Review by Choice Review
The apparently pan-human practice of inducing menstruation can be viewed in many different ways, depending on historical and cultural context. This collection of essays (the product of a 1998 online conference that included contributions from anthropologists, demographers, historians, and health professionals) describes cultural traditions and biomedical and demographic effects associated with the use of an abundant pharmacopoeia of primarily herbal menstrual cathartics called "emmenagogues." A major theme of the book is the "ambiguity of intentions"--ranging from bodily cleansing to ensuring a future healthy pregnancy to abortion--inherent in the use of these substances. Part 1 surveys beliefs and practices surrounding the use of emmenagogues in the Western cultural tradition, including ancient Greece and the 18th-, 19th-, and 20th-century US. Part 2 describes menstrual regulation in African, Latin American, and Southeast Asian countries. Evenly edited, accessible, and uniformly interesting, these essays probe the medical, ethical, social, demographic, and religious implications of emmenagogue use. Together they constitute an important contribution to the historical, anthropological, and perhaps even the medical literature on menstruation and abortion. For readers at any level interested in the health of women. M. A. Gwynne SUNY at Stony Brook
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
