For as long as menstruation has existed—which is to say, forever—it has been used as evidence of female weakness. It's not just the bleeding, though that's gross enough (how could women function with that bloody, dripping mess between their legs?). Menstruation has also been a sign of instability: Women couldn't possibly be responsible for making important decisions with all those hormones swimming from their uteri up to their delicate little heads. Before the first American women were launched into space, for example, NASA had serious conversations about what could happen if a hormonal, moody, bleeding woman got behind an aerospace control board.
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