Last menstrual period is a standard question in medical histories, because of the need to establish whether a woman is pregnant or not before doing a chest x-ray or prescribing any medication that would be detrimental to a fetus.

My sister-in-law works for a public enterprise in India and just recently went through a divorce, and I thought it unusual that she had to notify her employer that she was in the process of getting divorced, when she got divorced, and then when she remarries. And this isn't for insurance purposes. Apparently the Indian government considers sworn affidavits to be essentially eternal documents, so anytime something about you changes, your affidavit must change, too.

Women have to tell their bosses when they're on the rag!? Shocking! That's potentially embarrassing, totally unrelated to anything to do with their jobs... and just plain weird!

Wait, you mean they just have to have a health check? Where one of the (presumably many) questions is "date of your last period"? Umm, okay... have you ever filled out a form at the doctor that you didn't have to answer this question? Because I haven't. A woman's mentrual cycle, or lack thereof, can be indicative of many things, and if the date of her last period was more than 45 days ago it raises all sorts of red flags that a doctor might not otherwise catch.

A country faced with many public health crises requiring all the people it can get its hands on to have a physical isn't enough to get me riled up. Tell me that men aren't required to get a similar physical (absent the period question, but most likely with other questions that a man might not want to share with his boss), and then we'll talk.

It would be very interesting if the statisticians used the information to correlate mezzes with incidents of rage and other problems. They could really improve public safety.

What are we missing that this is a story? I have to concur with other posters. I've never not filled out a health form for any purpose - job or otherwise that does not require this information. It is completely legitimate. Perhaps there is something you are not telling us about in this? Are they required to check in monthly and report the information each month or something like that? I do not consider the information too private for an employer to consider on a health check, though I would be outraged if you told me that women were being fired when they hit menopause or seem to be pregnant...or if they are using this to violate the woman employees privacy by notifying her workmates about whether she is menstruating in any given period? Otherwise period dates is simply medical/health data.

Di

This is all well and good for the medical profession and the civil service, but what about the rest of us? I think that many men could benefit from the advantage of knowing what is going on with a woman whom they are not familiar with - something like those homeland security threat levels that used to be so popular.

Such as "risk high - do not approach!"

That could not only save a lot of trouble, but it could also save lives.

/just kidding

/ducks

Hi,

When I was in a rowing crew, the (male) coach had to know when everyone's period was.

Normal, right?

Lynn Harris writes:

"I'm not a big Period Power person"

Hmmm. "Period Power." I think of the phrase "Flower Power." I think of the phrase "Girl Power." I think of "Power Rangers." I think of a Salon writer making fun of the work of American artists, writers and researchers (much of which she is apparently unaware of), rather than government bureaucrats in India.

Yes, I'm biased - I invented the Menstrual Monday holiday, which has been around for a few years now (six or seven). It "falls, er, spills the Monday before Mother's Day...because menstruation comes before motherhood, and usually long after it, too."

I think it's fun to eat "Accident on a White Sofa Cake" - strawberry sauce on angel food cake. I think it's also fun to hang UFOs (Uterine Flying Objects) around a room, and other decorations that I created. I think it's useful to have an opportunity to learn about yoga poses you can do for cramps, or taking calcium before your period, or sharing what words like "protection" or "feminine" or "hygiene" mean. Or emailing one of your political reps in Washington, "Hi. We're having a Menstrual Monday party, and part of being healthy is being heard. So we're emailing you about..."

It's also interesting and instructive to watch films like Giovanna Chesler's "Period: The End of Menstruation?" at periodthemovieDOTcom or Molly Strange's "In Search of Juan Colorado," a film about a girl getting her first period while on a camping trip with friends, flofilmsDOThtml at moltxDOTorg.

It's insulting to the careful, thoughtful work both filmmakers (and there are others!) have made regarding menstruation, when a Salon writer thoughtlessly uses a trivializing phrase like "Period Power." Like it's "cute" or "worth a chuckle," rather than revealing of the writer's ignorance of the work that's being done around menstruation.

Lynn Harris continues: "The forms specifically request "detailed menstrual history." OK, then! "It all began one morning when I was 13 and I noticed something strange on my underpants ... In college, the funniest thing happened -- we all got our periods at the same time! [continued on other side of page] ..."

I wrote a "detailed menstrual history" - a book of poetry called "Traveling Menstrual Show." The first poem in it is "When Bulimia Hits PMS" - yeah, what IS that like, terrible eating habits, and then you get your period? It's no joke...well, but sometimes that's how you end up eating, when you have a mother who binged on "boxes of candy and blackberry brandy."

I remember how I ate in college, and what my periods were like.

Maybe a college student (who's having regular periods - not all are, of course!) who attends a Menstrual Monday party, will be inspired to AT LEAST start taking calcium and vitamin D, if she can't stop eating unhealthily. That's not "Period Power." That's one person who's been through something, trying to help someone else.

Educate yourself...then be humorous. Humor + ignorance = not funny. "Honk If You Have Your Period" bumper sticker = funny.