Gender Bender: Redefining the Curse of Menstruation

May 22, 2007 — -- The curse. Aunt Flo. Riding the Crimson Wave. And, in British-bashing Australia, the red coats are coming! Women across the centuries have had names for their monthly "friend" — some laced with humor and many whispered in tones of taboo.

Just this week, the Food and Drug Administration approved the birth control pill Lybrel, for the first time giving women the option not to have a period. Period.

It's unclear whether women will embrace this new pill, which contains the same formulations of estrogen and progestin used for birth control pills for decades, but its arrival marks yet another step toward the blurring of the genders.

As 21st century women dominate the universities and continue to climb the executive ladder, and metro-sexual men explore their feminine side, it's harder to define what it means to be a woman.

"There are women out there who cannot reproduce, and yet, they are not less of a woman," said Lizzy Holmgren, 21, and a recent graduate of the University of Colorado, who said she would not hesitate to take the new pill.

"Womanhood is the appreciation of the ability to give life and to nurture," she said. "Women are the primary caretakers because society has made it OK for us. That's sociological, not biological."

Lybrel, manufactured by Wyeth, halts the growth of the uterine lining, bringing a stop to the monthly changes in the uterus that allow pregnancy -- and periods -- to occur. It is the fourth new oral contraceptive that does not follow a 28-day cycle that mimics menstruation.

Other pills, like Yaz and Seasonale, either reduce the length or frequency of monthly bleeding. Gynecologists say more women are asking for ways to limit or stop their periods. Surveys have shown up to 50 percent of all women would prefer not to have them at all — most would prefer them less often and a majority of doctors have prescribed contraception to prevent periods.