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is a 30 min. documentary about menarche --a girl's first menstrual period -- which is a fundamental experience in every woman's life, yet one that is rarely celebrated.

Women of different ages (8-84) and multi-cultural backgrounds tell their menarchal stories. All had different introductions to menstruation. They talk openly about how they were or were not prepared for menstruation by their families and school, the actual event of their menarche and their feelings about it. The stories they tell are full of the complexity of being human: they are sad, humorous, and poignant. Through focusing on the first menstrual period, we learn about the important and related issues of girl's feelings about womanhood, family dynamics and society's complicated attitude toward menstruation and the menstruating woman. Interspersed throughout Period Piece, as counterpoint to what the women are saying, are portions of old 1950's educational films about menstruation.

Period Piece addresses the pain girls experience trying to negotiate their bodies and their culture. The subject of menarche is rarely mentioned publicly, and in many families it is not even broached in private. Rather than celebrate this coming of age, we hide it and women are advised to deodorize, sanitize, and remove the evidence. Women watching this film will discover their connectedness to others, and mothers are provided with a choice they may not have realized they had about how to aid their daughters in this important and often neglected life transition. The audience will be moved by these stories to reexamine their own experiences, and to contemplate the ways in which our society teaches us to think and feel about menstruation.

Period Piece demystifies for both men and women one of women's most formative experiences. It is an entertaining and heartfelt film about a topic long considered taboo.


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“Period Piece is a delightful and thoughtful film essay on the uneasy attitudes toward menstruation still prevalent in our culture…useful in Women’s Studies, Sociology, and Anthropology courses.”
- Jean M. Humez, Professor, Women’s Studies Program, Univ. of Mas., Boston

“…a feast for the eyes as well as the mind and heart. Period Piece is a celebration of the multicultural perspectives that are a simple fact of life in the U.S. This is an excellent film for educators.”
- Thomas Buckley, Associate Professor, Anthropology/
   American Studies, University of Massachusetts, Boston
   Co-editor, Blood Magic: The Anthropology of Menstruation

“…poignant, honest and often funny. In any course concerning women’s sexuality and socialization, it is sure to stimulate insight and discussion.”
- Kathleen Sands, Assist. Professor, Religious Studies, Univ. of Mass., Boston

“Period Piece provides a window into the feminine internalization of society’s fear of menstruation, and in doing so moves the viewer to a deep respect for one of humankind’s most denigrated miracles.”
- J. M. Benevedes, PhD., Clinical Psychologist and Author

• Bronze Apple, National Educational Media Network
  
• Media Award, National Council on Family Relations
  
• Honorable Mention, Columbus International Film Festival
  
• Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, CA, 1996
  
• Big Muddy Film Festival, 1996
  
• Women of Vision Series, KCSM, 1996
  
  
  
• Recommended by
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