This Month in Menstruation: February (just under the wire!)

Oops, February is really short. But still long enough for a full cycle! Here is some interesting recent menstruation news that you might have missed—let's be real, that you probably missed, unless you're actively searching for #periodcontent like I am.

• I'm actually almost a year late to this one, but it came back up recently: Future royalty Meghan Markle wrote an op-ed thingie for Time last March about periods and potential in the Global South. There are definitely limitations to imposing Western ideas about bodies and gender on other cultures, but many of the programs Markle mentions do seem to be run by local women, and I would just love to see her take up menstruation as her pet cause as Lady Princess or whatever it is her title will be so she can throw the full resources of the British Royal Family into talking about periods 24/7. British readers (if you're out there), any insights on how the Queen might feel about this?
• In a slightly more timely story, Mirai Nagasu talked to Cosmopolitan about the realities of being an Olympic athlete and a menstruator. Mostly it sounds like there's basically no difference between that and how the rest of us who aren't landing triple axels at work experience periods, but it's cool to see someone talk about it so calmly and openly. It's also reassuring that Nagasu's intense training regimen hasn't led to amenorrhea, which is a real issue for such elite athletes.
• From the Bureau of I Could Have Told You That: This week Elle UK reported on a professor in London who's getting the word our that menstrual cramp pain can be "almost as bad as having a heart attack." On my worst cramp days I have absolutely been afraid that something truly catastrophic and possibly fatal was taking place inside my body, so I'm just glad we're all on the same page now. There's a whole history of the medical system not taking women's pain seriously, so every male, non-menstruating expert who can be converted seems like a small victory.
• Finally, here's a short piece from one of my favorite online sources for interesting writing, JSTOR Daily, on "The Secret History of Menstruation." It has some fascinating gems of info and one or two insights, but really it feels like a tease or maybe just a writing prompt—it definitely made me think about where we are right now, what kind of culture we currently have around menstruation, both for menstruators to position themselves within and also for the general society to related to menstruation through. So, maybe more thoughts on that soon!