I’ve seen references to sex education during and a little after this period in the Church. E.g., that it was an RS responsibility in the 1920s. However, I’ve never seen any of the instructional materials before. It is really quite interesting. The lesson seems fairly consistent with the standard medical treatments of the period, with which I am familiar (though I would have to go back and check to make sure). That is to say that I don’t think the scientific approach is particularly “Mormon.”

Secondly, the statement that “Every woman is a law unto herself” is made to ensure that it is ok if your period is not the same length as everyone elses or if you happen to “bloom” earlier or later than others; but is not to be used as an excuse for having desires other than motherhood.

“Parties and theatres should be limited, and excessive school work should be avoided.” Again in A Vindication on the Rights of Woman, Wollstonecraft uses the image of a flower planted in rich soil, “strength and usefulness are sacrificed to beauty; and the falunting leaves, after having pleased a fastidious eye, fade disregarded on the stalk”. If talents of women aren’t cultivated to the fullest; we will have a group of mormon women who are very capable at tending house and nothing else. Does Isaiah 3:16 bring another image of blind piety to anyone else?

“The women of Israel, the women of the orient, and savages, all rest during the menstrual period”. A guest post at Femeinist Mormon Housewives found here ( http://www.feministmormonhousewives.org/?p=3404) talks about how women are often referred to in the mormon church in an air of “noble savagery”. I found it interesting that the savages discribed her are the women of Isreal and those in the Orient. If those savages are able to rest during their periods, surely us much more civilized women should be able to!

The feminist in me just screams for liberation from the suppression of patriarchy and subjegation of male diction.

I know many LDS families that take their children out of the special “health” classes at school, many of which deal with this very issue, so it might be useful. The question becomes what age to address it. My school had this class for fifth-grade girls. A lot of girls start menstruating around 12, so maybe it’s better to start this lesson in Achievement Days than in Young Women? I say start, because I think it is always a good idea for people to learn more about their bodies.

A few years ago I was living with a great, great aunt who advised me of the importance of spending the entirety of one’s menstruation in bed. “But you’re in nursing school, so you already knew that.” I just smiled and nodded. Boy have times changed since she was 15.

I think a woman’s attitude toward biology as a creation of God really impacts her attitude regarding her womanhood. I cringe when I hear LDS (and other) women refer to menstruation as “the curse” and other such nonsense. I do think that the encouragement in this era to stay in bed, refrain from parties, etc was more driven by their understanding of women as inherently fragile/weak than by their biology, whatever they may have thought at the time. I remember having some distinctly and surprisingly (to me) feminist thoughts at my aunt’s advice- I’m a WOMAN! You won’t keep me in bed! I can do everything the men can do, no matter what time of the month it is! and so on, so my attitudes are probably somewhat shaped by my cultural understanding of women as well.