Anne here with a quick Sunday response to some questions from regular wenchly reader, Kareni.
Kareni said:
Greetings to all the Word Wenches and to the Word Wenches Wrangler!
I was thinking recently that menstruation is not often mentioned in historical romances. When it is mentioned, it is frequently the lack thereof that is being used to signal a pregnancy.
I’m assuming that rags were the order of the day, but how were they held in place?
I imagine that many snake oils were marketed for women’s complaints/cramps.
Did women of the ton in Regency days simply pass on balls and gatherings for several days a month?
Regards,
Kareni
I replied to Kareni personally, but then we decided that others might be interested in the answers. As you can see, I didn’t answer her questions directly but referred her to several excellent posts on the subject by Jo Beverley.
Jo Beverley wrote a couple of posts on menstruation.
https://wordwenches.com/tag/menstruation/
And this one which pretty much answers all of Kareni’s questions
https://wordwenches.com/the-monthly/
Many thanks, Anne, for replying to my questions both here and via email.
I found Jo’s posts (which predated my reading here) to be quite informative. I also enjoyed the posts on Jane Austen’s World site. One of the posts there quotes a site saying that urea cream is regularly recommended by dermatologists. I visited a podiatrist recently who recommended the same for a callus.
Thanks, Kareni — yes we have some excellent old blogs on our site, easily available by typing a topic into the search bar. I had a vague memory that your topic had been covered, so I did a quick search, found Jo’s posts and voila!
Glad you enjoyed the Jane Austen’s World site also. It’s another good rabbit hole to dive down.
Not that I need any more rabbit holes, Anne, but thank you!