PUBERTY—PART I.
Puberty is the age at which the girl or boy becomes capable of
reproduction. Writers differ in the use of the word. Many use it to
denote the whole period of time during which the procreative ability
continues, which is usually from the fourteenth to the forty-fifth year.
There are still other uses of the word, but we will use it as the age
when the boy or girl becomes sexually matured or ripe, the first
indication of which is the menstrual flow in the girl and seminal
emissions in the boy.
This sign of puberty is celebrated by initiations among the savage
peoples, mostly for the purpose of trying the powers of endurance in the
boy or girl. The boy is taken away among strange tribes, is subjected to
the greatest physical pain and hardship, and among some tribes is
circumcized. The girl is often subjected to a vaginal incision and
should she cry out or show any sign of suffering she is disgraced among
the women of her tribe and promptly expelled from the settlement. In
Ellis' Psychology of Sex the author relates of the Yuman Indians of
California how the girls prepare for marriage at the first sign of
menstruation by being wrapped in blankets and placed in a warm pit for
four days and nights. The old women of the tribe dance about them and
sing constantly; they give away coin, cloth and wheat to teach the girls
generosity, and sow wild seeds broadcast over the girls to cause them to
be prolific. These and various other initiations are practiced by nearly
all savage tribes. The boys and girls receive their sex knowledge at
this time, and are instructed in the duties of married life.
The girls are fully informed of menstruation. It has been said the
knowledge of sexual relations is openly discussed and naturally taught;
that, therefore, it has no glamour for them, and in consequence the
women of these tribes are virtuous.
Perhaps you will wonder what bearing all this has on What Every Girl
Should Know. I relate it only to show that the savages have recognized
the importance of plain sexual talks to their young for ages, while
civilization is still hiding itself under the black pall of prudery.
When we speak of puberty it is necessary to have some knowledge of the
organs of reproduction and their structure. So far the physiology taught
in the public schools has not treated of these organs. In order to get
books on this subject a girl is met with the question: “Are you a nurse
or physician?” If not the books are denied her. Consequently the average
girl is kept in ignorance of the function of these organs, and is at a
loss to know where to go for clean information. It is necessary,
therefore, to give this information here, without mincing words, if
there is any benefit to be derived from the following subject. It is
very simple for the girl to learn the correct names of these organs and
call them by such names. They are the ovaries, fallopian tubes, uterus,
vagina and breasts. The breasts were not always classed as reproductive
organs, but later writers recognize their relation to them, and as such
they are now included.
Let us first take the ovaries, which are two small
[Illustration:
FIG. I.
UTERUS—TUBES AND OVARIES.
]
To the right the ovary and tube have been laid open.
a—Uterus.
b—Ovary.
c—Fallopian Tube.
glands about the size and shape of an almond, placed one on each side of
the extreme lower part of the woman's abdomen. They are imbedded in
large ligaments and tissues which also help to hold the uterus (the
womb) in place. Inside the ovaries are thousands of little eggs called
ovules, which have been there since the birth of the girl. It is claimed
there are from twenty to fifty thousand ovules in the ovary at birth.
The work of the ovary is to develop and mature these eggs, and send them
on to be fertilized. At the time of puberty, these eggs are all in
different stages of development. Those in the center of the ovary ripen
first and burst through the outer cover of the ovary (which is like a
capsule and at the time of menstruation becomes swollen and congested).
The ovule is caught by the fringy ends of the fallopian tubes which are
in a constant lashing motion, which motion sends the egg through the
tube to the uterus.
The fallopian tubes are about four and one-half inches in length and
join the ovaries to the upper and outer angle of the uterus. Its duties
are to convey the ova from the ovary to the uterus. Sometimes the sperm
cell from the male comes up into the tube to meet the egg and it is
fertilized here. The union of the two cells usually occurs in the outer
end of the fallopian tube; but this is not the nest nature has prepared
for the egg's development, and unless it returns into the uterus it
causes serious trouble and an operation is necessary. Impregnation in
the tube is very rare, but it is possible.
The uterus, often spoken of as the womb, is a hollow muscular organ into
which the egg comes from the tubes to be fertilized—four to eight days
from ovaries to uterus. After fertilization it remains here, is
nourished and developed until it can develop no more. Then it is thrown
out by the contraction of the muscles, which process we call the birth
of a child. The uterus is about three inches long, its shape is like a
pear with the small end downward. It is not fastened to any of the bony
parts, but is held in place by the ligaments and tissues, which also
allow it to move with different movements of the body. One of the most
interesting features about the uterus which is so small in its cavity is
that it can stretch to accommodate the growing child within it to the
length of nineteen to twenty-one inches. This is because it is one and
one half inches thick and composed of layers of muscles which are tough
and yet elastic. At the upper side of the uterus are the openings into
the fallopian tubes. At the small end of the uterus is another opening
leading into the vagina. It is through this opening the sperm of the
male comes in order to fertilize the egg. Thus you can readily see the
uterus is the nest or cradle where the egg is to live until it becomes
strong enough to subsist on other nourishment.
The vagina is a muscular tube-like passage which extends from the small
part of the uterus (called the neck) to the outer surface of the body,
where its opening is usually partly closed in virgins by a thin membrane
or film known as the hymen. The walls of the vagina are also very thick
and elastic. This is sometimes called the birth canal. The hymen was for
years a subject for discussion in the professional world among
physicians. In my talks to girls I find it a subject of great interest
and often anxiety to many of them, for the average girl seems possessed
with the old idea that the presence of the hymen is necessary to marital
happiness. The time was not long ago when its absence was considered
cause for serious discord between husband and wife, and I have been told
that under the old law its absence was sufficient ground for divorce.
Fortunately, modern science has thrown some light on this subject and
disproved the theory that its absence was necessarily due to a woman's
having had sexual relations. There are cases on record of women who have
lived four and five years in prostitution who were found with perfectly
preserved hymen. It is important to know that it differs in size and
shape in women. Also, that in some women it has been entirely absent
since birth. Many little girls and babies have no hymen. It can be
destroyed by accident or injured by operations, or examinations where
the physician did not use the greatest care. In some women it is easily
destroyed; in others it is more difficult. It is not at all uncommon for
a physician to find the hymen unruptured when he comes to deliver the
first born child. All of which goes to prove that neither its presence
nor its absence is necessarily the sign of virginity.
Now that we have some idea of the situation of the reproductive organs
and their relations to one another we shall be ready to consider in
greater detail the ovule or egg in the ovary.
PUBERTY—PART II.
Beginning with puberty the eggs from the ovary are expelled as they
ripen or mature. This process is called ovulation and occurs about every
twenty-eight days. It is closely related to menstruation, but it is not
menstruation as you will soon learn. Some writers say the egg is
expelled at other times than at the menstrual periods; another writer
asserts that one passes every six hours, alternating male and female.
There are many views and ideas on the subject of ovulation, but I will
tell you of the most generally accepted theory, that the egg is expelled
from the ovary every twenty-eight days.
When the egg ripens, the ovary discharges it and sends it on to find its
way through the tubes to the uterus. Here we find the blood supply of
the uterus greatly increased in preparation for the egg. We find the
inner lining of the uterus becomes very soft and smooth so that the egg
can very easily find a place in which to lodge itself after it has been
fertilized. We also find that the cells swell and multiply, all in
preparation to welcome and nourish the incoming egg or ovum. If the egg
is fertilized by the male, it then remains in the uterus to develop. If
not, it is thrown out, together with all the preparation made to receive
it. The cells burst and discharge their contents; the mucus, blood,
cells and all come away in what is called the menstrual flow.
At one time woman was thought to be the only creature which menstruated.
But science now tells us that all warm blooded animals which walk erect
menstruate. The discharge is chiefly due to the position which in
standing upright, throws the large part of the uterus higher than the
neck. In animals, such as dogs, cats, etc., the same process goes on,
but the position of these animals keeps the large part of the uterus
lower than the small part, where the blood is retained and then
reabsorbed into the system.
This process goes on every four weeks in girls after they reach the age
of puberty and continues at regular periods as long as the egg is not
fertilized until the reproductive age is over, which is usually between
the forty-fifth and fiftieth year. If, however, the egg is fertilized
the menstrual flow ceases and this blood supply goes to nourish the new
life in the uterus. It does not appear again until after the birth of
the child, and usually ceases while the child depends upon the milk from
the mammal glands.
The age at which this process (menstruation) first takes place in girls
differs in individuals. Climate has some effect upon it, for girls in
warm or Southern climates mature earlier than in colder places. In this
climate the average girl reaches puberty at fourteen years of age. Some
have been known to reach it as early as the eleventh and others not
until the eighteenth year, all in the same place and yet normal and
healthy, which shows there is no reason for anxiety if the girl does not
menstruate at fourteen, provided she is developing normally and is in
good health. During the first few years after its appearances the
periods are likely to be irregular. This is because the sexual organs
are not fully developed. Often the period does not occur after the first
time for three, five, eight months and sometimes a year. This
irregularity continues for two or three years. Cases of girls coming
from Europe have been known where the period was perfectly established
over there, but after arriving in this climate the menstrual flow did
not occur again for a year and over. Usually this irregularity lasts
only a few months, and when once it has become regular, there should be
no worry over its arrival a day or two earlier or later.
The length of time the period lasts differs in women also. The average
length of time is four or five days, yet there are women in which it
lasts fully a week, and others but a few hours. The length of time
should not be of as much concern as the amount of discharge which is
expelled each time. It is, of course, difficult to estimate this, but
physicians claim that more than three protectives in twenty-four hours
should not be used. In all women the flow is most profuse during the
first two days.
The care of the health should receive more attention during the first
two days than is usually given it. To the girl who has to work from
early morning until late at night, these two days are unusually hard on
her nerves and on her general health, and I regret that I have no new
message for her to help lighten the burden, which under the present
atrocious industrial system makes it so hard for her.
Physicians say there should be no need of interrupting the regular
routine of the day at this time more than any other. There are a few
strong women to whom this period makes no difference, but the average
girl in this country spends two days of pain and discomfort. Out of
1,000 girls questioned, only 16 per cent. were entirely free from pain,
which proves that the time has come for women to cease being ashamed of
this function, and insisting upon at least one day's rest at the expense
of her employer. Some of the old biblical ideas instilling into the
man's mind, that a woman is unclean at this time has been the cause of
much hardship and many sneers endured by a woman during these periods.
The consequence has been that she will bear the most intense pain rather
than allow the men working with her to suspect that she is menstruating.
It is all nonsense and wrong, and it is time women should band together
in one great sisterhood to protect one another from being slowly drained
and exhausted of their powers of motherhood for the benefit of their
exploiters. Women who belong to unions should demand that this day be
given them and their sisters. Girls continue to suffer pains in the
abdomen and back, pains running down the limbs, headache, often nausea,
besides being nervous and irritable, yet hang on a strap in an
overcrowded street car, stand or sit all day in the shop or at the
machine and utter no protest. They know, too, they are not alone in this
suffering, for they see about them day after day hundreds of other women
enduring the same pain, yet they remain silent.
How long will you endure this, working women?
There is one thing to remember, that the greatest strain comes on the
nervous system at this period. One of the best ways to assist in
building up the nerve strength is in sleep and rest and for the girl who
dares not remain away from the shop fearing to lose her “job” the next
best thing is to get to bed early, for there's nothing that builds up
the exhausted nerves like sleep.
Fortunately, the girl at school has some consideration shown her at this
time, and it is well that this is so, for until the period becomes
established there is special danger of overdoing in school work, which
often causes St. Vitus dance and other nervous disorders.
I believe in the regular warm tub bath, or cold sponge followed by a
good rubbing all over the body at this time, together with nine or ten
hours' sleep, and light, nourishing food without stimulant. If the
bowels are active, it often lessens the pain considerably, and it is
very important that every girl attend to this if she has any regard for
her health. There are a few abnormalities of the menstrual function
which I will not take the space to state here. Before leaving the
subject, I wish to impress upon the reader that most abnormalities, such
as too little or too much flow, or very great exhausting pain are
usually caused, not by any disease of the generative organs, but more
often a disturbance of the general health, which can often be treated
and cured by building up the system.
Every girl should learn the laws of menstruation and its hygiene and
have a full understanding of the same. The menstrual function occurs
only in the female at puberty, but at the same time there comes to both
boys and girls, or male and female, a mysterious and impelling
influence, which has great power over the lives of both during the
adolescent period unless they understand and control it. This is known
as the Sexual Impulse.