The Curse Confronting the Last Unmentionable

Karen Houppert combines an analysis of the "menstrual etiquette" fostered by ads, movies, novels, and magazines with reporting on the safety hazards of sanitary products. She shows us the devastating impact this unwarranted secrecy can have on women's health and sense of self, and turns an irreverent eye to the "menstrual counterculture" it has spawned.

Karen Houppert is a freelance journalist who writes on a variety of feminist topics. She lives in New York City.

Introduction

3

(8)

PART ONE The Industry

11

(38)

Advertising: A Culture of Concealment

13

(5)

The Tampon-Dioxin Link: Should We Worry?

18

(11)

A Case Study: Revisiting Toxic Shock

29

(7)

Targeted Marketing: The Stealth Campaign

36

(13)

PART TWO The Adolescent

49

(90)

The Plummeting Age of Puberty and the ``Epidemic'' of Teen Sex

55

(7)

Sex and the Menstrual Genre

62

(2)

Formal Lessons: The ABC's of Blood

64

(20)

Mom Passes the Menstrual Modesty Torch

69

(3)

The Sex-Segregated Classroom

72

(2)

Skirting S-E-X: The Language of Bleeding

74

(5)

Menstrual Myths

79

(5)

Unofficial Curriculums: The Subtext

84

(27)

What's Sex Got to Do With It? Making Sense of the Sex-Blood Link

99

(8)

A Hygienic Crisis

107

(4)

Literature and the Menstrual Canon

111

(28)

Am I Normal? Judy Blume's Are You There God?

112

(4)

Power in the Blood: Stephen King's Carrie

116

(5)

A Girl's Own Story: Anne Frank

121

(18)

PART THREE The Adult: PMS, the Scourge of the Nineties

139

(58)

In the Beginning There Was Premenstrual Tension: Dr. Dalton Identifies an Illness, Carves a Niche, and Reaps a Profit

146

(5)

A Cyclical History

151

(8)

The Progesterone Cure

159

(4)

PMS Speakout: Defining a Problem

163

(9)

The Prozac Cure

172

(7)

What's in a Name?

179

(18)

PMS and the Remaking of the Self

185

(4)

Hormones or Circumstance? Medical Solutions for Social Problems

189

(8)

PART FOUR Unlikely Prophets: The Menstrual Counterculture

197

(42)

The Resistance: Grrrls Speak Out

199

(9)

The Museum: Monument to Menstruation

208

(6)

Power in the Blood

214

(6)

Birth of a New Menstrual Product: InSync Miniforms

220

(19)

Conclusion

239

(6)

Notes

245

(10)

Acknowledgments

255

(2)

Permissions

257

(2)

Index

259

What is included with this book?

The New copy of this book will include any supplemental materials advertised. Please check the title of the book to determine if it should include any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

The Used, Rental and eBook copies of this book are not guaranteed to include any supplemental materials. Typically, only the book itself is included. This is true even if the title states it includes any access cards, study guides, lab manuals, CDs, etc.

FREE SHIPPING

Amazon no longer offers textbook rentals. We do!

The Curse Confronting the Last Unmentionable Taboo: Menstruation

Summary

Author Biography

Table of Contents

Supplemental Materials