Not that reluctant attitudes about menstrual mood swings were ever a legitimate excuse to exclude women from activities, but now New Zealand researchers have formally debunked the mythology surrounding PMS.
In a
recently published review of the existing scientific literature on the human menstrual cycle, the scientists find reason to challenge the pervasive idea that menstruation causes negative moods in the general population.
Their conclusion? Studies done so far on the menstrual cycle fail to give any clear evidence to support the existence of a negative mood specifically tied to PMS.
“This puzzlingly widespread belief needs challenging, as it perpetuates negative concepts linking female reproduction with negative emotionality," the researchers wrote.
Of the 47 English studies the researchers reviewed, only seven found an association between negative mood and the premenstrual phase.
This surely might come as a shock considering that stereotypes about PMS have long impeded female achievement.
Perhaps this study won’t lay antiquated beliefs about PMS officially to rest, but its implications have certainly challenged the accepted assumptions about female emotionality.
Are you still convinced that menstrual moodiness exists?
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