The History of Periods

Betwixt The Sheets: The History of Sex, Scandal & Society

History Hit

Society, Sex, Scandal, Education, History

4.8 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 3 March 2023

⏱️ 42 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

‘It’s my time of the month’, ‘the painters are in’, ‘aunt flo is visiting’, or a simple ‘I’m on the rag’

Periods are a fact of life for so many people. So how have they been understood? How have they been talked about and concealed? And why have periods stopped so many people from going swimming?

In this episode, Kate is joined by Elissa Stein, one of the authors of FLOW: the Cultural Story of Menstruation to find out how menstruation has been dealt with throughout history. This episode was requested by Betwixter Lisa. If you also have a request, please let us know at [email protected].

*WARNING there are adult words and themes in this episode*

Produced by Charlotte Long and Sophie Gee. Mixed by Anisha Deva.

Betwixt the Sheets: The History of Sex, Scandal & Society. A podcast by History Hit.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Everyone leaves a legacy.
0:02.2	But a legacy can change over time as new generations
0:05.6	re-examine old preputations.
0:07.6	From Wundery and Gohanger podcasts, I'm F4Hersh.
0:11.0	I'm Peter Frankapan, and in a brand new series,
0:14.0	we're exploring the lives of some of the biggest characters in history,
0:17.4	from Napoleon to Picasso.
0:19.2	And asking, what does their past tell us about our present?
0:23.4	This is legacy.
0:24.7	Follow now wherever you get your podcasts.
0:30.0	Hello, my lovely Patwixters, it's me, Kate Lister.
0:35.4	I am here with your fair dues warning to protect you from yourselves,
0:40.0	to protect you from me, to protect you from the absolute filth
0:43.2	that is this podcast.
0:45.2	Today, we are actually talking about the history of periods.
0:49.3	It's not very rude, but there's a lot of blood periods,
0:54.1	bodily functions, and you might just be sat there trying to enjoy a prune
0:57.4	yogurt to yourself, and you might just not want to listen to this.
1:00.3	In which case, fair dues, get out now, you have been warned.
1:04.3	This is a very special episode, because today's episode was requested by a listener.
1:16.4	Hi, Kate, my name is Lisa, and I'm listening in from Norway,
1:20.0	big fan of the podcast.
	...

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