Abstract
Girls tend to learn menstrual euphemisms at menarche, usually from mothers and female friends. Boys usually report learning them in high school or college from male peers. Women often view the terms as a secret language for use in the company of males or others in whose presence a straightforward statement about menstruation is deemed embarrassing. Among men, menstrual euphemisms tend to have sexual and derogatory connotations. Interpretations which accompany these folk expressions are presented to illustrate general aspects of menstrual and sexual socialization.
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The use of the Folklore Archives organized by Professor Alan Dundes of the Anthropology Department at the University of California, Berkeley, and the critical reading given this paper by Ken Meissner, editor, University of California, San Francisco, are gratefully acknowledged.
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Ernster, V.L. American menstrual expressions. Sex Roles 1, 3–13 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00287209
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00287209