The Curse: Confronting the Last Unmentionable Taboo: Menstruation

by Karen Houppert

Book Overview

A provocative look at the way our culture deals with menstruation.

The Curse examines the culture of concealment that surrounds menstruation and the devastating impact such secrecy has on women's physical and psychological health. Karen Houppert combines reporting on the potential safety problems of sanitary products--such as dioxin-laced tampons--with an analysis of the way ads, movies, young-adult novels, and women's magazines foster a...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0374526923
• ISBN13: 9780374526924
• Release Date: May 2000
• Publisher: Farrar, Strauss & Giroux-3pl
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.0" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Thorough and Informative

Houppert offers extensive information. It's down to earth and useful. I've read it several times and used it in academic research.

oddly enough

I happened to pick this book out of the stack of books I have been planning to read the other day - with my eyes closed. How amazingly coincidental that I picked "The Curse" when I just started my period for this month.Anyway, it's a good read - I especially like the euphenisms on the endpapers, most of which I never heard of in my life. I grew up in a house with 5 other females, so there were no cute little names for "that time of the month". As a matter of fact, when I got my first period, I was sick as a dog and my dad said "Now you are a woman" and I told him "If this is what being a woman is all about, you can keep it." M's Houppert explores the whole feminine hygiene industry, bringing up such bad memories as the "Rely" tampon (remember toxic shock syndrome?) and how dioxin is used in creating the various napkins / tampons most women use at sometime or another.I found this an extremely interesting book. From the extensive quotes from parts of Anne Frank's diaries to the MUM (Museum of Menstruation, located in New Carollton, Maryland and run by Harry Finley, M's Houppert's extensive research makes this book worth a spot on your bookshelf. I recommend it highly.

Diamond in the Rough

I found Houpperts book on a dusty old shelf in a local Surplus store. I m not sure how it had gotten there, but upon reading a little into it I was sure it was worth the dollar it was selling for. I am one Chapter in and already she has changed my life. She provides astonishing information regarding tampons: what exactly is in them, what the industry hides, and what affects the secrets have had on womens lives. I promptly threw out all my tampons after finishing her first chapter! This book is not only for women, but those concerned with the environment, capitalism and how they all interconnect to make a horrifically clear picture of our socially accepted profit over people patterns. I found it for a dollar...you may not be so lucky...but there are somethings worth knowing that you can't put a price on.

Read this Book!

I'm also upset at the biased review written by the author of the other 'Curse.' Ms. Houppert's issues with both dioxin and capitalism fit perfectly into the book. The childbirth story was not only not long, but it related to The Curse's themes. And even as a life-long Judy Blume fan, I can honestly say her writing is pretty flat. It's clear your books are completely different, aside from the title, and I would never read your book based on that petty review. Not everyone is looking for a "gossipy history" of menstruation, some people are interested in facts.Anyway, not only was this 'Curse' engaging and interesting, it really made me angry about the way menstruation is treated in our society. Another reader mentioned that she felt no anger because they were providing products that women need, to say the least I DID feel angry, and much more informed, after reading about the way companies have, as the quote on the back says: "taken the natural workings of women's bodies...are medicalized, sanitized, taken from us and sold back to us at a profit." This is really a must for all women.

Thank you for writing this book!

I've just finished reading "The Curse"--if you're female and aren't filled with righteous indignation after reading this, you're either brain-dead or in a huge state of denial! Every single one of my girlfriends is getting a copy of this book. When's the first scheduled Tampax bonfire?;->