"'''''

 

== [[Myth and Legend]] ==

** In the ''[[Ginger Snaps]]'' films, werewolf transformations serve as a metaphor for not just periods, but every unpleasant body change that comes with puberty. The first film sees Brigitte watching in horror as her sister goes through mood swings, hair on her body in all the wrong places...

** Angua is both the first woman and the first werewolf in the [[Discworld|Ankh-Morpork Watch]], which leads to a misunderstanding early on ("Is it because I'm a w...") Boyfriend Carrot mentions that he tends to stay out of the way around full moon.

** "Wolf" backwards is "flow".

** Though in later versions, it's not menstrual blood, but [[Squick|urine]]. In both versions, however, Thor stops the torrent by throwing a rock at her and plugging up... well, yes.

* In many interpretations of The Book of Genesis in [[The Bible]], Eve is the cause of menstruation along with the pain of childbirth. Both are curses brought upon her for eating the fruit from "the tree of the knowledge of good and evil". (Genesis, Chapter 3, verse 16: Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.) While this specifically refers to childbirth, most interpretatinos extend it to menstruation as well. See the Carrie listing in Literature, above.

 

== [[Music]] ==

 

== [[Video Games]] ==

== [[Web Comics]] ==

* In ''[[SSDD]],'' Anna's period is enough to scare even the 7-foot-tall, gorilla-muscled anarchist thug Norman Gates witless. Her boyfriend, of course, was smart enough to make sure he was somewhere far away before it happened. It's explained that, since she's a fox, she's only 'in heat' once a year - and as a result, only has one period per year. Making her mind-state basically what you'd get if you took every case of PMS a human woman would experience over the course of a year, and stacked them all together in one day.

** Which is ridiculous, because [[You Fail Biology Forever|biology does not work that way]]. Having a long cycle that leads to fewer total periods is just an advantage. Unless you're trying to have kids.

* [[The Wotch]] lampshades this after Katie McBride gets turned into a [[Were Cat|werecat]]:

* In ''[[Unicorn Jelly]]'', the native creatures of Tryslmaistan can smell and are attracted to the minerals in human blood. Female monster hunters use this to their advantage a few days every month.

 

== [[Web Original]] ==

* In the [[Whateley Universe]], superpowered mage Fey has her first case of PMS in her first few weeks at [[Super-Hero School]] Whateley Academy. This leads to thunderstorms, lightning bolts and rain. In the dorm hallways.

** For bonus points, all the magical fun ''also'' triggers menstrual discharge in every other girl in the dorm. Including the ones who had just finished with this month's visitor.

 

== [[Western Animation]] ==

* Half-demon Callie in ''[[Ugly Americans]]'' undergoes "Painful Mortal Shedding", a process in which a female demon periodically molts her toxic flesh. The agony can only be minimized by near-constant sex with her boyfriend/human sex slave Mark. In the background of another episode, a calendar in Mark's apartment has two weeks marked as "Callie's Period", so apparently that's a bit different for demons, as well.

 

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Women Are Delicate]]

[[Category:Applied Phlebotinum]]

[[Category:Gender and Sexuality Tropes]]

[[Category:Horror Tropes]]