| 1 | [[quoteright:350:[[ComicBook/AllNewXMen https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rco017_7.jpg]]]] |
| 2 | [[caption-width-right:350:Sorry, never heard about that thing.]] |
| 3 | |
| 4 | ->'''Al:''' You know who was a good woman? Veronica. You know, from ''ComicBook/ArchieComics''? Veronica never had a period.\ |
| 5 | '''Steve:''' That's true. But she still had an attitude problem.\ |
| 6 | '''Al:''' You're right. There are no good ones. |
| 7 | -->-- ''Series/MarriedWithChildren'' |
| 8 | |
| 9 | A subtrope of TheLawOfConservationOfDetail, No Periods, Period is the fact that unless there's a specific, plot-related reason to mention menstruation, like the onset of UsefulNotes/{{Puberty}} or a missed period suggesting pregnancy, the subject will not be brought up. Periods do appear frequently for plot-related reasons; do not list those here. |
| 10 | |
| 11 | It is common in fantasy that female elves do not have periods. [[TheFairFolk Fairies]] and [[{{Youkai}} youkai]] are also often unaffected. This often applies to [[CuteMonsterGirl Cute Monster Girls]], to make it clear that they are not human or only [[HalfHumanHybrid half human]]. Female [[OurVampiresAreDifferent vampires]] do not have it any more, which makes sense, considering that they are no longer living things, but walking corpses. |
| 12 | |
| 13 | Additionally, there are certain circumstances in which human menstruation will halt without medication. It can happen due to times of intense emotional and physical stress, and it's common for athletes under intense training regimens to stop menstruating (this is because experiencing such conditions is a signal to the body that now is ''not'' a great time to start gestating a baby). However, even in such circumstances the lack of a period will still rarely be noted in fiction. |
| 14 | |
| 15 | Periods were historically [[https://www.vulture.com/article/periods-in-movies-and-tv.html unlikely to be addressed]] in the media because [[MostWritersAreMale most writers were male]]. However, [[https://www.bustle.com/p/13-tv-episodes-that-depict-women-getting-their-periods-12064773 in recent years]], the rise of streaming services coupled with the numbers of women in writer’s rooms has led to an increase in the frequency and accuracy of period depictions onscreen. |
| 16 | |
| 17 | Compare to NobodyPoops, NoSuchThingAsDehydration, ExposedToTheElements, FrigidWaterIsHarmless, and NoDeadBodyPoops. Aversions usually happen if the period or the menstrual cycle is the specific focus of the work in question, and usually involve FirstPeriodPanic, AllPeriodsArePMS, MenstrualMenace, PeriodShaming or PregnancyScare. This can be paired with PsychosexualHorror. |
| 18 | |
| 19 | Completely unrelated to NoPunctuationPeriod, WallOfText, and ''WebAnimation/ZeroPunctuation''. |
| 20 | ---- |
| 21 | !!Examples: |
| 22 | |
| 23 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 24 | |
| 25 | [[folder:Anime & Manga]] |
| 26 | * The first page of ''Manga/AfterSchoolNightmare'' has the intersex protagonist getting his first period. |
| 27 | * During one sequence in ''Manga/{{Berserk}}'', ActionGirl Casca insists on fighting during her period and nearly gets killed by a [[PoliticallyIncorrectVillain particularly misogynistic enemy general]] [[WorfHadTheFlu because her cramps are taking her edge off]]. She gets her own back during the Battle of Doldrey and kills him. |
| 28 | * An accomplice covers for [[spoiler:Doll]]'s bizarre behavior by insinuating it's caused by "girls' business" in chapter 197 of ''Manga/BlackButler''. |
| 29 | * One of the chapters of ''Manga/BokuraNoHentai'' has Akane begin to menstruate. She's less than happy at her changing body. |
| 30 | * ''Manga/CellsAtWorkLady'': Averted, as Chapter 3 focuses on the cells dealing with the host's Pre-Menstrual Syndrome. The actual event is depicted as giant robotic hands (prostaglandin) squeezing the lavish bed (uterus) and forcing the endometrial cells out, where they are carried away on a boat manned by a Red Blood Cell. |
| 31 | * One chapter of ''Manga/FamilyCompo'' has Sora getting [[UsefulNotes/{{transgender}} his]] period. He's obviously upset and shares pads with his daughter. |
| 32 | * Triela's periods pop up a few times in ''Manga/GunslingerGirl''. In one scene she's complaining about them but the slightly younger Henrietta notes she herself can't get them due to having her ovaries removed due to her Conditioning, [[spoiler:though it's implied to be related to having been gang-raped repeatedly prior to the story]]. |
| 33 | * ''Manga/ISOtokoDemoOnnaDemoNaiSei'' is a manga about intersex people. At least one of the characters has been shown to menstruate. |
| 34 | * ''Manga/InsideMari'' deals with what happens when a man [[FreakyFridayFlip switched with a girl]] starts menstruating. Isao is overcome by the pain and freaked out by the blood. He starts bawling and has an awkward time buying menstrual pads. |
| 35 | * The two twin sisters, Kagami and Tsukasa, from ''Manga/LuckyStar'' at one point chat (with polite ambiguity) about periods; Kagami was concerned that it would happen at the beach and she couldn't go into the water. Not too surprising, since the show tends to involve the girls chatting about anything and everything. Konata takes delight in overhearing such an intimate conversation, and Kagami in her embarrassment finds herself wondering if her diminutive, flat-chested friend has even had a period. |
| 36 | * ''Manga/{{Mahoraba}}'': Momono and Shiratori go to the theater and watch a horror film. When Shiratori asks how girls could see such a bloody film and not be bothered, Momono replies, "Girls are used to seeing a lot of blood. Er... Was that a little vulgar?". |
| 37 | * In ''Manga/MrRightTurnedOutToBeAYoungerWoman'', Shiina has an early period just before a meeting, which results in her taking her coworkers' usual teasing a bit harder than usual. |
| 38 | * ''Manga/ShionNoOu'': Shion suffers from haemophobia, fear of blood, due to her parents' murder. When she wakes up in Episode 3 with [[EmbarrassingDampSheets bloody sheets]] from her first period, the shock and trauma puts her in the hospital for several days. |
| 39 | * ''Manga/ShishunkiBitterChange'': [[spoiler:Averted, as Yuuta (While in Yui's body) experiences his first period.]] |
| 40 | * Episode 8 of ''Anime/TenchiMuyo'' has Sasami pretty much taken out of the episode because she got her first period. In fact, you wouldn't even realize this unless you knew the items Tenchi's aunt gives the others are old remedies to help her weather that little problem. |
| 41 | * The one-shot YuriGenre manga ''Trans Star'' is about a girl whose male crush [[GenderBender transformed]] into a girl. The ending shot has her getting her first period. |
| 42 | * A plot point in ''Manga/WanderingSon''. Takatsuki is transgender and starting his period causes dysphoria. On a lesser note, menstruation is depicted several times from varying female characters. |
| 43 | * In ''Manga/SevenSeeds'', with some girls casually mentioning that they are on their period at the moment. Natsu's period actually becomes a plot point in the ''Minor Heat'' arc, where [[spoiler:iron-eating bacteria starts to become active on an old, abandoned ship and starts chasing her, due to the iron in her blood]]. |
| 44 | * In ''Manga/FushigiYuugi''. Yui gets a bloodstain on her skirt as a result of being connected to Miaka (who is in the book) via her school uniform, and Miaka being injured. One of their friends awkwardly asks Yui if it's her time of the month. In the anime, it's downplayed. Yui sees the stain and groans before heading into the bathroom (probably ''assuming'' it's a menstrual mishap), but no one actually ''mentions'' it. |
| 45 | * In ''Manga/KodomoNoKodomo''. The grade-schoolers talk about getting their first periods early on. |
| 46 | * Casually averted in ''Anime/MichikoAndHatchin'' when a girl named Rita mentions she is wearing a tampon. |
| 47 | * Oddly enough in ''Samurai X: Trust and Betrayal'', the 1999 four-part OVA to ''Manga/RurouniKenshin''. Episode three treats us to a series of quick cuts between Tomoe clutching her stomach and splashes of blood against a black background. She then heads outside before we cut to the next scene. |
| 48 | * Mentioned once or twice in ''Literature/{{Slayers}}'', as female spellcasters lose power "that time of the month". Given the length of the series, it's surprising it only comes up once or twice with Lina, the first time as a minor plot point. Presumably, she is little affected most of the time, or maybe it only affects her and a small number of mages. |
| 49 | * ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'': While the show averts it for Asuka, Rei implies that she doesn't have periods in episode 14 with the cryptic piece of dialogue about "the woman that never bleeds", possibly referring to herself and a literal example of this trope due to being a [[spoiler:HalfHumanHybrid vessel for the soul of Lilith]]. |
| 50 | * In ''Literature/ReZero'' Rem leaves the kingdom with Subaru in ''Sloth IF'' in order to marry him and live with him. One day she is injured in an attack and the doctor finds that the injuries are minor, but also that she is three months pregnant. Rem herself had no idea about it. So one can assume that she does not have a period because she should have noticed her pregnancy by not having one. In fact, Rem is not even human, but rather an {{oni}}. It is speculation that onis' bodies function differently than humans' in this regard. |
| 51 | * Averted in ''Manga/ShadowStar'', at least thrice: |
| 52 | ** Naozumi discovers that it's Satomi's time of the month after she [[spoiler:passes out and wets herself when her dragon is cut up by an attack chopper's rotor blades.]] |
| 53 | ** Akira is taunted by some girls at school because of her period and she mentions that she did just have it. |
| 54 | ** The 13-year-old Shiina Tamai gets her first one [[spoiler:right after she dies and is subsequently reborn in the island where her grandparents live.]] |
| 55 | * ''Manga/TeasingMasterTakagiSan'': one of Takagi's pranks is to sit out of swimming class with Nishikata (who has an injury), and dares him to guess why she's sitting out. Seeing no obvious injuries on her, Nishikata's only guess is she must be on her period, but he's far too embarrassed to actually say that to her. [[spoiler:The answer is she just wanted to sit with him.]] |
| 56 | * In ''Manga/YonaOfTheDawn'', the titular character unexpectedly gets hers in a dinner with her male companions. It leaves her unexpectedly weak, and prompts her to smack Hak in the face when he gets too close. Fortunately, the girl acting as their host helps Yona cover-up and gets her away from the menfolk. She even comments that her period isn't usually this bad. |
| 57 | * Torn to shreds by ''Little Miss P'', a manga about the AnthropomorphicPersonification of periods visiting various girls and women during that time of the month. Despite the "Aunt Flo"-esque premise, she's treated differently by her clients rather than as a consistent annoyance, and her visits avert AllPeriodsArePMS. |
| 58 | * ''Manga/AyakashiTriangle'' offers an aversion that's characteristically oblique for [[SexComedy such a raunchy series]]: Matsuri once ended up with his face looking up Suzu's skirt after colliding with her, and Suzu is embarrassed that it happened ''on that specific day''. The audience gets a [[PantyShot very explicit view of her underwear]], but [[SpeechBubbleCensoring a speech bubble covers]] a very small part of her crotch which might have shown the indent of a tampon. |
| 59 | -->'''Suzu''': Don't look today!\ |
| 60 | '''Shirogane''': On another day he can?! |
| 61 | * ''Manga/ILoveYuriAndIGotBodyswappedWithAFujoshi'' has Yoshida, trapped in Hoshina's body develop severe menstrual cramping one day during PE, which forces him to stay home for a few days. Additionally, in a non-canon chapter, Hoshina, wondering what hurts worse, a GroinAttack or menstrual cramps, has a third party kick her in the balls while still in Yoshida's body. While the question isn't answered, she's noted to never have brought up the question again. |
| 62 | [[/folder]] |
| 63 | |
| 64 | [[folder:Comic Books]] |
| 65 | * ''ComicBook/ElfQuest'': Elven females don't menstruate, so it's justified with them. However, as a human woman, Shuna does, and this distracts the wolves to the point that they have her living apart from them while she's menstruating. |
| 66 | * One issue of ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}'' has Nico using the Staff of One despite not being injured at all. The gang is a little confused and figure it out after Nico glares at them when they question it -- The Staff of One can only be summoned when the user's blood is spilled. [[LoopholeAbuse Nothing in the rules said anything about being actual]] ''[[LoopholeAbuse wounds]]''. |
| 67 | * [[Comicbook/MsMarvel Carol Danvers]] was a dick to ComicBook/JessicaJones in ''ComicBook/{{Alias}}'' #3. She apologized later and clarified that she was having her period. |
| 68 | * Averted in ''{{ComicBook/Reborn}}'' where Bonnie Black brings up the fact she had her first period in ''30 years''. ItMakesSenseInContext since she used to be nearly 80 years old, but after being rejuvenated to her 25-year-old form, she is able to do it again. |
| 69 | * Averted in Hope Larson's graphic novel ''Chiggers'', which takes place at an all-girls summer camp. In one section, a girl named Shasta is grousing about having her period while there, to which her friend Abby sympathizes, saying she's glad hers finished prior to arriving at the camp. |
| 70 | * ''ComicBook/WonderWomanTempestTossed'': Diana is the ''only'' Amazon with a menstrual cycle as the others do not age and never went through puberty, which they call a moon-bleed, and thus the healers are quite interested in studying her and how it affects her. This makes her feel like an outcast despite their intentions, and once she's in the outside world she is quite surprised to learn about the available products for dealing with it. She finds tampons quite convenient. |
| 71 | * ''ComicBook/GenderQueerAMemoir'': Heavily {{averted}}, as Maia's menstruation is explored in very lengthy detail, because it was such a source of anxiety to em. |
| 72 | [[/folder]] |
| 73 | |
| 74 | [[folder:Comic Strips]] |
| 75 | * Despite ''ComicStrip/ForBetterOrForWorse'' being a realistic comic strip about growing up and life events, neither Elizabeth or April have had any story arcs about them starting their periods. The closest reference to it is April telling Elizabeth that she "got her you-know-what" when she mentions how she's growing up. However, Elly going through menopause was a long subplot for years. |
| 76 | [[/folder]] |
| 77 | |
| 78 | [[folder:Fan Works]] |
| 79 | * ''FanFic/{{Lothiriel}}'' by [=JunoMagic=], in chapter 12 "Preparations for the Journey", puts the idea that the elves of ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' never bleed during their periods. "They reabsorbed whatever they had done to get ready once a month to conceive a child." Lothíriel, the woman from Germany, does not have periods because her birth-control implant suppresses them. |
| 80 | * Discussed in ''FanFic/FirstTrySeries'' for how a massively unprepared Sakura is going to go through a two-month training mission without feminine products. |
| 81 | * With ''FanFic/OriginStory'', at first it seemed as if the story was going to follow this trope (to the point that some reviewers commented on how unrealistic it was that Alex Harris, who at the time was still thinking she was a [[GenderBender man turned into a woman]], wouldn't have had a complete freak out over getting her period). Turns out that the writer was instead using her period as evidence that while Alex looks human, she's actually a [[Franchise/{{Superman}} Kryptonian]], and the two species are ''not'' identical even if they are similar. In the story, female Kryptonians are only fertile (and thus only menstruate) four times a year. Alex eventually ''did'' get her period, on the normal Kryptonian time-scale. |
| 82 | * Averted in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/10104521/1/Kitchen-Rules-for-Xavier-s-School-for-Gifted-Youngsters Kitchen Rules for Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters]]'', where it's explained via NoodleIncident why it's a bad idea to eat all of the chocolate ice cream when Storm's having her time of the month. |
| 83 | * This is PlayedForLaughs and averted in this ''Anime/KillLaKill'' [[https://danbooru.donmai.us/posts/1527522?q=matoi_ryuuko+menstruation Fankoma]]. Apparently, the series never covered that before. |
| 84 | * Averted by [[http://archiveofourown.org/works/5020357 this ]] ''Literature/TheHobbit'' fanfic, which is a short story that's ''all'' about a female version of Bilbo getting her period on the journey. |
| 85 | * Averted in ''Fanfic/TheSecondTry''. Asuka's monthly cycle is brought up once or twice in the story. [[spoiler:Her lack of periods is how she figured out she was pregnant.]] |
| 86 | * ''FanFic/ABrighterDark'': Subverted and PlayedForLaughs. No blood actually appears, but when Beruka comes to Selena saying she has a problem, Selena (in an annoyed and sleep-deprived state) assumes that she started 'bleeding' and gives advice on how to deal with it. Beruka's response indicates that she already knows all about the subject; "I am an adult, Selena." |
| 87 | * In the ''WesternAnimation/HowToTrainYourDragon'' fic "[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/20284948/chapters/48086245 Upon the North]]", [[spoiler:Astrid having her period plays an important part later in the plot, as it leads to her being absent when the main group is ambushed and taken prisoner by the Grimborns, allowing her to rally the dragons for a rescue]]. |
| 88 | * Averted in ''Fanfic/DoingItRightThisTime'', where it turns out that Rei ''does'' in fact have perfectly normal human reproductive organs contrary to what she'd been told. It leads to a minor bonding moment for her and Asuka. |
| 89 | * ''FanFic/WalkingInCircles''. [[VideoGame/DragonAgeInquisition Evelyn]]'s friend, Keldra, once complains about having to deal with her stained clothes and her period being irregular and asks if Signy if she also needs to delivery her clothing for laundry too which the latter declines. Sometimes later, it's revealed that Signy [[spoiler:uses her period blood to practice blood magic instead of cutting herself as regular blood mages do]]. |
| 90 | * ''FanFic/HomeWithTheFairies'': Averted for Maddie, who had to improvise a tampon. |
| 91 | * In [[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11386011/1/Echoes this]] ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' fanfiction where the Gems also get periods, Connie outright lampshades this trope when she says that she's "read hundreds of books with young heroines, and not a single one has mentioned periods. Even when the characters are older than [her]." |
| 92 | -->"That's strange." Garnet said.\ |
| 93 | "I think it might be a human cultural thing?" Pearl pondered. |
| 94 | * This is discussed in a flashback three years before the main story of ''Fanfic/AtTheEndOfDays'' when Satsuki asks Ryuuko when her next cycle begins. The conversation is awkward, really. |
| 95 | * This is used in-universe in the oneshot ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/5779612 How To Tame A Dragon's Fire: Blood Sisters]]''. In Elsa's culture, it's taboo to discuss menstruation. She's embarrassed about discussing "it" with Astrid, who doesn't have the same taboo. |
| 96 | * In ''Fanfic/MakeAManOutOfYou'', Ping is a trans man, though he doesn't realize it early on. He gets his period while in disguise as a male soldier. He goes to a village to get a medicine that will stop his menstruation, at the risk of becoming infertile. |
| 97 | * PlayedForDrama in ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13175310/19/Hella-Potter-and-the-Reincarnated-OC Hella Potter and the Reincarnated OC]]'': Hella's first period was so painful she was laid up in the hospital wing for a whole day, and the nurse told her she would have to endure the same ordeal monthly. It terrified the poor girl so much, she unconsciously used her magic to stop the entire cycle for three years. Her new nurse actually freaks out when she hears about it, pointing Hella could have become entirely barren if it had dragged much longer. |
| 98 | * Completely averted in [[https://archiveofourown.org/works/36115231 this]] ''VideoGame/FridayNightFunkin'' fanfiction, which is focused on BF [[GenderFlip (who is female in this story)]] getting her period with no supplies. |
| 99 | * ''Webcomic/NaruHinaChronicles Mini-sodes'': {{Averted|Trope}}. One strip has Naruto having a conversation with Sakura where he tells her that, every month, Hinata gets all moody and they don't see each other for a few days. However, Naruto thinks it must be some kind of chore she has to do every month. Sakura asks him if he knows what PMS is. He gives two wrong answers (first a courrier service, then a television channel) and he still doesn't understand what Hinata's monthly "chore" actually is by the end of the strip. |
| 100 | [[/folder]] |
| 101 | |
| 102 | [[folder:Films -- Animated]] |
| 103 | * ''WesternAnimation/TurningRed'': Played with. When Mei first turns into a giant Red Panda, her mother doesn't know and thinks that Mei started her period. It's also shown that Mei's mother has prepared a care package of ibuprofen, a hot water bottle, vitamin D and various different sanitary towel options just for this scenario. While Mei doesn't ''actually'' start her period, the entire movie can very easily be seen as a first period/puberty metaphor. |
| 104 | [[/folder]] |
| 105 | |
| 106 | [[folder:Films -- Live-Action]] |
| 107 | * Averted in ''Film/AnAngelAtMyTable''. Janet freaks out when she [[FirstPeriodPanic gets her first period]], but her mother quickly calms her nerves and helps her fashion a makeshift pad. While wearing the pad, Janet deals with the everyday fear of leaving a stain on a seat. |
| 108 | * In ''Film/AnnieHall'', Alvy has ImagineSpot where Annie appears as the evil queen from ''WesternAnimation/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs.'' |
| 109 | -->'''Evil Queen!Annie:''' We never have any fun anymore.\ |
| 110 | '''Alvy:''' How can you say that?\ |
| 111 | '''Evil Queen!Annie:''' Why not? You're always leaning on me to improve myself.\ |
| 112 | '''Alvy:''' You're just upset. You must be getting your period.\ |
| 113 | '''Evil Queen!Annie:''' I don't get a period! I'm a cartoon character. |
| 114 | * ''Film/{{Black Widow|2021}}'': Played with. After Alexei makes a crass "that time of the month" remark, Yelena retaliates by stating that Black Widows actually ''don't'' get periods, and launches into an [[TooMuchInformation intentionally way-too-detailed]] explanation of [[{{Squick}} just what was done to them to make them that way]]. |
| 115 | * [[PlayedForLaughs Hilariously]] averted in ''Film/BoratSubsequentMoviefilm''. During a [[https://time.com/5737250/debutantes-history/ debutante ball]], an event that symbolically celebrates womanhood and femininity, Borat and Tutar take to the dance floor to show off their traditional “fertility dance.” Guests start clapping along until [[spoiler:Tutar displays she's heavily menstruating]]. |
| 116 | * ''Film/ClosetLand'': The Interrogator demands to know if the Author is menstruating at one point, as there's blood on her clothes. She refuses to say, so he grabs and checks her, revealing that she's not. |
| 117 | * ''Film/{{Clueless}}'' refers to it euphemistically a couple of times: |
| 118 | ** Cher blames her tardiness on "surfing the crimson wave", though it's not clear if this is truly the reason or just an excuse to get out of trouble. |
| 119 | ** When Murray and Dionne are having an argument, he snaps at her "Is it [[AllPeriodsArePMS that time of the month]] again?" |
| 120 | * ''Film/TheCraftLegacy'': Averted when Lily gets her period in class and is roundly mocked for it by other students. |
| 121 | * ''Film/{{Crush|2022}}'': {{Averted}}. Paige mentions having difficulty using a tampon sometimes, and Wiccan Chantal uses her menstrual blood for painting (which disgusts her listeners). |
| 122 | * Averted in ''Film/CrystalFairyAndTheMagicalCactus''. The guys mention that they'll have to pick up tampons now that Crystal is traveling with them. |
| 123 | * ''Film/DarbyAndTheDead'': Averted as a plot point. Capri steals a tampon Taylor keeps in her bag, so Darby can befriend her by giving her one when she gets her period. It also reveals that Piper is trans when Taylor asks if she has one, and gets reminded about this snarkily. |
| 124 | * ''Film/TheDreamers'': {{Averted}}. Isabelle gets her period while taking a bath with Theo and Matthew. Theo notes it's "good news" since she'd already had unprotected sex with Matthew multiple times. |
| 125 | * Averted in ''Film/GrimPrairieTales''. Martin (who is AfraidOfBlood) has a nightmare of Colochez bleeding on him, and when he wakes up and finds blood on his face and hands, he panics. When he discovers that the blood had come from the SoiledDove he spent the night with who had started her period during the night, he becomes furious and throws her out of the room and starts stripping all of the bedclothes. |
| 126 | * Averted in ''Film/IDanielBlake'', Katie has to resort to shoplifting sanitary pads when she can't get any from the local food bank. |
| 127 | * ''Film/InTheFade'': Averted. Katja and Samia discuss their menstruation, with the latter saying hers has come back after she stopped breastfeeding. However, Katja has not menstruated since her family were killed. Later though her period comes back unexpectedly. |
| 128 | * ''Film/JackAndDiane'': Averted, as the film shows that every time Diane gets her period the monster will come. |
| 129 | * Averted in ''Film/JackTheRipper1976''. One of the prostitutes says that she refused to go for a stroll with the killer because it was her time of the month: a statement which shocks the elderly spinster in the room. |
| 130 | * Averted in ''Film/JupiterAscending''; Jupiter uses a maxi pad (for lack of anything else) as a bandage for Caine's wound, telling him to be thankful that the car they’ve stolen is owned by a woman - although she applies it sticky side down. |
| 131 | * ''Film/{{Lycan}}'': {{Averted}}; when the group is taking inventory of their supplies, Blair says she's got Maxi Pads due to it being "her time of the month". |
| 132 | * Averted in ''Film/{{PitchBlack}}'', as the survivors are running through the darkness, the alien monsters are following them. Riddick eventually says that the monsters are following the scent of blood; period blood to be specific. Everyone initially turns to Captain Fry, the only woman on the crew, until Riddick says "not her, her" pointing at the teenage [[SweetPollyOliver Jack]]. |
| 133 | * ''Film/PortraitOfALadyOnFire'': Averted. Marianne gets cramps as hers starts up, and Sophie makes a remedy for her. It also leads to the reveal of Sophie's pregnancy, as she's missed three in a row, as comes up in the pair's conversation. |
| 134 | * ''Film/PoliteSociety'': Lena gets hers while in Salim's bed, and apologizes for her bleeding all over his sheets, but he doesn't mind (it's possibly implied this resulted from the invasive medical tests he performed on her without Lena's knowledge or consent). Ria and her friends later also use the excuse that Lena is suffering from "heavy flow" while trying to get her multiple times successfully too. |
| 135 | * Averted in ''Film/RosemarysBaby'', perhaps unsurprisingly due to the movie's whole focus revolving around conception and pregnancy. Rosemary bluntly tells two elderly neighbor ladies she's on the first day of her period, which they both take in stride. One of them even says she's amazed Rosemary's still functioning, as on her first day, she used to be bedridden with her husband giving her gin through a straw to numb the pain. [[spoiler:Of course, given both the old ladies are Satanists hoping to have Rosemary impregnated with TheAntichrist, knowing details about the timing of her cycle is music to their ears.]] |
| 136 | * Averted in ''Film/{{Sam}}''. Sam, [[GenderBender now transformed into Samantha]], gets her period and, [[FirstPeriodPanic never having experienced one before]], thinks she is hemorrhaging. |
| 137 | * Averted hilariously in ''Film/ShesTheMan''. Viola is disguising herself as a boy. When her roommate Duke and his friends discover her tampons, she plays it off saying that she uses them for nosebleeds, and gives a demonstration to their incredulity. Later in the movie she finds Duke actually bought her explanation and stuck a tampon up his nose to deal with a nosebleed. |
| 138 | * Averted in ''Film/SixteenCandles'', where Sam's older sister Ginny gets her period right before her wedding, resulting in her taking four muscle relaxants that day, leaving her completely blotto for the ceremony, [[HilarityEnsues with predictable results]]. |
| 139 | * Played with in ''Film/SummerSchool'': When Pam ditches class and blames it on a "woman thing," Chainsaw complains that the "woman thing" is a scam. Denise goes into a rant about how much the "woman thing" sucks. |
| 140 | * ''Film/YourFriendsAndNeighbors'': Averted when Cary furiously berates a one-night stand for bleeding on his expensive bedsheets. |
| 141 | [[/folder]] |
| 142 | |
| 143 | [[folder:Literature]] |
| 144 | * Averted in ''Literature/ABrothersPrice'' when the corpse of a male rape victim is found, the protagonists conclude from the blood on his private parts that one of the rapists must have been on her period. Qualifies, as this conclusion is of no use in the plot. |
| 145 | * ''Literature/TheBabySittersClub'': It's entirely plausible for a thirteen-year-old girl not to have begun menstruating yet, which makes a reasonable justification for the trope. However, it is decidedly ''less'' plausible that ''none'' of the Baby-Sitters would have started their periods by that age, especially given how Stacy, for one, is mentioned to be fairly well-developed (her bikini top is "filled out nicely"), suggesting she's been in puberty for a few years already. Presumably, it's not mentioned because the target age range for the books was a bit younger than thirteen, and Martin didn't want to freak out the kids (or their parents). Averted in the Netflix series, where Kristy gets her first period at ''her mother's wedding'' (no wonder she was so cranky right before!) and the other girls (who have all already had theirs) walk her through it (with Mary Anne even supplying her with a pad). |
| 146 | * An identical scenario is seen in ''Literature/TheFabulousFive'' series, which also focuses on a group of 13-year old girls, yet never has the topic come up. Again, it's highly unlikely that none of them would have reached menarche. |
| 147 | * Zig-zagged in the ''[[Literature/SweetValleyHigh Sweet Valley Twins]]'' series, in which the girls and their friends are in ''sixth'' grade (roughly age 10--12), thus making it more believable than the previous series that none of them would have started as yet--a secondary character is quite shocked when she does, having thought she was too young, and the twins themselves don't until one of the final books, implying that they've gotten old enough to begin. |
| 148 | * ''Literature/TheSaddleClub'': Played straight. The three main characters are all girls age 12-13, but periods are never mentioned save once offhand, rather jarringly, when the 13-year-old talks about a SouthernBelle etiquette teacher she had who always called it "that time of the month". |
| 149 | * ''Literature/TheTwilightSaga'': |
| 150 | ** WordOfGod says that ''that'' blood is [[ArtisticLicenseBiology "dead blood"]] and not nearly as interesting to vampires such as Edward, but it's still kind of awkward. It also still gets the FridgeLogic going. |
| 151 | ** Averted when it's mentioned that Leah stopped getting her period when she became a werewolf. Fits as an aversion of this trope, as this doesn't have any relevance to anything else in the story. |
| 152 | * ''Literature/HeraldsOfValdemar'': |
| 153 | ** ''Arrows of the Queen'' (the first book of the series) has thirteen-year-old Talia, adjusting to [[MundaneLuxury how much better she has it in Haven]], reflect that the menstrual sponges available to her now are more comfortable and convenient than the rags she'd used. She also has access to an herbal tea that, as part and parcel of being FantasyContraception, she can use to control her cycles. |
| 154 | ** In the short story ''Friendly Fire'', collected in ''Oathblood'', a bad-luck talisman gives Tarma and Kethry quite a few problems. One is that Kethry, whose cycles are normally mild, gets debilitatingly painful menstrual cramps which impede her ability to work magic. |
| 155 | * ''Literature/TheHungerGames'': |
| 156 | ** There is never any mention of what the female tributes do when or if they get their period in the arena. Do sponsors send them tampons, or do the contestants receive treatment to stop their cycle? The latter would be unsurprising, given that male tributes ''do'' receive some kind of treatment to stop them from growing beards, so there's every chance female tributes receive something similar -- perhaps ratings have shown that female tributes menstruating wasn't very entertaining. This becomes fortunate in the second book when [[spoiler:Katniss is pretending to be pregnant -- if she had suddenly gotten her period, it would have been noticeable, given the amount of time the tributes spend in little clothing, and the entire plan would have been scuppered.]] |
| 157 | ** It is also true that when a woman is under a high amount of stress she can be late or even skip a period. Having to keep yourself alive with people actively out to kill you would be stressful enough to warrant this idea. |
| 158 | ** At one point in the first book, Katniss wonders whether it has been a month since a certain event. This implies she hasn't been having her period in the arena, since it would provide a point of reference, at least. |
| 159 | ** Women such as female athletes and others who exercise regularly will often stop menstruating. This could well apply to female tributes too. |
| 160 | * ''Literature/PetalsOnTheWind'': Zig-zagged. The protagonist, Cathy, is malnourished after years of being kept in the attic. Understandably, her periods have stopped, although [[spoiler:her brother Chris raped her during their imprisonment, so she may also be pregnant]]. During a dance audition (and a very memorable scene), the floodgates open. |
| 161 | * Periods are used as a form of EstablishingCharacterMoment in ''Literature/KingdomOfLittleWounds'' as all the women in the nursery cycle at the same time but for the stubborn and contrary Midi. |
| 162 | * Averted in the ''{{Literature/Outlander}}'' series; there's everything from Lizzie's menarche (first period) to Claire's menopause (last). Several times during the books, it's shown that Jamie has a habit of unconsciously keeping track of Claire's cycle, which she finds odd as it isn't something a man from her time would usually do. There's also little of any man being shown as uncomfortable with these events; Jamie, as noted, and Ian, who after all had several older sisters. |
| 163 | * Averted, however delicately and obliquely, in ''Literature/AwakeInTheNightLand'' by Creator/JohnCWright. The narrator tells the boy she is talking to that she was in a place for a month -- and refuses to explain how she knew that in the absence of all external indicators of passing time, citing his youth. When he's old enough to marry, his wife will explain it. |
| 164 | * A noteworthy aversion is the short story "Even the Queen" by Creator/ConnieWillis in which most women have opted for a safe, effective method of avoiding menstruation unless they are attempting to conceive. The story mentions that getting FDA approval for this was the first issue that managed to unite women across every demographic. |
| 165 | * Averted in Creator/JohnWyndham's ''Literature/TheTroubleWithLichen'' in which a scientist develops a technique that will triple the human life expectancy and tests it on his grown-up children. His son realises that his body clock has been slowed down because he only has to shave every third day, but - until she drops a broad hint - doesn't understand how his sister has figured it out too. |
| 166 | * This is averted at the beginning of the first ''Literature/DarkestPowers'' book. Chloe is a bit late to get her first period, but when she does she [[PubertySuperpower begins]] [[ISeeDeadPeople to see ghosts]]. |
| 167 | * In ''Literature/TimePast'', the main character comes from a time period in which medical treatments are available to completely suppress menstruation. When she gets stuck in a slum in the past, she starts getting periods, and notes that she has tremendous newfound respect for her female ancestors, who had to deal with this every single month for most of their lives. |
| 168 | * Played straight in ''Literature/TheBelgariad'' and the ''Mallorean'', but eventually subverted in the prequel ''Polgara the Sorceress'', when the eponymous narrator describes in her memoirs the brief horror of her and her twin sister being woken up by their first periods. |
| 169 | * Averted for the lulz in the soccer-meets-crime novel ''Literature/FalseNine'' by Philip Kerr. The amateur detective hero is a soccer manager. He's the bigmouth type, and current unemployment doesn't make it better. So when Rafinha gets exchanged in a game, he twitters that the player probably was on his period. (His. Ahem.) Not everyone is amused, and the FA slaps him a 25000 quid fine. At the end of the book, it even turns into a [[BrickJoke Brick Period]] when a female CEO offers him a new job and dryly tells him that it's that time of the month and he better should decide quickly because she's very irritable now. |
| 170 | * ''Literature/TheDiaryOfAYoungGirl''. Anne Frank eagerly anticipates the onset of her periods. A year later, having experienced them for real, she goes back through her diary and is embarrassed over how candid she was about the subject. |
| 171 | * In ''Literature/DrinkerOfBlood'', a mystery set in AncientEgypt, Lord Meren's daughter is put under house arrest when Meren goes on the run, framed for attacking the pharaoh. Knowing her (male) guards' willingness to search outgoing parcels has its limits, she sends him a letter via her laundress, concealed in a basket of feminine blood-cloths. |
| 172 | * Averted in ''[[Literature/TheInterdependency The Collapsing Empire]]'', where Cardenia is being crowned Emperox Grayland II of the Interdependency. With all the uncomfortable ceremonial clothes she has to wear, that day also happens to be that time of the month for her, so she's even more inconvenienced. That's right, even in the distant future, periods are still a nuisance. |
| 173 | * Averted in ''Literature/BetweenShadesOfGrey''. It is mentioned that Lina has stopped menstruating due to the harsh conditions in the labor camps. It is not mentioned that she and Andrius had children- so it is possible that they may have never returned, or may not have been able to get pregnant even if she menstruated again. |
| 174 | * Averted in ''Literature/SorcererToTheCrown'', the female protagonist is able to do a kind of magic that requires blood. When a male character asks her about it, she replies that he will now understand why she had to do it in his absence. It takes him a moment to understand. |
| 175 | * ''Literature/{{Oathbringer}}'' (third book of ''Literature/TheStormlightArchive''): Played with; Shallan briefly lets Adolin think she's on her period because she doesn't want to tell him about her night drinking in the markets. He figures it out, though, and they have a brief discussion on how men assume any strange behavior is the result of periods, and women let them. Adolin once again demonstrates he's smarter than he looks when he says he once noticed that one of his girlfriends was having "woman troubles" four times a month. Shallan also notes that her Stormlight HealingFactor doesn't help with cramps. |
| 176 | -->'''Shallan''': Yeah. Mother Cultivation can be hateful. I'm an all-powerful, Shardblade-wielding pseudo-immortal, but nature still sends a friendly reminder every now and then to tell me I should be getting around to having children.\ |
| 177 | '''Pattern''': [[BrickJoke No mating]]. |
| 178 | * Discussed and played with in ''Literature/TheHeartsWeSold''. Part of Dee's DealWithTheDevil involves the Daemon ripping her heart out and keeping it for two years. While her heart is out, her body doesn't physically change -- for instance, she won't age for the entirety of the two years. After a couple of months, Dee realizes she also hasn't gotten her period since she made the deal. Her friend wryly comments that that particular side effect is almost enough to make a deal seem worth it. |
| 179 | * In ''Literature/{{Everworld}},'' the few items that April had on her when she and the others were TrappedInAnotherWorld include tampons and Advil. She winds up sharing some of the Advil with some Viking women who were apparently also having their periods. Even [[TokenEvilTeammate Senna]] momentarily [[NotSoAboveItAll expresses excitement]] upon learning what April has, as she's apparently a few days away from needing it herself. |
| 180 | * Averted in ''Literature/TheColorPurple''. The characters use euphemisms, however, menstruation is discussed several times. After Olivia gets her period, it's mentioned that the Olinka people shy away from discussing menstruation. |
| 181 | * For the most part, it's played straight in ''Literature/TheRoyalDiaries''. Granted, it's entirely plausible that some of the royals featured haven't even started having periods yet, but it gets a little odd to think about when you consider Anacaona [[spoiler:gets pregnant]] in her book, and in real life, the Generale Krottendorf (as it was [[UnusualEuphemism euphemistically]] called) was a regular topic of conversation between Marie Antoinette and her mother Maria Theresa (and Antoinette left for France pretty much as soon as she achieves menarche, making it extra weird). However, there are a couple of exceptions: |
| 182 | ** Elizabeth says that she and Robin can no longer soothe Catherine Howard's ghost because she'd no longer recognize them as children, noting that she's already started having her period. |
| 183 | ** The Lady of Palenque finds out that women -- including her, once she starts her period -- make blood sacrifices by burning the cloths they use during their period. |
| 184 | ** Weetamoo mentions that she and Cedar have already started their periods and soon after had their women's initiations. |
| 185 | * The poem ''Progesterone'' averts this, as due to hormone problems (which makes her cycles "hit or miss"), the subject has to take the titular hormone to kick-start hers. |
| 186 | * ''Literature/TheWinnieYears'': Averted: Winnie gets her period in ''Twelve''. |
| 187 | * ''Literature/SchooledInMagic'': In the first book, female students at Whitehall are instructed to turn over any of their clothing with blood on it to be destroyed at once so this won't get [[BloodMagic used against them]]. While not explicit, this clearly means from menstruation. Otherwise though, it isn't mentioned. Female students are also provided with potions to minimize both bleeding and discomfort related to their menstrual cycle. Menstruation is also repeatedly mentioned in relation to female fertility, [[spoiler:both regarding Alassa's possible infertility and the fact that imprecise and wasteful magic use in ''Past Tense'' causes infertility among magicians of the far past]]. No one is ever mentioned actually experiencing a period though. |
| 188 | * ''Literature/{{Carrie}}'': Averted in that Carrie has her first period in the gym shower, but the weird part is that she was already SIXTEEN YEARS OLD [[note]] Although the average age of menarche is roughly 12, girls have started as young as 10 and as old as 16, so it's not impossible[[/note]]. She thought tampons were for blotting lipstick and due to her religious fanatic mother warping her mind, she was never properly educated about puberty. |
| 189 | * ''Literature/TheEmpiriumTrilogy'': Averted twice in ''Kingsbane'': the first chapter opens with Rielle lamenting the fact that Sun Queen status doesn't lessen her menstrual cramps. Later on in the novel, Eliana starts hers and experiences the cramps that come with it for the first time (her healing ability made it so she never experienced that pain until now). |
| 190 | * Indirectly averted in ''Literature/MindGames''. When Anthony questions Danielle's sudden confidence that she smells blood at the scene of a disappearance once she changes to her CatGirl form (which has superior senses,) she gives him a Look and says, “I know what blood smells like. I’m a girl, remember?” [[spoiler:He has the grace, or perhaps just the youth, to be embarrassed about it.]] |
| 191 | * ''Literature/BlackDogs'': Averted. Jacyl specifically asks Lyra if she's gotten anything for feminine hygiene. Lyra is deeply embarrassed, but admits she hasn't, and Jacyl buys her some sponges. |
| 192 | * ''Literature/TheNeanderthalParallax'': |
| 193 | ** {{Averted}}. Ponter is very surprised to note that one of the women from the Sudbury team is menstruating, but not all of them; coming from a society with an isolated female population, he's used to everyone being on a synchronized cycle. Back on Neanderthal Earth, Adikor is repeatedly accused of insanity for going downtown to talk to a female colleague during "Last Five," the last five days before the full moon. Apparently Neanderthal women get ''truly'' spectacular PMS, and all at once... |
| 194 | ** It's later implied the PMS isn't nearly as bad as Ponter, Adikor, and the other male characters think it is, and it was initially deliberately exaggerated as a defense mechanism against aggressive males during a vulnerable time before it turned into the legend it is at the time of the story, when such violence has grown uncommon. |
| 195 | * ''Literature/KushielsLegacy'': In Terre d'Ange women can only become pregnant if they [[FantasyContraception pray to Eisheth, a fertility goddess to open their wombs]], and then the Goddess may or may not grant this wish. So essentially no one has a menstrual cycle until then, and no one has to worry about unwanted pregnancy unless they change their mind. BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor. |
| 196 | * ''Literature/ZaraHossainIsHere'': Averted; Zara eats chocolate when she's getting hers, and then her girlfriend Chloe does too as she thinks hers is happening. |
| 197 | * ''Literature/SongOfTheLioness'': In the first novel, Alanna (who has been [[SweetPollyOliver disguising herself as a boy to be trained as a knight]]) has her first period, but nobody's ever told her about menstruation, so not only is she terrified she's dying, but she can't tell anyone without revealing her secret. In a touching scene, she finally confides in a midwife/herbalist, who reassures her and explains the facts of life. |
| 198 | * ''Literature/WilderGirls'': {{Justified|Trope}}, as Byatt mentions that none of the girls in the quarantined boarding school have gotten their period since falling ill with [[TheVirus the Tox]]. Headmistress is also speculated to be post-menopausal. |
| 199 | * ''Literature/NightWatchSeries'': Averted for laughs. When Anton is forced to do a BodySwap with Olga, Olga comments that he is lucky they only have to keep it up for a week, or she'd have to teach Anton how to use a pad. Anton jokingly retorts that he's seen enough ads on TV to know what to do... or is there more to it than pouring some [[BlueLiquidAbsorbent blue liquid]] on it and giving it a squeeze? |
| 200 | * ''Literature/{{Toradora}}'' famously averts this when Ami declares to Minori: "Talking to you is like having a period." |
| 201 | * ''Literature/{{Quarters}}'': Repeatedly averted. |
| 202 | ** In ''Sing the Four Quarters'' it's a plot point that Annice missed hers, with doing so being a sign she's pregnant. |
| 203 | ** In ''Fifth Quarter'' Vree notes that she's near the end of her period, and thus it's probably safe for her to have unprotected sex without getting pregnant (although she ends up not doing so). |
| 204 | ** In ''No Quarter'', when Vree gets testy, she's asked if her period is starting. |
| 205 | * Averted in ''Literature/TheMoonAndTheSun'', where Haleed and and Marie-Josèphe both get theirs. When the sea woman smells the blood on Marie-Josèphe, she sings a warning, worried that the tigers in the King's menagerie will smell it too, like sharks, and kill her. |
| 206 | * ''Literature/ProtectorOfTheSmall'' has Kel get her first period in ''Page'', which has her worried but not in a panic as she'd had talks with her mother about it and at this time also has a friendly female servant around. Later, in ''Squire'', Kel packs for a mission and includes several cloths, as her monthlies had just started. |
| 207 | * In ''Literature/DrFranklinsIsland'' the castaways [[{{Robinsonade}} salvage things thrown from their wrecked plane]] and find a bag that appears to have been invaded by a fluffy white sea creature - the tampons in it had absorbed seawater and expanded into a shaggy mass. The girls don't get their periods while stranded on the beach, which they speculate is the result of losing a lot of weight on the limited food they're able to find. |
| 208 | * Averted in ''Literature/TheMermaidOfBlackConch''. Aycayia getting her period is a sign that she's fully turned from a mermaid back into a human. |
| 209 | * ''Literature/TheAfterward'': Olsa never menstruated before the quest as she was malnourished. After this, Kalanthe gives Olsa a potion to stop her period again as it's inconvenient while on the quest. Kalanthe and the other cisgender women who are with them take it as well. |
| 210 | * ''Literature/{{Spellster}}'': Dylan realizes Authril is having menstrual cramps, and cures them [[HealingHands with magic]]. He had previously learned to for his former lover Nestria, who'd suffered terrible ones. |
| 211 | * ''Literature/TalesOfThePack'': {{Averted}} as Lexie unexpectedly getting hers is an annoyance and plot point. However, once she has become a werewolf, her period stops, replaced with her shifting under the full moon, along with the other half-blood werewolves in her pack, so for them it becomes true. Then it's partly {{averted}} once again when Lexie wears her knife, which stops her shapeshifting, while she gets her period after this. |
| 212 | [[/folder]] |
| 213 | |
| 214 | [[folder:Live-Action TV]] |
| 215 | * Averted in ''Series/AnneWithAnE''. Anne is shown getting her first period. She and her friends discuss when they started. Marilla even discusses the time she had hers. |
| 216 | * Played for laughs in ''Series/BabylonFive''. Delenn becomes a HalfHumanHybrid at the start of season 2 (long story), and in "[[Recap/BabylonFiveS02E07SoulMates Soul Mates]]", she comes to Ivanova for help on dealing with confusing aspects of her new physiology, such as how to wash her hair (since Minbari don't have any). Fast-forward to the end of the episode, and she asks Ivanova about these "odd cramps". |
| 217 | * ''Series/TheBabySittersClub2020'': |
| 218 | ** Averted as Kristy's comes during the wedding, causing her to rush off into the bathroom. All her friends had theirs already, it turns out, with Mary Anne handing over a pad and telling her how to use it. The aversion is noteworthy in large part because the book series the show is based on is a straight example (see entry under Literature). |
| 219 | ** Also averted in an earlier episode when Kristy asks Claudia what her abstract sculpture is about and Claudia casually replies "Menstruation". |
| 220 | * In the first episode of ''{{Series/Beforeigners}}'', Alfhildr, who was born in TheLowMiddleAges and has [[FishOutOfTemporalWater timeigrated]] to the present day, is on her period. We find this out on the first day of her police job when she asks Lars to stop the patrol car... so she could get out, grab a chunk of moss, and stick it in her pants. Turns out that she knows modern menstrual projects exist, but the student salary she was on before she joined the force didn't let her afford any. By the end of the episode, Lars buys her a pack of pads, which she says feel like a soft kitty in her pants. Presumably, this is no longer a problem in the future, as her police salary allows her to afford considerable discretionary expenses. |
| 221 | * Averted in the ''Series/BestFriendsWhenever'' episode "A Time To Jump and Jam", which has one of the protagonists recall getting her first period in middle school. This is probably the first time the subject has been mentioned on a Disney Channel series. |
| 222 | * ''Series/BetterThings'': {{Averted}} almost immediately, as Sam given an entire talk about periods in the second episode (she's frustrated by still having hers as well). |
| 223 | * ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'': |
| 224 | ** Averted with Sheldon, who talks far more candidly about menstruation than any of the female cast would like. This exchange is just one example: |
| 225 | --->'''Sheldon''': There are a lot of advantages to buying in bulk. For example, I noticed that you purchase your tampons one month's supply at a time.\ |
| 226 | '''Penny''': [[BigWhat WHAT?!]]\ |
| 227 | '''Sheldon''': Well, think about it: it's a product that doesn't spoil, and you're going to be needing them for at least the next thirty years.\ |
| 228 | '''Penny''': You want me to buy thirty years worth of tampons?\ |
| 229 | '''Sheldon''': Thirty, thirty-five. When did your mother go into menopause?\ |
| 230 | '''Penny''': Okay, I'm not talking about this with you!\ |
| 231 | '''Sheldon''': Oh Penny, this is a natural human process, and we're talking about statistically significant savings. Now, if you assume fifteen tampons per cycle and a twenty-eight-day cycle... are you fairly regular?\ |
| 232 | ''[Penny slams the door in his face]'' |
| 233 | ** Being Sheldon's girlfriend, it's perhaps not surprising that Amy is also very forthright about the subject. In one of her first episodes, she casually mentions in mixed company that she wears menstrual pads all the time "to avoid surprises." As part of her quasi-lesbian crush on Penny, Amy is particularly obsessed with the idea of their menstrual cycles syncing up. |
| 234 | * ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'': |
| 235 | ** Played straight in the seventh season, when there were twenty-ish females of the right age living in the Summers house, but there was never any mention of supplies, moodiness, or even ice cream. |
| 236 | ** Alluded to when Willow finds out Oz turns into a werewolf at the full moon. Her response is "Well, three days out of the month [[AllPeriodsArePMS I'm not much fun to be around either]]." |
| 237 | * ''Series/ConversationsWithFriends'': Averted as Frances gets bad cramps in the first episode, which Bobbi helps her out with by providing painkillers. |
| 238 | * And ''Series/TheCosbyShow'', with ''three'' adult women (four if you count Pam, even though she joined the show quite late) and ''two'' girls who got to this point (in fact, at age 12 when the show started, Vanessa could very well have been there already), there was only ''one'' VerySpecialEpisode regarding Rudy starting hers and another when Claire began menopause. |
| 239 | * ''Series/CSIMiami'': Averted in one episode when a sixteen-year-old girl goes missing and there's a bloodstain in her bed, leading her parents and the authorities to fear the worst. It turns out that she had run away to be with her boyfriend and the blood was menstrual. |
| 240 | * ''Series/{{CSINY}}'': |
| 241 | ** Averted in "Crime and Misdemeanor." At the scene of a woman's murder in a hotel room, blood is found in the mattress coils. The man to whom the room is registered, who is obviously the first suspect, tells investigators, "Menstrual blood never bothered me," and that the woman left after they had sex. |
| 242 | ** Mildly averted in "Nine Thirteen," when Lindsay is seen counting on her fingers upon leaving the ladies' room. She tells Danny at the end of the episode that she's pregnant with their second child. |
| 243 | * Averted in a few episodes of ''Series/DesigningWomen''. When Allison is introduced to Charlene's sister Carlene, Carlene is lying on the sofa barely able to move because her cramps are so bad; she refers to the condition as "fixin' to start.” |
| 244 | * ''{{Series/Dickinson}}'': Averted. Emily gets hers while at the party, which she isn't happy about in the least. |
| 245 | * One wonders exactly how [[Series/DoctorWho the Doctor's]] female companions broach the subject whilst traveling with him. It must be pretty awkward for a young human woman to ask a centuries-old male Time Lord about pads or tampons. As it has never come up in the show, we still don't know how they handle that. Time works differently inside the TARDIS, though at least one companion has gestated inside of it. |
| 246 | ** The TARDIS can generate matter out of nothing, so keeping the companions' girly supply drawers full is a breeze. |
| 247 | * ''Series/DontLookDeeper'': Aisha is suffering from period cramps starting out. Upon learning she's really an android then getting codes to hack her system, she gratefully turns off her simulated period. |
| 248 | * ''Series/EverythingNow'': Mia's anorexia had caused her period to stop, which comes back suddenly after she recovers. She's embarrassed by this as she bleeds on a bath robe while at a spa, though her mom gives Mia comfort and is glad to see Mia's recovered. |
| 249 | * ''Series/FirstDay'': {{Averted}}, a girl named Briony unexpectedly gets hers at camp and stains her pants. Luckily Natalie had put in a huge amount of sanitary supplies when she packed, and gives her a tampon. |
| 250 | * ''Series/FleshAndBone'': Averted, as right before Claire's first practice another ballerina complains she just got her period, and Claire hands over a tampon. |
| 251 | * Played straight on ''Series/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir'', which featured ''two'' adult women and a girl who undoubtedly reached the age of menarche at some point. |
| 252 | * Averted on ''Series/{{Friends}}'' a couple of times: |
| 253 | ** Attempting to downplay her own weird behavior, Monica at one point says "I don't know, maybe I'm getting my period or something"--then subsequently manages to accidentally record that as her ex-boyfriend's outgoing voice mail message. |
| 254 | ** Monica trying to distract Rachel at a highway rest stop, where there's not a whole lot to distract her with: |
| 255 | -->'''Monica:''' Hey Rach, the tampons here are only a penny. Let's stock up. |
| 256 | ** And implied in another episode by the guys, when they're trying to guess what Rachel has bought at the store: |
| 257 | -->'''Joey:''' Okay, the last thing….\ |
| 258 | '''Chandler:''' Oh, oh, oh! (Whispers something in Joey's ear) \ |
| 259 | '''Joey:''' No, no, not for like another two weeks. |
| 260 | * Played ridiculously straight on ''Series/FullHouse'', considering that there were three girls living in the house (as well as an adult woman at one point, along with a fourth girl who frequently visited), at least two of whom (DJ and Kimmy) undoubtedly reached the age of menarche at some point in the show's tenure and Stephanie likely reached this age too. |
| 261 | * Somewhat downplayed on ''Series/FullerHouse'', so far. Kimmy's daughter's friend tells her that she has [[AllPeriodsArePMS cramps]]. Said daughter congratulates her friend. However, said friend clarifies her statement: she has ''leg'' cramps. |
| 262 | * ''Series/GameOfThrones'': |
| 263 | ** Averted in "Winter is Coming". The ''second'' thing Queen Cersei ever says to young Sansa Stark is the question, "Have you bled yet?" This is after her ArrangedMarriage to Joffrey gets discussed, which makes it somewhat relevant; as Sansa herself notes in a later episode where she actually experiences menarche, it means she can bear Joffrey's children. By that point, the idea terrifies her because she's gotten to know him. |
| 264 | ** Also implied in conversation between Jon Snow and the Wildling woman Ygritte. He makes a remark about girls being unable to stand the sight of blood, and she asks him why he would think that, adding that "Girls see more blood than boys." |
| 265 | ** Played straight with Arya though. She goes from age 10 to age 18 during the show's run, but the topic never comes up where she's involved. |
| 266 | * Should we even think about what the poor women of ''Series/GilligansIsland'' must do? Lovey Howell is probably past menopause, but, unless the limited diet of the island is interfering with Ginger and Mary Ann's cycles, they would have to handle it somehow. Coconut husks, probably. Hey, they made everything else with the blasted things, why not pads? |
| 267 | ** Or, much like the Howells' money, Ginger's dresses, the Professor's books, etc., perhaps the girls just happened to take several cases of the things on a "three-hour" tour. |
| 268 | * ''Series/GimmeABreak'': Three teenage girls and an adult woman living in the house, yet the subject never came up. |
| 269 | * ''Series/GinnyAndGeorgia'': {{Averted}} as one girl mentions having cramps. Ginny refrains from vaginal sex with Marcus once as she's having hers as well. |
| 270 | * ''Series/GrowingPains''. One adult woman and a teenage girl (youngest sister Chrissy was too young to have started), but aside from one snarky comment that implied that the mother was suffering from PMS, the subject never came up. |
| 271 | * ''Series/TheHandmaidsTale'': {{Averted}}. Rita and Serena take an uncomfortably keen interest when Offred's late since she's there to have a baby. [[spoiler:We later see the blood on Offred's panties when she finally gets her period.]] |
| 272 | * ''Series/{{Hightown}}'': |
| 273 | ** Averted with Charmain, who uses the fact she's just got her period to have Jackie uncuff her so she can take a tampon and then escapes from custody instead. |
| 274 | ** Ray later tells Sarah that she can get out of having sex with Owen by claiming she's on her period. She just scoffs at him, saying people their age have sex during it all the time. |
| 275 | * Averted in the third episode of ''Series/IMayDestroyYou''. Arabella is remembering a night three months earlier when she visited her friend in Italy and the two hooked up with different guys at a local bar. She was having her period, and before they go out we see her changing her maxipad. ''Then'', just before having sex with her hookup, she remembers it's that time of the month and tells him. He's OK with period sex, despite her warning that she has a heavy flow, and after he puts a towel on the bed we actually see her remove her used tampon. [[RuleOfThree But only what happens next]] kills the mood: she passes a blood clot onto the towel, and we see that on screen, too. |
| 276 | * Generally played straight in the Russian medical sitcom ''Interny'', but averted in one episode, where Varya gets sick of the male interns making her uncomfortable with talk of sexual conquests and generally non-female-friendly conversations in the common room. She decides to strike back by turning up the male {{squick}} factor by doing things women typically keep private from men, including loudly talking to a friend of hers on the phone about periods. Their boss finally puts an end to the situation by pointing out that, first and foremost, a doctor is an educated person, who should, thus, behave like one. |
| 277 | * ''Series/InTheDark'': Averted. Jess goes out to get tampons on the road because she's starting her period. |
| 278 | * Played for laughs in ''Series/TheITCrowd'' episode "Aunt Irma Visits," when Jen is feeling quite hormonal thanks to her time of the month, and it soon starts affecting Roy and Moss with hilarious results, despite them being men. |
| 279 | * And on ''Series/JustTheTenOfUs''. ''Four'' teenage girls and an adult woman (fifth sister Sherry was too young to have started), yet the topic never came up. |
| 280 | * ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'': |
| 281 | ** Averted in the episode "Pixies", where a teenage gymnast is upset about having gotten her period. Olivia tries to tell her it's normal but she's insistent that it means she's too fat. |
| 282 | ** Averted again in "Bedtime", when a suspect in a woman's murder explains that her blood was on the mattress the victim was killed on because she had been having sex with the victim's husband on the bed and got her period. The detectives initially find this iffy but it turns out to be true. |
| 283 | * ''Series/{{Lost}}'' has several women of childbearing age on an island with no feminine supplies, and yet it's never brought up how they deal with it. One character mentions being late, and another suddenly knows she's not pregnant, but the implications are never explored. |
| 284 | * ''Series/LovecraftCountry'': Leti says her "monthly" came early when she's bleeding slightly after having sex with Atticus. However, it was actually because she'd lost her virginity to him. |
| 285 | * ''Series/TheMagicians2016'': {{Averted}}. When a magical book needs [[BloodMagic blood to work]], Margo uses her menstrual blood. Penny is unhappy at this. Margo notes they're lucky it was her time of the month. |
| 286 | * ''Series/TheMinistryOfTime'' averts this ''in the first episode'': one of the main characters, a 19th-century woman, is given a tampon by a veteran Ministry agent, who tells her that traveling in time always messes with her period. The other woman was too embarrassed to ask, being from a more reserved era. |
| 287 | * Averted on ''Series/NewGirl''; Jessica notes in one episode that her plans got "sabotaged by my baby box." She also comments on her mood swings and cravings by saying that she wants to commit murder and eat soft pretzels. |
| 288 | * ''Series/The100'' usually plays this straight. A hundred juvenile delinquents (at least half of whom are female) are marooned on a post-apocalyptic Earth with next to zero supplies, and wear basically the same clothes through Season 1, with no mention of pads or even the cleaning of clothes. It's later somewhat justified as all of the women have "contraceptive implants" that apparently prevent, or at least regulate, their cycles, along with the very short time frame of Season 1-2 and Season 3-4. However, the justification is later subverted when the implants are specifically removed to help with population growth, and there are still no periods. |
| 289 | * ''Series/OrangeIsTheNewBlack'': |
| 290 | ** {{Averted}}. Tampons are precious, and one of the main complaints in Season 4 is the lack of tampons, as Medical's issue stock ran out because Corporate wouldn't pay for more. |
| 291 | ** More free tampons end up on the list of demands during the riot. |
| 292 | * In ''Series/OrphanBlack'', at one point Donnie asks Allison about her menstrual flow as part of the questionnaire the Dyad Institute has given them to keep track of the clones. She tells him it's normal in a casual way, although later she admits to another clone that she wasn't that comfortable discussing it with her husband. Cosima at one point starts bleeding in a bathtub, presumably down there, although it's explained as her sickness rather than a normal period. Later on, Sarah is wounded and runs away into the wilderness. She ends up bandaging the wound up with a tampon she keeps in her pocket. |
| 293 | * Implied in "Sorry to Father You" from ''Series/RavensHome''. Nia's dad gets embarrassed when she wants to get something from her mom's closet and Tess uses the excuse that it's "a girl thing”. |
| 294 | * ''Series/RuPaulsDragRace'': In an example of the ''very'' strict rules against depiction of menstruation on television (why did you think all those pad and tampon commercials used blue fluid?), on ''All Stars 4'', Manila Luzon got the veto from executives against [[https://www.boshemiamagazine.com/blog/2019/01/10/manila-luzon-period-gown wearing a gown that would have evoked a used pad]]. |
| 295 | * ''Series/{{Swarm}}'': Dre gets hers just when she's busily making out with Rashida. On the other hand, Rashida doesn't gets hers as she's gotten an IUD. |
| 296 | * Played with in ''Series/{{Tenko}}''. Mostly the women don't mention their menstrual cycles, but occasionally one of the younger characters would bring up how worried they were that their periods had stopped due to malnutrition. |
| 297 | * Averted by ''Series/ThirdRockFromTheSun'', in which Sally regularly cited periods as a downside of being an Earth female: |
| 298 | -->'''Sally''': Sorry Dick, but you know nothing about Earth pain until you've been a woman, okay? One week every month, I feel like I got a pair of pliers in my pants. You got a boo-boo? I'm in the national guard of pain. |
| 299 | * ''Series/{{Victorious}}'': {{Averted}}. Being a kids' show, it isn't explicitly stated, but the girls do allude to it from time to time. For instance, in one episode Cat blames Tori's grumpiness on cramps. |
| 300 | * ''Series/WeAreWhoWeAre'': {{Averted}}. Caitlin gets hers the first time while at the beach in the second episode. She's quite happy at this, due to it being a sign of her growing up. |
| 301 | * ''Series/TheWitcher2019'': This is mentioned in Season 2 when Ciri's living among the witchers, since it turns out that mushrooms in her meals have stopped her periods, and this can interfere with her development. None of the male witchers had even thought of Ciri's menstruation, or needing anything for it. |
| 302 | * ''Series/{{Yellowjackets}}'': {{Averted}}; the girls have been in the wilderness so long that their periods synchronize, and many complain about cramps. Travis also claims Natalie's period is scaring away the game while they're hunting. This is [[JustifiedTrope justified]], however, since by the second season starvation has become an issue (malnutrition can stop menstruation). |
| 303 | [[/folder]] |
| 304 | |
| 305 | [[folder:Tabletop Games]] |
| 306 | * ''TabletopGame/InNomine'': Invoked. The Archangel Khalid can grant an attunement to human Soldiers, called Fast, which allows them to essentially put all of their biological needs on hold as long as they maintain a strict fast. Among other things, this means that women will not menstruate during this period. |
| 307 | [[/folder]] |
| 308 | |
| 309 | [[folder:Theatre]] |
| 310 | * ''Theatre/ComeFromAway'': Averted, as the citizens of Gander prepare to take on 38 planes' worth of refugees, and Beulah realizes there's going to be ''thousands'' of women of child-bearing age among them. Oz, who has been gathering supplies, doesn't understand what she's getting at, so she goes down to the local retailer and grabs every single box of pads and tampons they've got. |
| 311 | * ''Theatre/CostOfLiving'': Eddie is giving Ani, a quadriplegic and his ex-wife, a bath. He reaches between her legs to clean her private area, and she has to tell him that she's on her period. It's an extremely awkward moment. |
| 312 | * ''Theatre/{{Grease}}'': This becomes a plot point, as the arc of Rizzo's pregnancy scare begins with her confiding to Marty that she missed one, with the implication it's the result of her liaison with Kenickie where [[ButWeUsedACondom they continued on despite his condom breaking]]: |
| 313 | -->'''Rizzo:''' [[UnusualEuphemism I feel like a defective typewriter]].\ |
| 314 | '''Marty:''' Huh?\ |
| 315 | '''Rizzo:''' I skipped a period! |
| 316 | [[/folder]] |
| 317 | |
| 318 | [[folder:Video Games]] |
| 319 | * Averted in ''VideoGame/BioShockInfinite''. When Booker arrives at Monument Island, there are three objects linked to the Siphon that he can activate. One of them is a tissue with red spilled on it, being Elizabeth's menarche. [[spoiler:The fact that it disappears whenever Booker activates it foreshadows Elizabeth's RealityWarper powers]]. |
| 320 | * Potentially subverted in one scene from ''VideoGame/Haven2020'', depending on dialogue choice, which sees Kay and Yu endure a FreakyFridayFlip after ingesting hallucinogenic mushrooms. Kay, while inhabiting Yu's body, suddenly starts feeling a bout of abdominal pain, which Yu deduces to be a side effect of a period she didn't know about, adding that due to the days being shorter on their new home planet it's been difficult to keep track of her menstrual cycle. |
| 321 | * Averted in ''VideoGame/{{SOMA}}'', where searching the personal quarters of Catherine and other female Theta site personnel turns up a few boxes of menstrual pads. Given that the game is set AfterTheEnd, they are hidden in inconspicuous places befitting a dwindling and precious resource. |
| 322 | * Downplayed in ''VideoGame/StardewValley'': The women's locker room at the bathhouse has a tampon vending machine, but it never comes up in dialogue or gameplay. |
| 323 | * In ''VideoGame/TheWalkingDead'' Season 3, Clementine has her first period in the fourth episode and asks Javi for advice. The player can find maxi pads for her in a medical center. |
| 324 | [[/folder]] |
| 325 | |
| 326 | [[folder:Visual Novels]] |
| 327 | * Averted in ''VisualNovel/ButterflySoup'' in an unexpectedly disgusting way. [[spoiler:Min almost strangles Akarsha upon first meeting her. Thinking quickly, Akarsha gets Min off of her by reaching down her own pants, covering her hand in period blood, and smearing it across Min's face. Not even minutes later do they decide to become friends.]] |
| 328 | * Averted in ''VisualNovel/CorpseParty'' when Ayumi gets her period without realizing it (you begin seeing a bloodstain on the back of her skirt partway through the game). She's very embarrassed when Yoshiki notices and asks when she got hurt, but she can't think of any way to change or cover it up. No one else comments on it though (either they think it's from one of the numerous dead bodies, or they just have bigger problems). |
| 329 | * Averted in ''VisualNovel/KatawaShoujo''. During the school festival at the end of Act 1, Rin (who has no arms) is getting antsy and wants to find her friend Emi. She's being evasive as to why, but [[PlayerCharacter Hisao]] keeps pushing her for an answer. She finally replies that she's on her period and needs some help dealing with it and that while she likes Hisao, she doesn't feel comfortable asking for his help with that particular problem. Hisao promptly shuts up. |
| 330 | [[/folder]] |
| 331 | |
| 332 | [[folder:Web Comics]] |
| 333 | * Averted in ''Webcomic/CobwebAndStripes''. When Lydia is deeply upset about being lonely and has a CryIntoChest moment with him, Betelgeuse's first reaction is to wonder whether menstruation is the reason. The idea doesn't seem to bother him, though; he's more uneasy about the whole 'emotions' thing. |
| 334 | * ''Webcomic/{{Delve}}'': As summarized by Bree (whose original world does have periods): |
| 335 | -->'''Bree''': God, I love fantasy. |
| 336 | * The elven and drow races of ''Webcomic/{{Drowtales}}'' are somewhat biologically different from humans and don't get periods, leading to a rather funny moment when a human character goes on her period, confusing a drow character who thinks she's bleeding and injured and leading another to use her own confused ideas of what a period is to explain it, not doing a very good job of it. |
| 337 | * Averted in ''WebComic/DumbingOfAge'': a recurring theme in second semester story arcs is that Joyce's period is longer and more painful than the norm, and that the best solution to fix this is for her to go on birth control: a problem for the recovering fundamentalist Joyce. |
| 338 | * The trope is present in full force in the ''Webcomic/MenageA3''[=/=]''Webcomic/SandraOnTheRocks''[=/=]''Webcomic/StickyDillyBuns'' universe, as the often sexually hyperactive twentysomething cast are never inconvenienced by the issue. It's been established that menstruation ''exists'' because in [[http://www.stickydillybuns.com/strips-sdb/Hello_new_neighbor one strip]], Amber asks Dillon to fetch her some tampons from the store -- but [[http://www.stickydillybuns.com/strips-sdb/Maneuver_four he gets his brain scrambled]], and the subject is never mentioned again. |
| 339 | * Averted in ''Webcomic/{{Pacificators}},'' as the [[WordOfGod author]] wants his female characters to be more realistic. |
| 340 | * Heather Coven in ''Webcomic/Rain2010'' plays the trope straight, leading to a very awkward situation when her younger sibling Ky got ''her'' first period while their mother wasn't home and Heather didn't know what was going on (with the result that she initially thought that Ky was dying). Justified, as Heather [[spoiler:is intersex, having been born with [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complete_androgen_insensitivity_syndrome CAIS]], and, thus, has no uterus or ovaries]]. |
| 341 | * Averted in ''Webcomic/{{Sunstone}}''. When Lisa wants to go on her next date with Ally in the [[http://shiniez.deviantart.com/art/timing-of-the-month-298992043 second chapter]] after five days of waiting, it turns out her stomach cramps are not the result of chicken going bad... The print version illustrates this with a troll-faced uterus. A few weeks later, Ally gets ''her'' period, and a later comment by the narrating Future Lisa informs the reader that they haven't been together long enough for their cycles to synchronize; since neither of them wants to "run the red light" as Lisa puts it (have sex during their period), they can only mess around two weeks out of each month. |
| 342 | * ''Webcomic/SarahsScribbles'' averts this, as we see in one comic, where we see Uterus musing about Jackson Pollock paintings and a cut to Sarah leaving a bathroom, thinking, "Aaand there goes another pair of cute underwear." |
| 343 | * In ''Webcomic/GeneralProtectionFault'', when Nicole tries to tell Dwayne about her pregnancy, she mentions "We're late," and when he doesn't get it, she mentions "monthly occurrences." |
| 344 | * Played with in ''Webcomic/TheOrderOfTheStick'': both times a woman has mentioned their period, they've been ''lying'' to deflect suspicion about something else. Haley claims an obvious bag of ill-gotten loot is actually feminine supplies, and [[SuccubiAndIncubi Sabine]] sneaks off to [[spoiler:report the Snarl's existence to her superiors]] under the pretense that "it's that time of the century... [[UnusualEuphemism the Red Knight is requesting lodging]]". |
| 345 | [[/folder]] |
| 346 | |
| 347 | [[folder:Web Original]] |
| 348 | * ''WebAnimation/CampCamp'': Averted. Neil develops a tonic to make his voice super-deep, by instantly invoking puberty, but when his female friend Nikki drinks it instead, she starts getting weird stomach cramps that are far worse than any stomachache she previously got, then starts bleeding and a band-aid doesn't help. She also experiences several odd food cravings and undergoes mood swings. She comes to the conclusion that she is dying and tries to hide it from the camp counselors. Eventually, Gwen figures out what's up and gives Nikki "the talk". |
| 349 | * Averted in ''WebVideo/CarmillaTheSeries'', which makes sense -- their primary sponsor is Kotex, a line of menstrual products. |
| 350 | ** In the prequel season, it's revealed that there were a few months where no one on campus was getting their period anymore, due to supernatural-related shenanigans, and Mel and Perry both comment on how weird it is. [[spoiler:At the end of the season, the problem is fixed, and all the periods come back... all at once. The cramps are so bad Perry can hardly walk.]] |
| 351 | ** Season Three's supplementary material specifically notes how the aversion of this has become an issue since the villains have taken a bunch of students hostage in the Pit... but didn't account for how, if you keep a bunch of menstrual people in the same place for months on end, not only will they continue to menstruate, ''their cycles will sync up''. |
| 352 | --->'''Mel:''' And on ''that'' note, ''please'' bring tampons when you come rescue us. |
| 353 | * Averted in Website/CollegeHumor sketch "Periods Aren't That Gross", in which women from the cast talk about menstruation. It starts fairly normal but gets increasingly weirder and they wonderfully troll all boys and men with horror concepts of MenstrualMenace calibre. |
| 354 | ** In another sketch titled "Realistic Hollywood Sex Scene", this is one of the many ways SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome during an otherwise generic movie sex scene, when the woman tells the man to put down a towel because she's "spotting". |
| 355 | * ''WebAnimation/MonsterHigh'': Lagoona the sea monster is affected by the ocean’s magnetic pull, causing her to become moody and aggressive. When you remember that Lagoona is 15 years old, the “monster-morphosis” symptoms sound a LOT like period symptoms. Also, the ending scene cuts out when Gil interrupts Lagoona’s quiet time, implying that she may have blown up at him. |
| 356 | * Justified in [[https://notalwaysright.com/complimentary-tampons/ this story]] from ''Website/NotAlwaysFriendly''; the submitter's roommate has no experience with tampons because she was male at birth. |
| 357 | * Despite the titular group consisting of a [[FourGirlEnsemble four girl ensemble]], and having a high female to male character ratio, none of the girls in [[WebAnimation RWBY]] have ever had a period, onscreen or otherwise. Possibly [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] by the series being primarily targeted to a male audience, and [[BloodlessCarnage not being very heavy on blood to begin with.]] |
| 358 | * {{Averted|Trope}} to high heaven in ''WebVideo/WeirdSchoolRulesInHongKong''. |
| 359 | ** Episode 10 opens with a skit where a male teacher doesn't allow a female student to visit the bathroom in the middle of class because it was against the school rules to do so regardless of reasons. The girl then explains that she was on her period and the blood was staining her uniform already, and the male teacher quickly amends that if she had told him upfront that she was on her period, he would have let her visit the bathroom. The host, Na-mei, cites this as an outrageous instance. |
| 360 | ** In a MiseryPoker sequence in Episode 19, a girl complains that the form that girls are required to fill out for visiting the bathroom asks them if they were going because they were menstruating, and if they were, what day they were on and how much they were bleeding, as well as whether they brought their own pads. This is treated as both an intrusive policy and a waste of time for the school administration, satirizing the controversial policy of forcing students to fill out forms for visiting the bathroom during classes at some local secondary schools. |
| 361 | [[/folder]] |
| 362 | |
| 363 | [[folder:Western Animation]] |
| 364 | * Katie Kaboom from ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'' is a teenage girl who gets so much stress from her family that she literally turns into a monster in each segment implies something like this, especially with the "I'm not overreacting! I'm a teenager!" line. |
| 365 | * ''WesternAnimation/AsToldByGinger'' never really makes note of menstruation despite it being a very girl-geared SliceOfLife series about girls going through middle school, and eventually high school, probably due to restrictions at Creator/{{Nickelodeon}}. There is, however, an episode in which the girls watch a film about puberty, where a passing euphemism is used ("a certain monthly visitor will arrive"). In regards to that euphemism, Macie says in one scene that she will be "forever haunted by the sounds of cramping". |
| 366 | * ''WesternAnimation/AskLara'' has an episode called [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukuUG6KOL0k "Oh No! It’s Here!"]] that deals with the main character having her first period. Lara is not as flustered about having her period as she is about that it had to happen on the day of an important exam. Lara has two best friends: Akira, who already started her period and offers her advice about it, and Monica, who is anxious to get hers and even says she feels envious when Lara tells her about the physical discomforts caused by it. Meanwhile, her two male friends, Tony and Gabriel, are worried that after getting her period, she will stop hanging out with them to only focus on older boys, but at the end that does not happen. |
| 367 | * ''WesternAnimation/{{Baymax}}'': {{Averted|Trope}} in episode 3, where the plot centers around Baymax aiding a middle school girl as she [[FirstPeriodPanic gets her first period]]. |
| 368 | * Given the whole show is about puberty humor, it's inevitable periods would be featured in ''WesternAnimation/BigMouth'', right in the second episode "Everybody Bleeds". |
| 369 | * ''WesternAnimation/TheGhostAndMollyMcGee'' averts this with the episode "A Period Piece", where, during a sleepover at Molly's house, Libby gets her first period. [[DefrostingIceQueen Andrea]] comforts her and assures her (along with [[AVerySpecialEpisode the young girls watching]]) that periods are nothing to be scared or ashamed of, as it's merely a part of growing up. She later comforts Molly, who angsts about not being as mature as her friends, that there's also nothing wrong if one gets their period later than their friends, as it doesn't change who they are or affect their relationships. Even Pete and Scratch are supportive, going on a TamponRun so Libby can have what she needs (although Scratch mostly came for the snacks). |
| 370 | * Oddly enough, ''WesternAnimation/{{Grossology}}'' doesn't mention periods in any of its episodes, despite one of the Grossologists being a female in junior high school. This is most likely so the show can keep its Y-7 rating, although Canada, the show's home country, is generally more lax about that sort of thing. |
| 371 | * In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill'', Connie gets her first period while staying with the Hill family. |
| 372 | * Averted in ''WesternAnimation/{{Sixteen}}'''s "Enter the Dragon", where pretty much ''all'' the jokes come from Jen, Nikki, and Caitlin being, ahem, ''hormonal'' and having harsh mood swings at the expense of Jonesy, Wyatt, and Jude. When Jen realizes that her, Nikki's, and Caitlin's cycles have synced up, Caitlin gets excited and goes into an in-depth explanation that period cycles syncing up is the first sign of [[TrueCompanions close female friendship]]. However, the American run of the show plays the trope straight, as this episode [[BannedInChina never aired there]]. |
| 373 | [[/folder]] |
| 374 | |
| 375 | [[folder:Real Life]] |
| 376 | * Of course, this trope isn't in effect for the majority of real-world women, but for a few this is TruthInTelevision. Primary amenorrhea -- the failure to begin menstruating by age 16 -- is usually the result of genetic or glandular defects (indeed there are some phenotypically-female women out there who actually have XY chromosomes), but sometimes occurs when the necessary organs only partially develop or don't at all. |
| 377 | * Hormonal birth control can stop periods; with estrogen-containing methods users have to skip the placebo pills/break week for this to happen (thus deliberately invoking this trope), while with progestin-only methods it happens randomly. In both cases it's reversible and not a reason for concern, unlike most other causes of amenorrhea. |
| 378 | * On internet forums about vegan diets, some women claim they have missed their period after being strictly vegan for a while. How much truth there is in these claims is unknown. |
| 379 | ** Starving women - including overtrained gymnasts and anorexics- can miss one or more periods. Since you need to know how to balance a vegan diet, it's possible that they were deficient in some key nutrients. |
| 380 | * Most animals don't menstruate, the exceptions being humans and our closest primate relatives, elephant shrews, African spiny mice, and certain bats; even then, in their case, no PMS-like symptoms and difficulties are to be found (though, it ain't like they can tell us). Likewise, some of these don't go through menopause (or "menopause" in the sense that we think) either. |
| 381 | [[/folder]] |
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