Menstrual Menace: Difference between revisions

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.

 

== [[Comics]] ==

** 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.

== [[Live Action Television]] ==

* Parodied in ''[[30 Rock|Thirty Rock]]'', first with the show-within-a-show's sketches about powerful women making bad decisions due to menstruation. Then cool, collected Avery (who has been using a hormonal form of birth control that means she should only get her period once a year, but its a doozy when it comes) snaps at Jack for no reason, calling him "you douche! Oh God, it's starting."

* 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...

** [[Peter S. Beagle]] wrote a short story titled ''Lila the Werewolf'' which purposely plays with the similarities between menstruation and lycanthropy.

* 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]] ==