Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Sixteen earnest stories (plus additional poetry and prayers) by mostly
new authors delve into a topic that is seldom open for discussion.
Menstruation is explored here from all perspectives, beginning at
puberty in the "Early Moons" section, where most of the
writers recount their introductions to womanhood and the sad frequency
with which their own mothers veiled or derided the process. Other
sections include "Waxing Moons: Coming to Light," featuring
tales of adult women honoring their cramps and getting in touch with
their bodies, and "Full Moon Celebrations," in which the
narratives focus on the goddess in every woman, with menstruation
becoming a symbol of woman's sacredness. In one story, a young member
of the Nova Scotian Micmac tribe gets her period and is gently eased
by her grandmother (interestingly, this tale is by a male author).
A harried mother of two yearns to connect with her touchy 11-year-old
daughter in the strongest story in the book, "Water Lessons."
One piece channels the ancient power of female ancestors and another
finds an amorous artist mixing her own biological pigments in with
her paint. Although much of this collection boldly examines the negative
aspects of menstruation (shame, cramps, messes, silence and fear),
the editor has included many positive perspectives as well, illuminating
menstruation's life-affirming, procreative and spiritual potentials.
The concluding section of poems and prayers is significantly less
polished than many of the stories, but overall this book might be
helpful to parents of teenage daughters who welcome a feminist and
affirmative celebration of menstruation. (Apr.) FYI: The Curse: Confronting
the Last Unmentionable Taboo, Menstruation, was reviewed in Nonfiction
Forecasts on Feb. 22.
Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
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From School Library Journal
A collection of stories, essays, and poetry. The first section, "Early
Moons," is composed of short stories about girls in the pre-feminist
days who were made to feel that having a period was " something
to be hidden, something to be cleaned, something to be spoken about
only in whispers." The second section, "Waxing Moons"
shows how adult women and society feel about menstruation. "Full
Moon Celebrations" offers stories that encompass a positive celebration
of menstruation and the strength, creativity, and courage women can
draw from it. This section, designed to provide an open, honest, affirming
attitude toward menstruation, contains sexually explicit material.
"On This Rainy Night: Every Girl's Birthright" includes
discussion of self-examination and of masturbation as part of the
initiation into womanhood. The final section, "Re-entering the
Dark: Poetry and Prayer," can be used "in a prayer service,
in a ritual, at a meeting, between friends." The stories are
short and easy to read. Young women will identify with many of the
characters and recognize similar situations in their own lives in
the first two sections. Gloria Steinhem noted in a 1978 essay that
"If Men Could Menstruate" that "menstruation would
become enviable [and] boastworthy." This book provides a consciousness-raising
tool to move women's thoughts in those directions.-Jane Drabkin, Chinn
Park Regional Library, Prince William, VA
Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
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