Boob Shape Determines A Woman's Personality
Finally, some good news: an Italian sex researcher claims he can tell a woman’s personality from the size and shape of her breasts. He has categorized breast types according to fruits and says men can draw up their own horoscope-type chart that indicates what a woman’s chest size says about her. Of course we at Standard Madness feel rather compelled to spread the word about this breakthrough discovery and throw in a couple of examples from the world of celebrities for exemplification, verification and for our World of Warcraft playing readers.http://www.standardmadness.com/shape-of-knockers-determines-personality/
36 Random Facts About . . . Women???
- The word “woman” is believed to have derived from the Middle English termwyfman, broken down simply as the wife (wyf) of man. In Old English, women were described simply as wyf, while the term man was used to describe a human person, regardless of gender.
- The English word “girl” was initially used to describe a young person of either sex. It was not until the beginning of the sixteenth century that the term was used specifically to describe a female child.
- The biological sign for the female sex, a circle placed on top of a small cross, is also the symbol for the planet Venus. The symbol is believed to be a stylized representation of the Roman goddess Venus’ hand mirror.
- While many stars and moons are christened with female names, Venus is the only planet in our solar system given the name of a female goddess.
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| Human women have proportionately larger breasts than any other female mammal |
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- The breasts of human women are much larger in proportion than those of other female mammals. The prominent size, while not necessary for milk production, is most likely a result of sexual selection.
- The English language originally delineated between women in different stages of life with the terms “maiden,” “mother,” and “crone.” A maiden referred to a young girl who was unmarried, a mother referred to a woman in her child-bearing years, and a crone described a post-menopausal woman.
- The average height of a woman in the U.S. is approximately 5 feet 4 inches, and the average weight is about 163 pounds. These figures vary greatly throughout the world, due to differences in nutrition and prenatal care.
- In almost every country worldwide, the life expectancy for women is higher than for men(because men want to die first).
- While the population of males is slightly greater than females worldwide (98.6 women for every 100 men), there are roughly four million more women than men in the U.S. In the age 85-and-older category, there are more than twice as many women as men currently living in the U.S.
- The most common cause of death for American women is heart disease, which causes just over 27% of all mortalities in females. Cancer ranks just below, causing 22% of female deaths.
- Worldwide, women are nearly twice as likely to be blind or visually impaired as men. Experts attribute this difference to the greater longevity of women (leading to more age-related visual impairment) and specific eye diseases that are intrinsically more common in women such as dry eye syndrome and Fuch’s Dystrophy.
- Depression is the most common cause of disability in women, and approximately 25% of all women will experience severe depression at some point in their lives.
- Over 90% of all cases of eating disorders occur in women, and nearly seven million women in the U.S. currently suffer from anorexia nervosa or bulimia.
- Approximately one in five women worldwide reports being sexually abused before the age of 15.
- About 14 million adolescent girls become pregnant each year, with over 90% of those girls living in developing countries.
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| About 1,600 women die each day as result of pregnancy or childbirth complications |
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- Each day 1,600 women die as result of pregnancy or childbirth complications. Nearly 99% of these deaths occur in developing nations.
- Approximately 95% of all women in the U.S. have been married at least once by the age of 55.
- Of the 154.7 million women currently living in the U.S., nearly 83 million are mothers.
- The probability of a woman giving birth to a baby girl instead of a baby boy increases significantly the nearer the mother lives to the equator. While the cause of this gender selection is unknown, scientists believe the constant sunlight hours and abundant food supply in tropical regions may favor female births.
- Approximately 5.6 million women in the U.S. reported themselves as stay-at-home moms in a 2007 census report.
- The first Mother’s Day was held on May 10, 1908, and was organized by Anna Jarvis in West Virginia and Philadelphia. As the event gained popularity throughout the country, Congress designated the second Sunday in May as a national day of recognition for mothers in 1914.
- International Women’s Day is held each year on March 8. The annual event was first observed worldwide in 1909.
- In the U.S., Congress established a national week of recognition for women’s history in 1981. This recognition, held during the second week of March, was later expanded into a full month by a congressional resolution in 1987. The month of March is now designated as National Women’s History Month.
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| The first country to grant women the right to vote in the modern era was New Zealand in 1893 |
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- According to a 2007 Census Bureau report, one-third of American women aged 25 to 29 have earned a bachelor’s or advanced college degree.
- More American women work in the education, health services, and social assistance industries than in any other industry. These three industries employ nearly one-third of all female workers.
- Women in the U.S. labor force currently earn just over 77 cents for every one dollar men earn.
- Approximately 14% of active members in the U.S. armed forces today are women. In 1950, women comprised less than 2% of the U.S. military.
- The first woman to run for U.S. president was Victoria Woodhull, who campaigned for the office in 1872 under the National Woman’s Suffrage Association. While women would not be granted the right to vote by a constitutional amendment for nearly 50 years, there were no laws prohibiting a woman from running for the chief executive position.
- The first female governor of a U.S. state was Wyoming governor Nellie Tayloe Ross, elected in 1924. Wyoming was also the first state to give women the right to vote, enacting women’s suffrage in 1869.
- The first country to grant women the right to vote in the modern era was New Zealand in 1893.
- The first woman to rule a country as an elected leader in the modern era was Sirimavo Bandaranaike of Sri Lanka, who was elected as prime minister of the island nation in 1960 and later re-elected in 1970.
- Women currently hold 17% of Congressional and Senate seats and 18% of gubernatorial positions in the U.S.
- According to an ancient Sumerian legend, the universe was created by a female, the goddess Tiamat. This role of a female creator is not unique, as the Australian Aboriginal creation myth also credits the creation of life to a woman.
- The earliest recorded female physician was Merit Ptah, a doctor in ancient Egypt who lived around 2700 B.C. Many historians believe she is the first woman recorded by name in the history of all of the sciences.
- A person’s gender is biologically determined by the sex chromosomes, one set of a human’s 23 pairs of chromosomes. Women have two X chromosomes, while men have one X and one Y chromosome.
- The world’s first novel, The Tale of Genji, was published in Japan around A.D. 1000 by female author Murasaki Shikibu.
-- Posted April 30, 2009
References
a Carlson, Karen J., Terra Ziporyn, and Stephanie Eisenstat. 2004. The New Harvard Guide to Women’s Health. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
b DuBois, Ellen Carol and Lynn Dumenil. 2005. Through Women’s Eyes: An American History with Documents. Cranbury, NJ: Bedford/St. Martins.
c Oxford English Dictionary. 2nd ed. 20 vols. 1989. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
d Pomeroy, Sarah B. 1991. Women’s History and Ancient History. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press.
e Reilly, Michael. April 1, 2009. “More Girls Born in the Tropics.” Accessed April 13, 2009.
f Seager, Joni. 2003. The Penguin Atlas of Women in the World: Revised and Updated. New York, NY: Penguin Books.
g United Nations Statistics Division. 2006. “Statistics and Indicators on Women and Men.” Accessed April 14, 2009.
h U.S. Census Bureau. 2009. “Women’s History Month: March 2009.” Accessed April 11, 2009. |
Get To Know Her Inside And Out!
10 Things You Didn't Know About Vaginas
Sex is something lots of guys they think they know everything about. They assume they know everything there is to know not only about how to please a woman, but also about her anatomy and how it plays a role in sex. You may think you know a lot about the body of a woman, but you probably didn’t know these ten things about a woman’s vagina!
An Orgasm Is An Excellent Pain Reliever
Next time your girl gives you the excuse that she doesn’t want to have sex with you because she has a headache, you can tell her she’s full of it. An orgasm is an excellent pain reliever, and can work as well as over the counter medicines or even some pharmaceutical grade pain relievers. You just have to actually make sure you give her a great orgasm!
The Vagina Cleans Itself
A woman’s genitals are designed to clean itself – meaning, douching is completely unnecessary and can actually do more harm than good. After menstruation, it cleans itself out and continues to do so throughout a woman’s monthly cycle. It also will clean itself out after sex! This helps prevent yeast or bacterial infections. However, if more bacteria or yeast are introduced than the body can handle, an overgrowth can occur. This usually can be easily treated with over the counter creams or doctor prescribed antibiotics.
It’s Not All About The G-Spot The g-spot gets all the credit for giving women amazing orgasms, but there is another spot – called the A-Spot – that can be just as effective at giving a woman an earth shattering climax. The A-Spot is located deeper within the canal than the g-spot (right in front of the cervix) and it can be stimulated using the same “come hither” motion with your fingers that you would use if you were stimulating the g-spot. Just remember that since you’re going very deep inside a woman, you need plenty of good lubrication and you need her to be aroused first so it’s not painful or uncomfortable.
You Are What You Eat A healthy vagina has an odor, but it is usually not very pungent. A yeast or bacterial infection can make it smell more pungent, but a funky smelling peach doesn’t always mean an infection. Many of the things a woman eats will affect the way her genitals taste and smell. For example, eating lots of pineapple and sweet fruits will make it taste and smell sweeter (which can be great for oral sex), but vegetables such as cabbage or asparagus can give it a more off putting scent.
The Vagina Can Actually Fall Out!
Vaginal prolapse is when the uterus, ovaries, fallopian tubes or vagina (or a combination of all of these) moves downward from its natural place in the body. This condition is common following surgeries such as hysterectomies, but can also happen without any prior event. In severe cases, this medical condition will cause the inner tissues to protrude through the vaginal opening.
Female Ejaculation Does Exist
Women – in addition to men – can ejaculate varying amounts of fluid during orgasm. Many women are able to produce very large amounds of fluid! Some skeptics report that the “ejaculate” that comes from a woman isn’t actually ejaculate at all, but urine. However, science has found that the components of female ejaculate are separate from the components of urine are very different and while the fluid does come from the paraurethral ducts, it does not come from the bladder.
The Vagina Can Double In Length When A Woman Is Aroused
How long a vagina is varies from woman to woman. Some women have very small, short canals while others have very long ones. The average size in an unaroused woman is 3-4 inches long, but during arousal, this number can increase and may even double! So guys, make sure your lady is aroused before penetration, because you’ll go a lot deeper and she’ll be a lot more comfortable during sex.
Having Sex Can Keep The Vagina Young And Healthy
Like the rest of your muscles, the vagina needs to be used and exercised or it will become weak and brittle. During prolonged periods of abstinence, especially when a woman goes through menopause or reaches old age, the delicate tissues inside will thin and can begin to break down. Regular sex, however, will help keep a woman’s genitals in peak form.
Vaginal Secretions Contain A Component Found In Shark Livers Upon microscopic examination of the ingredients found in female vaginal secretions, scientists have noted that these secretions contain a component actually found in shark livers. This is called squalene, and can also be found in vegetable oils. It can be used in cosmetics, because it is an excellent moisturizer that doesn’t leave the skin feeling greasy! Squalene is most likely what makes natural secretions good for the health of the genitals, because it keeps the tissue moist and supple.
The Vaginal Muscles Are Extremely Powerful
All women have the ability to use their vaginal muscles – also called the PC muscles – during sex. These are also the same muscles a girl uses to stop the flow of urine, and they can be strengthened through exercises like Kegels. You might not think that these muscles would be very powerful, but they are! The world record holder for the strongest vagina is a Russian woman who was able to lift 31 pounds with her vaginal muscles only!
In addition to using Ben Wa Balls to tighten and improve the muscle tone in your vaginal walls, you can also use tightening and vaginal rejuvanation cream (such as PK24) to increase blood flow to your vagina and hydrate your vaginal walls. Creams and gels used for tightening aren’t long lasting, however, PK24 can last up to 24 hours. Other tightening products work for shorter periods, but can also be used right before sex to create even tighter sensations. Using Ben Wa Balls and tightening creams not only make sex better for your partner, but they will also make sex better for you! Women who use tightening creams and Ben Wa Balls regularly report having better, more powerful orgasms and that they’re able to reach orgasm more quickly and easily. If you’ve been living with vagina that you’re not happy with, don’t consider surgery or other drastic options until you’ve tried Ben Wa Balls first! They just might change the way you have sex forever!
Female Masturbation
Top 10 Female Masturbation Tips
Whether you only have time for a quick feel-good session with yourself, or whether you have all the time in the world, the following list provides a method for every woman to maximize her benefit from a beautiful masturbation experience. Right now, take a little look-see to find out which one(s) fit your personality and schedule.
Skin to Skin Contact
The Pattie Cake
With your pointer and middle fingers, gently pat your clitoris. Vary the pressure and the speed. Your little man in the boat will stand at attention. Your inner labia and clitoris will feel sticky sweet and warm up. The inside of your vagina will overflow with your love fluid. Directly before you come, push those same two fingers into your sticky sweetness. Rub the natural lubricant from inside of you onto your clitoris, and rub hard until you come.
The Sandwich Cookie
Imagine your first two fingers as the hard cookies that sandwich a creamy filling. Gently grip your clitoris between your first two fingers. Stroke your clitoris with your other hand. Vary the pressure and speed until you come.
The Open-Faced Sandwich
Use the palm of your outstretched hand, gently pat and then push down gently. Continue with this rhythm until you begin to feel hot. When you are almost to the end, just push and let go, push and let go, never letting your hand leave skin contact.
The Pulsing Pelvis
Begin touching yourself with your fingers how you like it the best. Start to softly contract your leg muscles in order for your pelvis to gently pulse in a rhythm reminiscent of lovemaking with a partner. Rock up and down, up and down, until you come.
Take a Dip
In the Pool
Spread your legs as far as you can while positioning yourself in front of one of the jets in your pool or hot tub. Stand far enough away from the jet so it is not uncomfortable for you, then move closer and closer until the stimulation is just the right amount to jet you into orgasm.
With Your Shower Head
Use your handheld shower head to masturbate. Actually take the shower head off of its hook and press it on your clitoris. Rub softly. Rub firmly. Alternate between the two extremes, or find a middle ground. Always synchronize your motions to escalate the masturbation experience.
In Your Bathtub
Get into your dry bathtub and sit directly underneath the faucet. Make sure the faucet is aimed directly at your clitoris. Turn the water on warm and let the flow of water hit your clitoris. Use your elbows to hold up your upper body and stick your hands underneath your butt. Right before yourorgasm, turn the water temperature to hot … a comfortable hot … and let yourself come.
Common Toys
Dig the Shovel
You can use whatever object turns you on. Pick out a vibrator or anything you like. Mimicking a gently digging motion, use the toy to play with your clitoris. Slide your toy down your clitoris, across your clitoris, and upward, removing the object entirely from your body. Repeat until you reach orgasm.
It’s Electric
When using an electric toothbrush to stimulate your clitoris, simply use it as if it were a vibrator. Touch softly at first, and then as you get more excited, get into a rhythm of hard, soft, or medium pressure. Go up, down, all around, in little circles. Find the motion that suits you the best.
A Play Station
Use a Metal Gear Solid CD on your Sony Playstation, and grab the vibrating controller. Follow the same instructions for the electric toothbrush and the rest is easy. Find yourself. You’ll figure out what to do.
If you have already tried all of the above masturbation tips for women, try adding your own personalized touch on variations to these techniques. If this still isn’t doing it for you, stay tuned for the next set of tips from the professionals.
If you follow the previous tips, you too will experience the self-satisfying beauty of climactic joy through masturbation. When you find something new that works for you, you can share your little secret with your partner.
Signs Of Unhappy Married Women
Many signs can indicate an unhappy married woman, and often divorce is the only solution. Divorce, on the other hand, is a stressful and negative experience in itself and may be the result of many breakdowns in a marriage. If a woman is exhibiting any signs of being unhappy in a marriage, seeking help or counsel is an effective way to either fix the problems within the marriage or decide that it is best to separate. Trouble Sleeping According to a study presented to SLEEP 2008, a meeting of Associated Professional Sleep Societies, 50 percent of 3,000 women who were unhappy in their marriages suffered from sleeping ailments, such as insomnia. Wendy Troxel, a University of Pittsburgh psychologist, states that an unhappy marriage is a source of stress, thus leading to trouble sleeping. If a married woman is having trouble sleeping due to stress in the marriage, sleep specialist Donna Arand of the Kettering Hospital Sleep Disorders Center suggests seeking the help of a sleep specialist as well as a marriage counselor. Reduced Intimacy While times may occur when sexual intimacy is lacking, an unhappily married woman may withdraw from an emotional or physical relationship with her spouse. Stress levels in a relationship increase when the spouse wants sex but the woman does not. According to Health Guidance, women who are having intimacy troubles due to stress or unhappiness in a marriage may use counseling to see if the relationship can be repaired. Lack of Communication One of the key factors in a successful marriage is communication, and once that is lost, the chance of separation or divorce increases. If a married woman begins to withhold feelings, a lack of trust may develop between her and her husband. A lack of communication harms the marriage on many levels, especially emotionally, and the foundation of the marriage is likely to break down. According to Health Guidance, a couple who experiences a communication breakdown may have been dealing with it since the beginning of the relationship, yet did not understand it as it continued to become a problem. If issues with communication existed prior to marriage, it is likely that a lack of communication will become a major roadblock.
Read more: Signs of Unhappy Married Women | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/list_5788116_signs-unhappy-married-women.html#ixzz2CmeWb6hX Read more:
Causes Of Unhappy Sex Life
Unhappy sex life of women is caused by a complex interaction of many factors that affect her sex drive as well as her intimacy with the spouse. Some factors that affect the sex life of women are physical wellness, emotional wellness, beliefs, experiences, lifestyle and that state of current relationship. If you're faced with a problem in any of these facets of life, your sexual desire can be affected and it can make the sexual life unhappy. Some of the problems that bring about unhappy sexual life for women are:
- Physical Causes Problems during sex – If you feel pain while having sex, or unable to have orgasm, it will obviously affect your sex life. Medications – Side-effects of certain medications which include certain anti-seizure medications and antidepressants can kill the libido of women.
- Medical condition - Many diseases that have nothing to do with sexual function can also affect the ability to have sex. These include high blood pressure, arthritis, diabetes, cancer, neurological diseases and coronary artery disease.
- Alcohol and drugs – You might think of wine as an arousing drink but having too much of it can ultimately kill your libido for good. Street drugs are as bad if not worse.
- Side-effect of having a surgery – If you have undergone a surgery that was related to your breasts or genital tract, it can have multiple adverse impact on your sex life. It affects your body image, desire for sex and hampers the normal sexual function.
- Fatigue – If you are the one responsible for looking after your young children or caring for aging parents, this also brings about a low sex drive leading to unhappy sex life.
Hormonal changes:The oestrogen levels in a woman drops during pregnancy and it can lead to lesser interest in sex due to dry vagina. Sex becomes too uncomfortable to try. Similarly, the hormonal changes brought about by pregnancy and breast feeding of the baby are a dampener of your sex drive. Psychological problems for unhappy sex life of women
- Mental health disorders, such as depression or even anxiety.
- Stress, one related to your work, finances or any other. Low self-esteem. Poor body image.
- Unwholesome memories of sex abuse or physical abuse.
- Relationship issues with the partner.
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Menstruation
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- Approximately 70% of women of menstruating age use tampons. A woman may use nearly 11,400 tampons in her life.d
- A woman will spend approximately 3,500 days menstruating.d
- Walt Disney made a movie about menstruation titled “The Story of Menstruation” in 1946. It most likely is the first film to use the word “vagina.”n
- In the past, Christian churches refused communion to menstruating women.c
- In Hong Kong, an Indonesian maid added her menstrual blood to her employer’s food in an attempt to improve their relationship.e
- The only mammals to undergo menopause are elephants, humpback whales, and human females.i
- Only the rhesus macaque at a 29-day cycle is close to the human menstrual cycle.i
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| Women in agrarian societies typically menstruate less than women in modern industrialized societies |
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- The average women in a modern industrialized society menstruates 450 times in her life. Conversely, prehistoric women menstruated only 50 times—and today, women in agrarian regions menstruate about 150 times in a lifetime.i
- Smoking cigarettes can kill a woman’s eggs and cause menstrual periods to stop prematurely.a
- Many prostitutes don’t take time off for their period. They either wedge cotton balls up against their cervix or they take birth control pills to control menstruation.i
- An entire menstrual period usually releases less than half a cup of blood, including clots.l
- The Romans attributed the deformity of the god Vulcan to the menstrual intercourse between his parents Juno and Jupiter.d
- The term “period” in reference to menstruation dates from 1822 and means an “interval of time” or a “repeated cycle of events.”j
- Another word for menstruation is “catamenia,” from the Greek katamenia (kata = by +menia = month). A “catemenia cup” is a firm, flexible cup worn inside the vagina to catch menstrual blood.d
- Scholars suggest that pre-modern men and women learned to think numerically by recognizing relationships between groups of numbers that were also units of time measured through menstrual rites.d
- Menstruation may have led to humanity’s sense of time as most early lunar calendars were based on the length of a women’s menstrual cycle.d
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| Menstrual bleeding tends to be heavier and longer during winter months |
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- Periods tend to be heavier, more painful, and longer in the colder months.d
- A New Guinea man divorced his wife because she slept on his blanket while menstruating. He later killed her with an ax.c
- Menstrual blood was thought to cure warts, birthmarks, gout, goiters, hemorrhoids, epilepsy, worms, leprosy, and headaches. It was also used in love charms, could ward off demons, and was occasionally used as an offering to a god. The first napkin worn by a virgin was thought to be a cure for the plague.c
- A girl's first menstrual period is called a menarche (from the Greek word men = month + arkhe = beginning). After the menarche, ovulation does not usually occur with menstruation for approximately the first year to 18 months.c
- When a girl is born, her complete potential egg supply is born with her. In the womb, she creates about seven million egg cells. At birth, she has two million. By puberty, there are only about 400,00 are left, of which fewer than 500 are actually released.b
- The term “ritual” is derived from the Sanskrit word R’tu, which means “menstrual.” This etymology suggests that ritual in a general sense and menstrual acts have a common origin.d
- The human female egg is the largest cell in the human body. It is the only human cell that can be seen with the naked eye.b
- A small percentage of women experience endometrial sparing, when the body recycles the lining of the uterus instead of shedding it. Consequently, these women’s periods are very brief and light.i
- To treat extremely heavy periods, some women turn to uterine ablation. During a uterine ablation, a physician can use several types of methods—such as a laser, a balloon filled with a heated saline solution, electricity, freezing, or microwave—to permanently destroy the enodmetrium.l
- Up until the age of about 18, irregular periods are quite common because the body is still working on perfecting the system.l
- At one point in history, women who complained of menstrual cramps (dysmenorrhea) were sent to psychiatrists because menstrual cramps were seen as a rejection of one’s femininity.c
- Researchers have demonstrated that female prison inmates are much more likely to commit a violent crime premenstrually than postmenstrually.d
- Oligomenorrhea is when a woman has her periods less frequently than normal. Amenorrhea is when she doesn’t get her period at all.i
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| Pheromones might lead to menstrual synchrony |
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- A young woman can get her first period anywhere between 10 and 16 years of age. Delayed onset of menstruation is rare, but if a girl hasn’t started by the age of 16, she should see a gynecologist. In the United States, 97.5% of women have begun their menstrual cycles by the age of 16.i
- Menstruation is the shedding of the uterine lining, or the endometrium. It is the most visible phase of the menstrual cycle.b
- Scholars debate the existence of menstrual synchrony (a.k.a. the McClintock effect or dormitory effect), a theory that suggests that women who live in close proximity to each other develop synchronized periods.i
- Judaism, Hinduism, and Islam all prohibit sex during menstruation. Both Jews and Muslims require women to achieve ritual purity after menstruation, through the Jewishmikvah (literally “collection,” as in a collection of water) or the Islamic ghusl(ablution), respectively.m
- Ancient Egyptians used softened papyrus as rudimentary tampons. Hippocrates notes that the Greeks used lint wrapped around wood. The modern tampon was invented by Dr. Earle Haas in 1929, which was called a “catamenial device” or “monthly device.” He trademarked the brand name Tampax.f
- Tampon is French for “plug” or “bung,” a variant from the Old French tapon meaning a “piece of cloth to stop a hole.” Before the creation of tampons in the 1920, Western women used reusable rags. Some scholars suggest that premodern women just bled into their clothes, especially since they had fewer menstrual cycles than modern women.d
- Nicknames for a menstrual period include Aunt Flo, On the Rag, I’m at a Red Light, Surfing the Crimson Tide, Checked into Red Roof Inn, Curse of Dracula, Leak Week, My Dot, and Monthly Oil Change.l
- Heavy bleeding is defined as passing more than one cup of blood per cycle, soaking through a pad or tampon every hour for six hours in a row, or having a period that lasts more than seven days.l
- Some women are heavy clotters and pass chunks of coagulated blood during their periods. The clots come from uterine contractions and cramping so frequent that the blood doesn’t have time to thin out before passing. A few dime size or smaller clots a day during a period is normal.l
- Using a tampon can’t “de-virginalize” a person. A virgin (from the Latin virga,meaning “young shoot”) is someone who has never had sexual intercourse. While some cultures view the unbroken hymen as a mark of virginity and the tampon may damage the hymen, in fact, the hymen may or may not break during sexual intercourse and may even break by medical exams or rigorous physical activity.l
- A tampon does not make a woman bleed more than if she uses a pad.l
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| Though unlikely, it is possible to get pregnant while menstruating |
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- It is possible to get pregnant if a woman has vaginal sex during her period because sperm can survive up to a week in the body.l
- A woman who has excessive bleeding may suffer from menorrhagia, a condition in which the uterine lining builds up very thick. Very heavy bleeding could also indicate a thyroid problem or fibroids (growths on the uterus).i
- Eighty-one percent of women say they’ve experienced dysmenorrhea (painful cramps). This occurs because the prostaglandin hormone causes the uterus to cramp, causing the abdomen to spasm.i
- Nearly 15% of menstruating women suffer from debilitating cramps. Scientists claim they have created a pill known as VA 111913 that eliminates most menstrual cramping.g
- The Mae Enga people of Papua New Guinea believe that contact with menstrual blood or a menstruating woman will “sicken a man and cause persistent vomiting.” It will also “kill his blood so that it turns black, dull his wits, and lead to a slow death.”c
- Pliny describes in his Natural History that the “horrible” smell of menstrual blood drives dogs mad and even ants will throw away grains of corn that have been touched by it.c
- In the eighteenth century in Saigon, no woman was employed in the opium industry because it was believed that if a menstruating woman were near, the opium would become ruined and bitter.c
- In the 1920s, Viennese scientist Bela Schick coined the term “menotoxins” to describe what he believed were plant-destroying substances that escape through the skin of menstruating women. He notes that menotoxins prevent dough from rising and beer from fermenting.c
- Because women weigh more than they did in the past, women tend to start their periods at younger ages and stop them at older ages (fat cells produce more estrogen). Scholars also suggest that hormones in modern food have led to earlier menstruation.i
- The same chemicals that cause uterine contractions during menstruation also cause the lower intestine to contract as well, which can lead to diarrhea.l
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| Studies show that artificial light at night influences a woman’s menstrual cycle |
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- Studies suggest that city lights or artificial lights influence the menstrual cycle.h
- The average age a woman stops her period is 51, though symptoms of menopause (perimenopause) can start as early as 32.a
- The term “menstruation” is equivalent to the Old Englishmonadblot or “month blood.” In Latin, menses means “month.”j
- The family of words that are related to the English word “menstruation” include mental, memory, meditation, mensurate, commensurate, meter, mother, mana, magnetic, mead, mania, man, and moon.d
- In many cultures, a fetus was thought to be formed in the womb by clotting menstrual blood.d
- Menstruating blood was often seen as sacred. Sacred means both “set apart” and “cursed.”c
- In some parts of India, a woman indicates she is menstruating by wearing a handkerchief around her neck stained with her menstrual blood.d
- Some scientists suggest that premodern women, who had no nightlighting, ovulated with the full moon and
menstruated on a new moon.d
- During the nineteenth century, it was widely thought that intercourse with a menstruating women would transmit gonorrhea, which may have been mistaken for trichomoniasis. Trichomoniasis becomes worse during menstruation because of lower vaginal acidity.d
- The term “ovary” is from the Latin ovum or “egg.” In classical Latin, ovaries meant “egg keeper.”d
- During the menstrual cycle, an egg is released and travels down the Fallopian tubes (named after Gabreillo Fallopio (1523-1562), who first described them) to the uterus. If a sperm does not fertilize the egg, the egg and lining from the uterus is expelled, creating menstruation.d
- The word taboo comes from the Polyneisain tapua, meaning both “sacred” and “menstruation.”d
- In German, the word for menstruation is regel, in French it is regle, and in Spanish it is las reglas—which all mean “measure” or “rule” as well as “menstruation” and are cognate with “regal,” “regalia,” and “rex” (king). These terms suggest menstruation is linked to orderliness, ceremony, law, and leadership.d
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| Menstrual huts were common in early cultures |
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- Menstruation huts were common features in premodern cultures. They were a place where women were separated from the community during their menses for various reasons ranging from fear to respect.d
- Scholars suggest that as matriarchy gave way to patriarchy, menstrual blood taboos were used by men to control women and, consequently, menstrual blood was interpreted away from something powerful to a “disgusting” waste product that had no role in the reproductive process.c
- Some scientists have suggested harvesting stem cells from menstrual blood.k
- Psychoanalysts, such as Freud, have suggested that menstruation is a “bloody sign of a woman’s loss of penis” and that it is a reminder of a woman’s “uncleanliness and inferiority.”c
- Scholars suggest that marriage rites are an extension of menarchal rites, which may explain why many bridal dresses were historically red. The bride would also walk on a red carpet to the wedding ceremony, wearing a red veil.d
-- Posted March 30, 2010
References
b Daniels, Patricia, et al. 2007. Body: The Complete Human. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society.
c Delaney, Janice and M.J. The Curse: A Cultural History of Menstruation. Champaign, IL: University of Illinois Press.
d Grahn, Judy. 1993. Blood, Bread, and Roses: How Menstruation Created the World. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.
i Livoti, Dr. Carol, and Elizabeth Topp. 2004. Vaginas: An Owner’s Manual. New York, NY: Thunder’s Mouth Press.
j “ Menstruation.” Online Etymology. Dictionary.com. Accessed: February 27, 2010.
l Redd, Nancy Amanda. 2008. Body Drama. New York, NY: Gotham Books.
m Shaikh, Sa’diyya. 2003. “Family Planning, Contraception, and Abortion in Islam: Undertaking Khalifah” in Sacred Rights: The Case for Contraception and Abortion in World Religions, ed. by Daniel C. Maguire. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
n “Trivia for The Story of Menstruation.” IMDB.com. Accessed: February 27, 2010. |
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