- It's very problematic to me
when I see people explaining fertilization
and creation of an embryo or baby like she did.
Today we are reacting to 1950's sex education,
"Molly Grows Up".
I am so excited to watch it with you
and see what we can learn,
or rather see maybe what our parents
didn't learn in their sex ed classes.
(upbeat electronic music)
I have had every problem with my audio,
my video, my internet, the lighting, everything.
(Mama Doctor Jones groans)
I need to stick to clinical medicine.
- (indistinct) is the first wedding I've ever been to,
and golly, you should have seen the bride!
She had the most beautiful dress I've ever seen.
All like that.
- Molly, come on, we'll be late for school!
- Coming, Peggy!
- Okay, well we're just going to jump right into it
by saying any sex ed that starts out
with a discussion of a wedding
is probably going nowhere fast.
Because we can't assume that nobody's
having sex before they get married.
Even if that's your personal choice,
a vast majority of the population
do not have that personal choice
and framing sex ed within that relationship
is very problematic, both from a standpoint of consent
and understanding, to also shame and guilt.
I mean, it's the 1950's, what did we expect, right?
But I hope that someday when I create a sex ed curriculum
it won't start out with that!
- I've known Molly and her family
ever since she first came to school,
and I think you might like to know her too.
Molly lives at home with her father,
her mother and her older sister, Jeanie.
Molly and Jeanie get along, well,
about as most sisters do.
- Molly! What do you think you're doing?
- Nothing, Jeanie, I just happened to come in and, oops!
- [Jeanie] Honestly, Molly!
- I just wanted to try them.
- [Jeanie] Well, why don't you ask Mom
for some things of your own?
You're old enough now.
- Okay, we're three minutes in and we finally
might be getting to something informational.
I'm not going to include that whole three minutes,
but basically all we've seen so far
is Molly being a kid who probably is like 11 or 12,
and now she's gone into her sister's room
and made her sister angry because she stole her lipstick
and tried on her clothes, typical sister things.
And now her sister has grabbed a pad out of the drawer,
so maybe we're getting to something educational here,
but mind you, this is 14 minutes and 20 seconds,
and probably the only sex ed
that these girls were getting in 1953,
and we've spent a fourth of the video already
on Molly as a person.
Which, great, but.
- When do you think I'll start having periods too?
- Oh, I don't know, pretty soon I suppose.
I was 13 when I started.
- [Molly] Peggy's already started hers,
and I'm six months older than she is.
- Well, so what?
Some start earlier and some later, we're all different.
- I love that they're normalizing that different ages
are going through puberty is totally normal.
It's not all based on just your age.
We call this menarche, and age of menarche
depends most highly on
when your mother went through menarche.
This can vary though greatly by body weight,
BMI, activity, things like that,
and also it has changed over the years
to become slightly earlier
than the average was probably in 1953.
I do want to commend them for normalizing
that everybody starts at different times,
and that can be totally normal.
- Mom, I started my first period.
- Come on, sit down, tell me about it.
When did it start?
- Well, it was this afternoon
when I was changing into my gym clothes
and I noticed a bit of blood on my panties.
And then I remembered when we talked about menstr...
- [Molly's Mom] Menstruation.
- Menstruation and stuff,
and well then I went to see Miss Jensen.
- So, seems like Molly's family
has wonderful open communication about menstrual cycles,
which is awesome.
Unfortunately I think that most sex ed,
if we don't have a comprehensive curriculum
that starts at a young age and follows a child
from, you know, basically defining their body parts
all the way up through actually learning
about intercourse and how babies are made,
and how to prevent STIs and things like that,
that we also have to include what is a menstrual cycle
in some of the sex ed.
- Menstruation is perfectly normal, it happens every month.
Of course, right at first you probably
won't be very regular.
Most girls don't settle down for a year or so.
Even then, some girls go more
than a month between periods and others less.
That's normal, too.
And eventually your body will set up its own regular time.
Please sit up, Molly.
- Oh Mom, I'm comfortable!
- But Mom, I'm comfortable!
That's like every kid her age ever
when asked to do something that they don't want to do
and I know this because I was once a kid
but also I have some of them in my house.
They really hit the nail on the head with this one.
She's discussing immaturity of the HPO axis,
which is basically the idea that after the first menarche
it often takes several years for cycles to really regulate.
If it takes a while for your cycles
to become regular and predictable
after the first menarche, that's okay.
Even three or more years in some people.
But if you're ever having really, really long,
really, really heavy cycles or really, really painful cycles
that's never normal and you should at least
chat with us so we can kind of talk about it
and see what we can figure out.
- If you sit and stand straight,
that will give the organs inside your body
room to function better, and that will make you feel better.
(Mama Doctor Jones laughs)
(phone rings on video)
- [Molly] I'll get it, that's probably Peggy.
- I don't know that that's actually true,
but probably won't hurt anything.
- Sure, just a minute, I'll ask.
Mom, can I go swimming with Peggy tomorrow after school?
- [Molly's Mom] I don't think I would, Molly.
- But I'd be home by five thirty.
- No, it's not a good idea
the first two or three days of your period.
You might get chills and catch cold.
- Oh, that's right. (Mama Doctor Jones laughs)
Peggy, of course I can't go swimming,
you know I've got the curse!
That's right, it isn't a good idea
the first couple of days.
Okay, I'll see you tomorrow, bye!
- I love how she went from
a little bit frustrated with her mom to like,
"Yes Peggy, why would you bother me by asking me that?
"You know I started my period today and I can't swim!"
Obviously, everybody watching this
probably knows that that's not accurate,
it's totally fine to swim at any point in your cycle.
If you are swimming you probably will not
catch a cold or chills just because you're on your period.
And when I say probably,
I mean definitely, that won't happen.
- What's all the talk about in here?
Is this a private conference?
- No, I don't think so, do you Molly?
- No I guess not.
You tell him, Mom.
- Well, Jim, Molly's growing up.
She's having her first menstrual period.
- What, already?
Oh but Alice, I thought, well after all she's only-
- [Molly] Oh Daddy, don't be so silly,
I'm not a baby anymore!
- I know dear, but...
No honey, I guess you aren't.
- I actually think that this is probably
pretty progressive in the 1950s
to depict the family talking about this together
and to have Molly open to discussing it with her father.
I love that, I mean, this was even in an era when,
right, wasn't "I Love Lucy" around that time?
I'll have to look it up, but it may have been earlier,
but we couldn't even depict people
sleeping in the same bed if they were married,
so I love that they're trying to normalize
that it's okay to have periods
and it's okay to talk about it with your family,
and it's okay to talk about it with your friends.
So I think that was probably progressive in 1953.
- [Voiceover] Growing up is fun, but some of the things
Molly used to do seem a little silly now.
Sometimes she gets all mixed up just thinking about it.
She's changing from a child into an adult
and it's a little confusing at times.
- It's a little confusing at times
when you know you're just playing with dolls
and then you have a period and all of a sudden
you hate dolls after that and you just want to be grown up.
How do you know that it happens that fast?
I think probably Molly still likes
all of the things she liked last week
before she had her first period,
but I know they're trying to get the point across
that things change and growing and changing is different,
but I think really in this
we should be focusing on how your body
is growing and changing and everything is different,
and that you might have different feelings,
but not to make people feel like
once they have their first period
now they have to be a grown up,
because that's certainly not the case.
- [Voiceover] This is a diagram of the uterus or womb,
and these are the fallopian tubes leading to it.
And these the ovaries which produce the egg cells.
Now, these egg cells are far too small for us to see,
but once each month, an egg cell
will leave one of the ovaries,
go into the opening of the tube nearest to it,
and then it's on its way to the uterus.
- I actually really like that depiction.
I think that's very age appropriate
for like 10 to 12 year old, and maybe even younger.
I mean, my kinds definitely
know a little bit of that already.
- [Voiceover] And the uterus has been
preparing a growing place for this egg,
a soft lining of blood vessels and tissues.
- We're 10 minutes into this 14-minute video
and we haven't even mentioned sex yet,
and this is supposed to be sex ed!
- [Voiceover] If the egg unites with a male cell or sperm
as it's on its way down the tube, it is fertilized.
And then when it reaches the uterus,
it settles down in this soft lining
and begins to grow into a baby.
But if the egg cell is not fertilized, it disappears.
- It's very problematic to me when I see people explaining
fertilization and creation
of an embryo or baby like she did.
Which is, when the fallopian tube has an egg in it,
and there happens to be a sperm cell there,
they meet and make a baby.
What this does in the minds of kids
who can't conceptualize sex yet
because they haven't been told anything about like
actual sexual intercourse,
is make them think that they might
just one day wake up pregnant
and not know that there's
an active component to baby making.
This is extremely important for sex ed.
Kids don't ever need to be under the impression
that they might just happen to become pregnant.
I can't tell you how many times
I've had people tell me that growing up,
their parents told them God puts a baby there
or Mommy and Daddy pray for a baby and it goes there
or that it happens like they explained it here,
and the kid spends years of their life
praying to God not to put a baby
because they don't want a baby.
So I think that's really, really important
and hopefully they'll hit on it in the next two minutes
and make this whole rant completely meaningless.
At least maybe that will make sense
to someone out there about why it's important
to have these discussions with your kids.
- [Voiceover] Since the lining is no longer needed,
it too dissolves away.
And it flows out of the body
through an opening in the hymen.
- When does menstruation start?
- Average age seems to be about 13.
- No, I mean what day of the week will it start?
My mother's starts on Tuesday, will mine too?
- Oh it might, but it probably won't.
Because each girl's body sets up her own time and rhythm.
And the time between periods may vary
anywhere from 23 to 32 days.
And the flow will last from two to seven days,
also depending on the girl's own rhythm.
- That's actually a good question
and I get it in a little bit different of a way
that people ask in my clinic which is,
sometimes people come to me and they think
that their period should be starting
on the same day of the month
or the same day of the week every time,
and that's not really how it works.
Number of days between periods we count
from the first day of bleeding
to the last day before you have bleeding again.
That's your cycle length.
And that number can vary anywhere from about 28 to 35 days.
So that means that the number of days
that you don't have bleeding,
between your last day of bleeding
and first day of bleeding again, can really highly vary
depending on both your cycle length
and the number of days of bleeding that you have,
which anywhere from five to seven is normal there.
So you see that it can be very confusing
when people are tracking their cycles,
and this is why I really encourage my patients
to track their cycles with an app.
That's why it's not always on the same day of the month
or the same day of the week,
because that number may not
always line up with the calendar.
Your body doesn't know where you are at in a calendar,
it just knows what your normal is.
- Many of you girls haven't started to menstruate yet,
but when you do, you will want to use
a sanitary napkin to absorb the flow.
It's a soft, absorbent pad
and it's made to fit over the opening of the vagina
and to follow the curve of the body.
The tab ends are attached to a narrow elastic belt
which you can wear around your hips or waist.
- I feel like this is pretty good!
I mean, if we ignore the fact
that it's supposed to be sex ed
and we just talk about the fact that it's menstrual ed,
then these are great answers.
- Now, some girls prefer to use tampons.
A tampon is a cylinder of absorbent cotton
inside a cardboard applicator.
It is inserted into the vagina by means of the applicator.
The cotton absorbs the flow,
and when it is full, you remove it and discard it.
You should be more careful than ever
about personal cleanliness and (indistinct).
Change your underwear more often
and be sure and use a deodorant.
And pay more attention to your hair and your nails,
and plan to wear your prettiest dress.
In other words, be your most attractive self.
- A little problematic to put so much pressure on them.
You know, if it makes you feel better
to get up and get ready and do your make up and look nice
when you're on your cycle, great, do that.
I personally feel more alive when I get up
and do my hair and make up, unlike today
when I just stuck it in a ponytail
because I couldn't be bothered to do that!
Some people don't want to do all of that
and you shouldn't be under pressure
to do something that you don't feel like doing,
especially when you're a teenager
learning about your period.
- What about dancing?
Can you when you're menstruating?
- Yes, you can, with moderation.
In fact, you can do most of the things you usually do.
You can bathe or shower as long as you use warm water,
and you can wash your hair,
if you're sure to dry it quickly.
And you can swim, if you wait until
two or three days after the beginning of your period.
And you can go to dances and picnics.
Not a very good idea to skate or ride horseback
or play fast games like volleyball and basketball,
or do strenuous dancing like square dancing.
- I think we talked about this a little
when I did the Disney video,
which had kind of these same precautions,
and I was like, "Why are they saying this?"
Well, some of you astutely in the comments were like,
"Well duh, their period products weren't as good,
"and this is to avoid leaks."
So maybe that makes sense.
But here we're still seeing this,
"Don't use cold water, you might get sick,
"make sure you dry your hair quickly, you might get sick"
and this is all silly, right?
You can't get sick more easily
just because you're on your period,
that is absolutely not true.
But I do understand why, with the period products back then,
they would say be careful about dancing around and stuff.
I wish they would have told them why,
because it kind of makes it sound scary,
like, "Oh my gosh! Don't do floor square,
"you might end up having something terrible happen,
"we're not going to talk about what it is."
When it's actually just like,
your sani-pad might leak a little.
This is how we contribute unexpectedly
or not-on-purposely, I can't come up with words today,
this is how we contribute, not on purpose,
to making kids scared of having periods,
because we're not being completely open
about why these things are off limits.
- And you be sure to tell your mother or me
if everything doesn't seem to be just right.
Now, I'd like each of you to take
one of these booklets about menstruation,
and when you finish reading it,
if you have any questions, be sure and come and see me.
Menstruation is as normal and natural
as eating or breathing or sleeping.
- Always when I make these videos,
people are like, "Oh, you're critiquing it,
"and it was a different time!"
Yes, I know that Susan, I know it was a different time.
I do think it is important to point out
how far we've come and also the mistakes
that we've made in the past,
so that we can continue to improve.
And I will see you next time.