Out for Blood

Abstract

Abstract Although the embryo protection hypothesis can help explain why women’s iron levels are lower, biomedical practitioners tend to favor another explanation: menstruation. This chapter uses both evolutionary and feminist thought to understand menstruation’s relationship to iron deficiency, beginning with its taboo status in many cultures—including the culture of biomedicine. It argues that taboo drove physicians to view menstruation as pathology, casting women as “the weaker sex.” Despite the efforts of early women doctors to explain that menstruation did not make women weak, tired, or drained of blood, the idea of menstruation as a pathology persists, including as a cause of iron deficiency. This sets up the core question of this chapter: If menstruation involves the loss of iron—a precious reproductive resource—why would menstruation evolve? This chapter covers three explanations for the evolution of menstruation and the implications for women, busting misconceptions about its relationship to iron status.