Period: The End of Menstruation
16mm, 54min, 2006
Distributed by Cinema Guild, NYC
Press
"It explores the idea of suppressing the menstrual period but leaves the viewer to make up her own mind." New York Times
"The debate here is rich and varied. ... An interesting documentary on that time of the month that is definitely recommended." - Video Librarian
"demonstrates a more inclusive queer view of menstruators.” - Routledge Handbook of Health and Media
"Chesler offers a dialogue here that is relentlessly intelligent, ecumenical, and profoundly sensitive to the varying perspectives of women and girls who must ultimately make their own menstrual choices." - Bust Magazine
"There is often a cloud of shame and guilt shading menstruation that prevents
open dialogue. Chesler has lifted that cloud..." Sex Roles
Synopsis
As hormonal shots and pills offer menstruators the ability to stop their periods, the meaning of menstruation changes. Trends in hormonal birth control sales through drugs like Depo-Provera, Seasonale, Seasonique, Lybrel, and Anya, have attracted customers by promising “freedom” from monthly periods. For many consumers, hormonal menstrual suppression eliminates painful monthly flow, giving them more control in their lives. For others, menstrual suppression represents a shift in thinking about the human body and another experiment on our health. Period: The End of Menstruation? interrogates the cultural and medical side effects of suppression before 'the curse' disappears.
Director / Producer Giovanna Chesler utilizes methods of direct cinema, cinema verite, and poetic construction through 16mm film. Giovanna and their crew met with over 50 participants around the United States to understand the variety of viewpoints on this complex topic. Period highlights these health practitioners, cultural critics, artists, activists. Several of these individuals impact the future of menstruation trends while others are directly affected by these trends. Some see menstruation as an essential element of the female body and experience. Others believe that menstruation is not necessary. One doctor extols the benefits of Seasonale, a pill designed to allow only four bleeding episodes each year (which generated $50 million in sales in one year.) Another participant explains that hormonal suppressants can lead to loss of bone density and osteoporosis in young women. Side effects include depression, cardiac ailments, blood clots, break through bleeding and loss of libido.
Period equates the experiences and opinions of every day Americans to medical knowledge. Folks of diverse ethnic communities, of varying sexual orientations and genders are included in the film alongside health practitioners and cultural critics. We meet a Black woman in San Diego who was so troubled by her period that she chose to have a hysterectomy at age 33, We see a white urban professional in her late 20’s getting a shot of Depo Provera. She tells us that she has not menstruated in three years. A transmasculine person living in New York City chooses to keep his period and claims it as part of his masculinity. An artist in San Francisco makes original paintings with her menstrual blood.
What is healthy, normal, and natural? Why is menstuation equated with being a woman? Are we eliminating something taboo before we even understand it as a sign of health?
Period addresses these complex questions and more. Period: The End of Menstruation? makes a taboo subject visible and audible, serving as a beginning to much needed public conversation and bringing attention to a pressing health issue that affects millions of menstruators on a national and global scale.
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Crew
Director, Producer, Editor - Giovanna Chesler
Producer - Marina Shoupe
Cinematography - Giovanna Chesler & Nancy Morita
Re Recording Mixer - Kadet Kuhne
Composer - Hannah Guggenheim
Title artwork - Geneva Kachman
Title design - Adriene Hughes
Screenings
Suns Cinema Washington DC - March 2018
Unmentionables Film Festival at Maysles Cinema, New York City, June 2015
Doc Watchers in Harlem, New York City, March 09
Connecticut NOW's Annual Convention, Connecticut College, New London, November 08
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, October 08
Ladyfest Cork, Ireland, April 08
Dundee Women's Film Festival, United Kingdom, March 08
Society for Cinema and Media Studies Conference
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, January 08
Marymount Manhattan College, New York City, December 07
Red Tent Sisters in their Feminist Cinema Circle, Toronto, Canada, November 07
University of Victoria, Sex Ed Exchange, November 07
Fertility Awareness Charting Circle, Edmonton, Canada, November 07
SUNY at Fredonia, Women Take Aim Film Series, November 07
American University, October 2007
University of Southern California, October 2007
National Museum of Women in the Arts, September 2007
Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, June 2007
Art Beat Portland, May 2007
Bluestockings Bookstore, New York, April 2007
Arts Picturehouse Cambridge UK- March 2007
Women Without Borders Film Festival, University of Wisconsin Milwaukee - March 2007
Sexual Health Access, Alberta Canada - November 2006 / Feb 07
University of California, San Diego Women's Center - Fall 2006
Mess Hall Reproductive Health Video Screening, Chicago - August 2006
Gene Siskel Theatre, Chicago - July 2006
National Womens Studies Association Conference, Oakland, CA - June 2006
Malcolm X Library, San Diego - May 20, 2006
Concordia University, Montreal - March 22, 2006
California State University, San Marcos - March 14, 2006
San Diego Museum of Photographic Arts - November 5, 2005
UMass Boston - Thursday, October 27, 2005
Chatham College - Thursday, October 20, 2005
Pennsylvania State University - Wednesday, October 19, 2005
Univ. of Pittsburgh @ Greensburg, Pennslyvania - Tuesday, October 18, 2005
University of Indiana, Pennsylvania - October 17, 2005
Union College, New York - October 2005
University Film & Video Association Conference, Chicago, Illinois - August 2005
M.I.T., Camgridge, MA, Menstrual Identites -- Cultural Biomedical Inventions - May 2005
Pennsylvania State University - February 2004 (work in progress screening)
Binacom Research & Production Symposium, San Diego, CA - January 2004 (excerpts only)
Period Participants
The Students of Cesar Chavez Elementary: Welcome to this 5th grade classroom in San Diego where young girls are learning about their periods for the first time. Barbara Kernan, the nurse at Cesar Chavez, teaches these girls about their bodies with enthusiasm and warmth that encourages questions and positive feelings towards menstruation and menarche.
Women’s Wisdom Weekend: Nestled in the Santa Cruz mountains, women from the ages of 20 to 70 are led by herbalist Kami McBride of the Living Awareness Institute. They are taught to appreciate and celebrate their cycles. McBride warns us against menstrual suppression and the experimentation that is taking place in the health care industry at the expense of women.
http://www.livingawareness.com
Dr. Andrew Kaunitz: A physician from Florida and site tester of Seasonale, a new birth control method touted as a good option for menstrual suppression, speaks to us at the Association for Reproductive Health Professionals conference in La Jolla, CA. He is one of the most outspoken individuals on the burdens and maladies associated with menstruation. His article, Choosing Whether -- and When -- to Menstrute, has been widely read and cited in the fields of gynecology and contraception hormonal.
Makeda Tudor: While celebrating queer and lesbian health at Vagina Fest, San Diego, CA we met Julie-Marie and Makeda, two musical performers who would give up their periods if given the choice. We meet up with Makeda a year after our first interview as she undergoes a hysterectomy to end her painful periods.
Vanessa Tiegs: This artist carefully considers the meaning of menstruation in our discussion with her. She began painting with her menstrual blood several years ago, and now has 80 paintings which she shares. Her motivation - to produce a positive image of menstruation and consider, through the act of painting, the meanings of menstruation.
http://www.livejournal.com/users/spiralingmoon/
Geneva Kachman: This menstrual artist founded Menstrual Monday and has made over 2000 kits to celebrate the holiday, complete with UFO’s - uterine flying objects - and menstrual bubbles. Kachman desires to bring a smile to the face of any menstruator through her Musuem of Menstruation (in development in Detroit.) The pop-up museum we filmed includes delightful and surprising menstrual creations like a chocolate tampon dispenser! Geneva lent her talents to the production of Period by participating through interviews, but also by drawing the logo of the film, a play on the uterus from the 1918 edition of Gray's anatomy.
Society for Menstrual Cycle Research: At their conference in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania physicians and psychologists debate about menstrual suppression. We catch snippets of their arguments and witness the diversity of opinions and issues related to menstrual suppression. The Society has a long history of advocating for women’s health issues around menstruation; they fought for tampon safety warnings and were early opponents of hormone replacement therapies - which were broadly applied - for menopause. Presently, SMCR is wary of the hype around menstrual suppression, expanding the popular understanding of whom menstruates, and calling for more research and less stigma in menstrual health overall. www.menstruationresearch.org.
Red Hot Mamas: Chapters of the Red Hot Mamas abound throughout the United States. These groups of menopausal and peri-menopausal women offer support and information to for those in any stage of menopause. The women of this chapter in Ft. Wayne Indiana have many humorous and informed opinions on hot flashes, the change, and menstruation.
Dr. Susan Rako: This psychiatrist and author of The Blessings of the Curse: No More Periods?, is one of the most significant voices denouncing menstrual suppression. We interview her, listen in on a conversation with a patient who is deciding whether or not to stop menstruating, and follow Dr. Rako to the Harvard Medical library where she conducts her research.
Jennifer: Follow this 28 year old urban professional to her doctor’s appointment where she receives a shot of Depo–Provera, a birth control medication that prevents her from menstruating. Her physician, Dr. Leslie Kardos, tells us how the medication works and she explains why menstruating is not necessary. Jen reveals her motivations for taking this drug: she was hospitalized at a young age because of excessive menstrual bleeding.
Morty Diamond: A self proclaimed ‘dude who bleeds’, Morty Diamond spins the issue of menstruation as a ‘sign of the woman’ on its head. By limiting the typical dose of hormones taken by transmasculine folks, Morty continues to get his period. His lived experience around menstruation and masculinity is transformative and expands understandings of this vital sign.
Truong Sisters: Darlene, Helen and Susie are three sisters who have some amusing and heartfelt ideas on what it means to bleed. We visit them in their Ft. Lauderdale, FL home on the day of Chinese New Years as they prepare a feast for their family and candidly discuss menstruation and cultural taboos around menses.
More Information on Period: The End of Menstruation?
Review in Signs: Films for Feminist Classroom
Article & Video on Period in the New York Times
Full press list at www.g6pictures.com
Blogs on Menstruation:
Menstruation Matters blog (2006-2017) Society for Menstrual Cycle Research
Adventures in Menstruating by Chella Quint, http://www.chartyourcycle.co.uk/
Recommended Links Challenging Menstrual Suppression (Our recommended links are compiled through research. We do not gain monetarily from these suggestions.)
Want to go off hormonal birth control?
Read this book by Justisse Healthworks for women "Coming Off the Pill, the Patch, the Shot and other Hormonal Contraceptives: Learning How to Restore Menstrual Cycle Health"
Non-hormonal birthcontrol options
Natural Contracteptive Methods at Sexuality and U - your link to sexual well-being.
Centre for Menstrual Cycle and Ovulation Research :"Manipulating Menstruation with the use of Hormonal Contraception - what does the Science Say?" and other informative articles.
Fertility Awareness Network - learn how to track your cycle and practice methods of contraception without hormones.
Justisse: Fertility Awareness Education - connect to a health pracitioner with information on non-hormonal birth control options.
Laughing Sage Wellness: New York based group interested in helping women have happy hormones!
Organizations devoted to Menstruation Research & Activism
Society for Menstrual Cycle Research: non profit, interdisciplinary research organization interested in the role of the menstrual cycle in women's health and well-being.
Museum of Menstruation & Women’s Health: documents the "rich history of menstruation and women's health" and a great jumping off point for most everything menses related.
Red Tent Sisters: Toronto based business dedicated to serving the reproductive and sexual health needs of women across the life-cycle.
The Red Web Foundation: Creates "Lifelong Menstrual Health through community and education" and provides a wealth of links to books and classes around menstrual education.
Recommendations on Menstrual Suppression
The Well Timed Period, blog by Author / Dr. Diana Kroi
Seasonale Extended Use Oral Contraceptives which allow for four bleeding episodes each year instead of the usual twelve.
Recent Article on Menstrual Suppression, "Period: Full Stop", Washington Post 6/6/06
Depo Provera Horror Stories to hear from those who have tried and have an experience to share
Gina Sucato, in attendance at Society for Menstrual Cycle Research Conference, author of:
Sucato GS, Gold MA. Extended cycling of oral contraceptive pills for adolescents. J Pediatr Adolesc Gynecol 2002;15(5):325-27. and
Sucato GS, Gershultz, K. Extended cycle hormonal contraception in adolescents. Curr Opin Obstet Gynecol. 2005:17(5):461-5.
Coutinho, Elsimar Is Menstruation Obsolete? (translated by Sheldon J. Segal), Oxford University Press, New York, 1999 and a review of the book by Kathleen O'Grady, Director Canadian Women's Health Network
Recommended Links for Alternative Menstrual Products
Luna Pads - natural menstrual products and more
Reddy's Pads are made by a participant in Period and include in panty and panty free designs
Jade and Pearl Sea Sponges instead of tampons
Glad Rags for all types of alternative menstrual related products
Lunette Menstrual Cup, UK and other products.
Good Reads
New Blood: Third Wave Feminism and the Politics of Menstruation by Chris Bobel (Rutgers Univ Press, 2010)
Capitalizing on the Curse: The Business of Menstruation by Elizabeth Kissling (Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2007)
Girls in Power: Gender, Body and Menstruation in Adolescence by Laura Fingerson (SUNY Press, 2006)
The Curse: Confronting the Last Unmentionable Taboo, Menstruation by Karen Houppert (Farrar Starus Giroux, 1999)
Blessings of the Curse: No More Periods? by Susan Rako (Backinprint.com, 2006)
Public Privates: Performing Gynecology from Both Ends of the Speculum by Terri Kapsalis (Duke University Press, 1997)
My Little Red Book edited by Rachel Kauder Nalebuff, 2008
Reviews of Period: The End of Menstruation
New York Times Feature Article - April 20, 2007
Signs review, Fall 2010
UK Guardian, Oct 2, 2009
Afterimage, Nov-Dec 2008
USA Today, Life Section, June 11, 2007
Spoiler Alert Radio Interview, May 2007
Canadia Women's Health Network, Sp/Smr 07
Rue 89, May 5, 2007 (French)
El Mundo , April 23, 2007 (Spanish)
KUSI Inside San Diego, April 23, 2007
Bust Magazine, The guide:Movies p.100, Dec/Jan06/07
Video Librarian gives Period 3 stars!
"Period talk" in Citybeat San Diego by Kinsee Morlan
Interview with Giovanna Chesler in vagina verite
Our Bodies Ourselves 2005 edition recommends Period: The End of Menstruation?