The Loss of the Story of Menstruation

I was talking to a friend about the 1946 Disney film “The Story of Menstruation” the other night and am alarmed to discover that it’s been banned from YouTube. I used to use it in my Writing of the Body class, so now I’m bummed that I didn’t download a copy of it before. Guess Disney’s embarrassed about the short 15min film originally sponsored by Kotex to save mothers and doctors the trouble of actually talking about the female body to young girls. In particular, this film saved them from having to discuss the taboo topic of — female blood. Disney should be embarrassed. It’s pretty bad — full of all codes of conduct for women and lacking real information on female sexuality. I first found out about this video from Joan Jacobs Brumberg’s book The Body Project. It’s kind of a popular history book, which makes me a tad nervous, but I do think her research is solid. Perhaps a bit conservative, but still useful in many many ways.

Above is a stilled image from the film that I’m borrowing from Boing Boing.

Here’s a link to a few more images: link. Growing up, my sustenance literally was peanut butter and Disney (tv, films, books, music, trips to the theme parks — you name it) and these images look soo typical of 1940s or 50s Disney. A few folks on the net question whether or not Disney really made this film, but it seems obvious to me. This animation is unmistakably early Disney.