It's the economy, stupid!

I've brought this one back to the top ... it's important. Don't be fooled into the lazy assumption that this is a North American phenomenon, as there is obviously a global trend. I honestly don't have the time nor the wherewithal to pursue all of the implications of this unnatural path of self-destruction, but, it scares me to think that the development of our species is becoming so dependent on drugs ... of any sort. Just google "menstruation optional" or "cialis", [or "anya" ... careful there!]. Is everything a dysfunction? More to the point ... can't we all just get it on?

In the high tension hype of feminism and vanity and self absorption ... we're gonna miss the boat. Noah wasn't kidding.

Lianne George, writing in the December 12th issue of Maclean's

The end of menstruation ... A new contraceptive will soon let women stop having periods. Is it the pinnacle of liberation, or a reckless experiment?

... Health experts are predicting that by this time next year, menstruation will no longer be an inevitable function but rather an optional feature, a bit like power steering or pay-per-view.

In 2006, a new oral contraceptive called Anya, developed to "put women in control of when or if they want to menstruate", is expected to hit the Canadian and U.S. markets. Manufactured by Collegeville, Penn.-based Wyeth Pharmaceuticals ...

How's that for "liberation"? I think I'll cherry pick from the article.

... In the fall of 2003, Barr Laboratories, of Pomona, N.Y., introduced Seasonale in the U.S., the first extended cycle contraceptive pill, with the slogan "Fewer periods, more possibilities".

... Despite widely reported side-effects, including irregular bleeding, Seasonale - still pending approval in Canada - has quickly emerged as a popular option in the U.S. Last year alone, Barr recorded Seasonale sales of US$187 million.

... It will mean all sorts of choices for the next generation of adolescent girls ...

... No more feeling not-quite-fresh - even after a shower.

And yet, in theory anyway, the whole idea of menstrual suppression is outrageous. Isn't the whole point of "the curse" that it's not optional? Isn't it natural for women to menstruate? On these questions, the experts - doctors, feminists, bioethicists and women themselves - are bitterly divided.

... Dr, Shari Brasner, a 40-year old Manhattan gynecologist, says she, for one, just doesn't have time to menstruate.

... Dr. Leslie Miller, a professor of obstretrics and gynecology at the University of Washington .. runs the pro-suppression website Noperiod.com .. says, "there's nothing natural about it". .... [in sub-text Miller also says] "Then there are savings for women on feminine hygiene products, which, collectively cost billions of dollars a year".

... In 1999, a Brazilian gynecologist named Dr. Elsimar Coutinho polarized the women's health community ... "to have so many periods", he says, "isn't only a nuisance, but may be an unnecessary hazzard to a woman's emotional and physical health." ... (Coutinho, as it happens, also helped develop Depo-Provera, a controversial injectable contraceptive that suppresses a woman's period for three months at a time and is believed to cause serious complications in some women, including loss of bone density.)

[Ed. Shades of the days when doctors prescribed valium to keep the wymens quiet!]

..."There's no downside in terms of health risks to stopping your period,"concurs Dr. Julia Johnson, a reproductive endocrinologist at the University of Vermont and one of Anya's primary researchers. [my bold]

I feel so much better now.

... But all of this good news, detractors say, is based on the assumption that periods serve no function other that reproduction - and that you can isolate them from every other system in the body. This, they argue, is preposterous. "Menstruation, this amazingly intricate, carefully crafted cycle, is a vital sign of our health," says Dr. Jerilynn Prior, an endocrinologist and the scientific director of the Centre for Menstrual Cycle and Ovulation Research at the University of British Columbia. "To wantonly disrupt it is a horrifying thought."

Margie Profet (U. Washington) and Dr. Susan Raiko, No More Periods? (Boston) are cautious to advise women of some of the side effects of menstrual suppression;

"Even Leslie Miller is reluctant to support menstrual suppression for young people".

Geraldine Matus of Edmonton, Alberta found in her research that recovery from "the pill" was ardous; Kathleen O'Grady, Women's Health Network,

"... We can't make presumptions first and wait for the science after, especially when we're talking about espousing healthy women to continuous hormones purely for lifestyle purposes.";

Prior -

" .... the notion that these pills are low-dose should be in quotations. "It's low dose compared to the kind of pills that were marketed in the '60s and '70s," she says, "but it's not low dose compared to the natural estrogen level. We've been sold that it is, and we accept it as though it is true. We've lost our perspective."

The argument for cessation of periods is couched in feminist notions of choice and control, says Prior, but you can't truly have either when you don't have all of the information, the regulatory bodies aren't demanding it, and the pharmaceutical industry stands to make billions by pushing the drug through.

"From a cultural perspective, I think it's misogynistic," says Matus. "Women's bodies are a marvelous thing to commodify. We have all sorts of processes that can be turned into diseases or disease models: pregnancy, nursing, menstruation, menopause - all of these things. And because we tend to use the health care system more than men, we're a great market share."

um .. Harry Finley runs a .. um .. dedicated web-site . Who knew?

Lianne's concluding paragraph:

Which is why for many the question "is mentruation obsolete?" is a bit like asking whether being a woman is obsolete. "It's ridiculous," says Matus. "I could make the same argument about men and ejaculation. I could say, "Men don't need to ejaculate. It's messy; it means a loss of essential nutrients; it's embarassing when you have wet dreams and your mother comes in. So take a pill to suppress it." But that would change everything about how he works. And they'd probably burn us at the stake if we suggested it. But that's how ridiculous this is."

Well, there's much more ... if you can find the article, it's well worth the read. (It can be scanned and available ... should you desire).

I never did like the idea of being an option.