Period - by Kate Clancy

Book Synopsis

A bold and revolutionary perspective on the science and cultural history of menstruation

Menstruation is something half the world does for a week at a time, for months and years on end, yet it remains largely misunderstood. Scientists once thought of an individual's period as useless, and some doctors still believe it's unsafe for a menstruating person to swim in the ocean wearing a tampon. Period counters the false theories that have long defined the study of the uterus, exposing the eugenic history of gynecology while providing an intersectional feminist perspective on menstruation science.

Blending interviews and personal experience with engaging stories from her own pioneering research, Kate Clancy challenges a host of myths and false assumptions. There is no such a thing as a "normal" menstrual cycle. In fact, menstrual cycles are incredibly variable and highly responsive to environmental and psychological stressors. Clancy takes up a host of timely issues surrounding menstruation, from bodily autonomy, menstrual hygiene, and the COVID-19 vaccine to the ways racism, sexism, and medical betrayal warp public perceptions of menstruation and erase it from public life.

Offering a revelatory new perspective on one of the most captivating biological processes in the human body, Period will change the way you think about the past, present, and future of periods.

Review Quotes

"A Seminary Co-Op Notable Book of the Year"

"Worth reading...for the demolition of the idea of a 'normal' 28-day cycle! [Clanch is] also great at considering the social implications of science."---Meghan Bartels, Scientific American

"Period . . . is an energising read that models and opens critical conversations about ethically and politically reflective practices in the life sciences. . . .Clancy engages the reader in a dialogue that ignites curiosity and invites further inquiry, offering dollop after rich dollop of fascinating science. . . . Period is not only an exquisite work of science writing, it is a life-altering read."---Sarah S. Richardson, The Lancet

"Period by the biological anthropologist Kate Clancy, hope[s] to draw our attention to menstruation and the often overlooked organ central to it. . . . Clancy hope[s] to encourage us to better appreciate this remarkable muscle. . . . Rather than greeting our periods with disgust, perhaps we should trade our revulsion for awe."---Yasmine AlSayyad, The New Yorker

""Revelatory. . . . Clancy's book will hopefully encourage more scientists to conduct more rigorous research on periods."---Rose George, The Atlantic

"a well-written, interdisciplinary exposition of menstruation.... Highly recommended"-- "Choice"

"A Choice Outstanding Academic Title of the Year"

"Clancy's perspective is expertly blended with insights from evolutionary biology, clinical investigations, public health, and social science to broaden our understanding of menstruation. Period is a relevant and timely contribution to biological anthropology and popular science that has the potential to influence research, health policy, and cultural perspectives of women's reproductive health and menstruation."-- "Affilia: Feminist Inquiry in Social Work"

"Religion is uniquely capable of taking painful, isolating experiences and using them as catalysts for forming community. Yet, so far, resources on the theology of menstruation are scant. As far as I know, there is no handbook for the pastoral care of people experiencing menstruation. And although Clancy demonstrates that menstrual blood is the source of life, I have yet to hear a sermon relating the life-giving blood of Christ to periods. Perhaps Period is the invitation pastors and theologians need to reimagine what it means to sing our old hymns about the 'wonder-working power in the blood.'"---David Black, Christian Century

"Kate Clancy, an anthropologist by training and a serious researcher into the science underlying menstruation, takes her readers on an adventurous romp through every physiological, political, and social aspect of this monthly bloodletting and tissue-shedding that virtually all women (and other people with uteruses) experience hundreds of times during their reproductive years - myth-busting as she goes. . . .The book is a must-read for anyone who menstruates, has menstruated, or will do so, and all those close to them - and, one hopes, a map for the future."---Caroline de Costa, Australian Book Review

"[Period] is an important and provocative look at an incredibly common yet stigmatized bodily process and at the fatal flaws underlying both our science and our society. It might make readers uncomfortable. But as Clancy proclaims, that means she's doing her job."---Emily Cataneo, Undark

"A bracing look at periods and how society lets down those who have them. . . . Clancy excels at outlining how sexism influences the production and process of science, as well as public understandings of research findings. The result is an urgent call to reconsider how periods are researched and discussed."-- "Publishers Weekly"

"Give this book to everyone."---Aimee Cunningham, Science News

"In energetic and funny prose, Clancy castigates Western societies, especially scientists and physicians, for menstrual stigmas both ancient and modern. . . . [Period] conveys a consistently positive view of menstrual blood, the menstrual cycle, and the bodies of people who menstruate. Looking for agency, optimism, power, and healing in menstruating bodies, Clancy demonstrates that, indeed, these qualities are there for those whose eyes are open to them. . . . A main theme throughout the book is that there is a diversity of menstrual experiences, and that is a good way for bodies (and people) to be. In the end, Clancy simply wants periods to be understood and respected for the remarkable biological process they are."---Lara Freidenfelds, Science

About the Author

Kate Clancy is professor of anthropology at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, where she holds appointments in the Department of Gender and Women's Studies and the Program in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation Biology, and at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology. She has written for National Geographic, Scientific American, and American Scientist.