"A menstruating woman can't make mayonnaise": where does this myth come from?

Perhaps you've already heard of a belief that indisposed women fail to make mayonnaise. We explain where this myth comes from.

A popular superstition in France

The taboo of periods has a long history in society. The belief that a woman with her periods would be unsuitable for making mayonnaise has its origins in religious beliefs. Indeed, mayonnaise is a preparation made from eggs, and more specifically egg yolks. 

In the West, eggs are associated with Easter (the anniversary of Christ's resurrection). It's also traditional to paint Easter eggs red, the color representing the blood of Christ. This is why, in the past, it was said that women with their periods were unable to make a successful mayonnaise (impossible to emulsify the eggs...).

Of course, this is an old and totally false belief. It's a very old legend that implies that menstruation is synonymous with impurity and dirt. Thus, a woman touching food while having her periods would risk turning or rotting the food. In those days, foodstuffs were very precious.

A myth that shows how little the periods

This ancestral belief is, of course, false and unfounded. It shows how few people were informed about menstruation at the time, and how little was known about it. periods were misunderstood.

In those days, women were forbidden to make mayonnaise, touch cheese, tend the vegetable garden and so on. 

It's not just mayonnaise: other superstitions also exist

Of course, the beliefs didn't stop there; it was also common to admit that : 

The periods website makes good wine go round

Religious prohibitions prevented women from touching certain foods, such as bottling wine, which could turn to vinegar.

periods makes land infertile

At the time, some philosophers believed that periods could render farmland barren by touching it, just as they could by touching a fruit tree, cereal crop or other....

periods... are still taboo!

All these beliefs highlight a very clear fact: periods has always been a very taboo subject.

A taboo which has long been responsible for a lack of awareness of periods (and vice versa, lack of awareness of periods leads to taboo). For this reason, many people think it's perfectly normal to suffer during periods, women included. In the past, women used to suffer in silence. Today, society is more inclined to recognize that it's not normal to suffer during periods. When we know thatendometriosis (a disease that causes severe pain) affects 1 in 10 women, it's very important to seek help if you're prone to pain.

In some parts of the world, where women's place is still restricted, they are still shunned and confined during their periods period. The taboo is such that it is sometimes very complicated for women in these countries to have access to sanitary protection. They end up using methods such as cloths, sheets and newspaper, which are not only ineffective, but can also create hygiene complications.

And even in today's Western society, certain taboos and awkwardness around the subject persist. This can be seen in the many nicknames that are given, such as "les anglais débarquent", "ragnagnas" etc., to avoid using the word periods. In fact, some studies show that 44% of French women are still embarrassed when they have their periods. Brands of disposable sanitary protection are also responsible for this: for a long time, they showed blue liquid spilling onto sanitary pads rather than blood in their advertising.

Fortunately, things are tending to change these days, and people are (finally) speaking out about periods, but also about gynecological diseases such as endometriosis.

The periods painful are of course not normal and it is important to consult your doctor if you are suffering from, or are experiencing periods abundant that are bothering you, etc.