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Blood, Bread...Oranges, And Apples? |
But perhaps the past, and/or less industrialized
countries, are not the place to look for menstrual synchrony, and menstrual
synchrony is a modern phenomenon, yet to be fully explained. Here’s an email MOLT received from Drexel
University regarding Strassmann’s research in Mali, West Africa:
Mon, 29 Apr 2002 22:17:43 -0400
Hello!
I
enjoyed the piece at http://www.menstrualmonday.org/mesy.html
and wanted to answer the call to share thoughts. I think that anyone who lives
in industrialized society (more on that later) and disputes menstrual synchrony
either a) hasn't lived with other women for an extended period of time, or b)
is not a woman! Even considering the valid points made by Strassmann in the
section which states, "Given that menstruation often lasts 5 days, it is
not surprising that friends commonly experience overlapping menses," that
fails to neatly solve the problem of statistics.
I have
never been great with statistics, but I am pretty certain that the odds are
stacked against the fact that my three roommates and I experience onset within
just a few days of each other, month after month.
As for
my reference to industrialized society...I wonder if comparing the Dogon women
with industrialized society is like comparing apples and oranges. I can see
where it would seem to be a good approach -- but there seems to be little in
the way of experimental controls, which makes its strong point a weak one.
Females in Mali undoubtedly experience a very different environment than
females in an industrialized nation. I don't know anything about the Dogon
tribe, but might their bodies be more attuned to survival than to each other?
Contrast that with the fattened, comfortable women in the US or some other such
location. Not only do our bodies have little reason to prepare for survival (in
most cases), we are exposed every day to chemicals that we don't know the
effect of.
Consider
that scientists have recently suggested a strong (and apparently reversible)
link between early onset of puberty and use of topical products that contain
oestrogen. We're also told by the media that we're constantly exposed to
synthetic hormones in our daily lives. It makes sense to me that our bodies
would show different reactions to the presence of other women than those of the
Dogon women to each other...which would make Strassmann's study appear to be of
very limited relevance.
Just
my two cents! I hope I didn't bore you. Great site!
-Amber
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