on girls' matters

corianderstem posed a question in her LJ that got me reading this article about the origins of The Pill that are really, really fascinating. It's a long article, but goes quickly because it's so interesting.

I did, however, want to point out one particular passage:

All told, Dogon women menstruate about a hundred times in their lives. (Those who survive early childhood typically live into their seventh or eighth decade.) By contrast, the average for contemporary Western women is somewhere between three hundred and fifty and four hundred times.

*weeps* 350-400 times?! Compared to 100?! I hate Aunt Flo. I do not want to see her 400 times during the course of my life. Of course, Dogon women also give birth 8-9 times during a typical lifespan and spend the rest of their time breast feeding, which is probably not the trade off I want to make. Probably.

Also, msscribe, I love you dearly. I will try my darndest to have some fic ready to send to you. Please feel better soon. You're in my thoughts. (For those of you who may be friends with Dionne but who haven't seen Liss's post, go here.)