Despite being something that half the population experiences for several decades of their lives, menstruation is still surrounded by quite a few myths. It is true that some of the oldest have already been denied. Few people still believe that mayonnaise is cut if you try to make it while menstruating. If you still thought about it, you can make mayonnaise without worries. But there are still many rule myths that are still valid, perhaps because taboos do not allow talking and learning about it.
Curiously, many myths of the rule are a way of restricting freedoms. Do not have sex with your period, which is disgusting, do not bathe with your period, which is not good. And so many more.
That’s why it’s important to have knowledge. Knowing what the myths about the rule are is necessary, because it not only satisfies curiosities. It also empowers. We are going to leave aside the classics, those that today most people know have been denied. Even so, many remain to be counted and these are the true answers. .
The period does not stop when you bathe
There are all kinds of period myths water related. In the past it was said that women should not shower or bathe during menstruation. That is already pretty much denied.
What is said nowadays is that cold water coagulates the blood, which stays inside the body and, therefore, stops menstruation. Here there are divisions of opinion, there are those who say that it is good and those who think that it is bad, but what they think does not matter, because it is not true.
Blood doesn’t coagulate with cold water. What happens is that blood vessels constrict. This may cause us to bleed less for a short time, but it doesn’t stop menstruation completely.
Famous period myths: be careful, you can still get pregnant
The belief that a pregnancy cannot occur during menstruation has filled nurseries and kindergartens.
Many women decide have sex during menstruation, because they believe that it is totally impossible to get pregnant. And, while it is true that it is less likely during ovulation, it is not impossible.
There are several reasons. The first is that not everyone has regular cycles like clockwork, so they can only get pregnant 14 days after starting their period. But, furthermore, if a woman has a short menstrual cycle, normally or punctually, it may be that, in the last days of bleeding, you are already ovulating again. Also, sperm are not just viable right after they are released. They can fertilize an egg for about 4 days. Therefore, perhaps at the time of intercourse there was no egg ready to be fertilized, but a few days later.
You can have sex with the period if you want
There are no medical reasons why you can’t have sex while on your period. Logically, you have to follow some hygiene measurese, but these should also be maintained when you don’t have your period.
Therefore, as long as none of the people in the relationship find it unpleasant, there is no problem.
Not all women have their period, nor is it exclusive to women
Cis women will menstruate as long as they do not have a medical problem that prevents it, that they are taking any medication that interferes with their period or that they are in stages before puberty or after menopause. But they are not the only ones who have the rule. Trans men have ovaries, a uterus and a vagina and, although they can stop menstruation with hormone treatment, this is not always carried out.
There is also trans women that, since they do not have ovaries, they cannot menstruate, and that is not why they are less women. That is, menstruation is not what defines a woman.
One of the Oldest Rule Myths: It Doesn’t Sync
It is often said that women who live together menstruation is synchronized. However, although there have even been scientists who have considered this true, today it is classified as one of the myths of the period, since there are no studies that corroborate it.
This rule myth comes from a study published in 1971 by the psychologist Martha McClintock. It is curious that she was not a gynecologist or a biologist.
According to his study, when analyzing the menstruation of more than a hundred university students, it was seen that those who lived together tended to synchronize their periods. He supposed that it was due to the influence of the pheromones, which acted on each other, and also had a theory about their evolutionary explanation. Looking back to early humans, she says, it could be that women who lived together synchronized to have relationships with multiple men. If each was fertile at one time, a single male could impregnate them all, but if they were all fertile at the same time, several would be required. It would therefore be a form of unconscious cooperation.
Since many feminist movements were emerging around the world at that time, this hypothesis became very famous. However, over time it had to be scientifically discarded, since later studies, carried out with a more exhaustive methodology, they failed to reproduce their results or find a cause.
Yes, that is true, and that is where McClintock’s specialty comes into play, which can be something more psychological. We tend to focus only on coincidences. Like when we are thinking of someone and they call us on the phone. Possibly we have thought of that person thousands of times, but we only notice when the coincidence occurs, as if both events were related. It is what is known as confirmation bias.
With the synchrony of menstruation, the same thing may happen. If two people who live together happen to be in sync, they will look at it. But, if each one goes by her side, they won’t even notice.
Therefore, we can consider it another of the many myths of the rule. There are still more and there will continue to be. But, at least, it should stop being a taboo to talk about them.