No to the flow: Rejecting feminine norms and the reproductive imperative through hormonal menstrual suppression

Abstract

In 2007, the FDA approved Lybrel (U.S. Food and Drug Administration 2007), the first oral contraceptive pill (OCP) designed to completely eliminate the monthly withdrawal bleeding periods associated with birth control pills. Pharmaceutical technology has made it possible for women to choose not to menstruate for a host of reasons, including menstruation-related medical conditions, gender dysphoria, and personal convenience. This practice has faced a great deal of opposition from factions of the feminist community, medical professionals, women’s health advocates, and others, for reasons often rooted in problematic notions of menstruation as essential to “natural” and “normal” womanhood. In Chapter 4 of this book, Fahs examined the moral panic that ensues when menstruation is exposed to the public eye through student activism. This chapter, by contrast, will demonstrate that the absence of menstruation can also prove panic-inducing. In essence, women’s bodies serve as a source of panic regardless of the choices they make regarding menstruation.