'Dirty red': how periods have been stigmatised through history to the modern day

By Rachael Gillibrand, Lecturer in Premodern History, University of Leeds

About a year ago, at a friend’s wedding, a fellow guest asked whether I knew that modern sanitary towels owe their origins to resourceful World War I field nurses who discovered the efficacy of repurposing military bandages as period pads. I did not.

As a historian interested in the relationship between technology and the body – and someone who menstruates – the conversation had me wondering why I’d never considered the evolution of menstrual products. The answer, I believe, lies in…

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