For most women, the time between your first and last period is defined by things other than the phases of the menstrual cycle. Or at least it used to be. But much has changed in the ontology of modern womanhood from the halcyon era of the 1990s, when women were positively encouraged to get out there and get on with it rather than sit around mooning about how rotten they feel.

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But here we are. Periods, like so much else that was formerly humdrum, have burst hideously on to the scene; sapping, among other things, a woman’s valuable Right to Ignore. Instead of being seen as a mild inconvenience of only the vaguest interest, menstruation has ascended the feminine ranks to become life-defining, soul-shaping and universe-channelling. Instagram is full of influencers hawking everything from recipes to candles, citing formerly indistinguishable phases of the cycle as the reason to make or buy this or that. 

A recent piece in the Atlantic, subtitled ‘hormone hype is out of control’, outlines some of the wilder manifestations of this cultural craze. There’s the meal-kit company Hungry Root recommending sweets during the luteal phase. There’s the ‘periodic serums’ range from French skincare brand Typology, offering........

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