Ode to Elly Brink | Breaking the menstrual taboo

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Dear Elly Brink,
 

I never knew you, and I don't know if I will ever meet you again. But I, researcher Debra Knoop, would like everyone to know your name. That is why I am writing this letter to you: an ode to the first menstruation activist from Amsterdam.
 

Why menstruation?
"Women all menstruate. For about 37 years on average, every four weeks. It should actually be quite common for women to talk about this with each other, with men, at work or wherever. In practice, it is not so common. It's something you don't just talk about. Women are taught to keep quiet about it. And especially not to talk about pains." - Elly Brink, 1977, Leeuwarder Courant
 

These words could also have been in today's newspaper. Despite the fact that half the world's population menstruates, it still remains a taboo. Fortunately, the tide is slowly turning and there has been a growing menstruation movement since 2015. More and more people are calling for menstruation to be talked about more openly.
 

Elly was one of the first women to actively advocate for this during the 1970s and 1980s. I came across her name by chance in a newspaper clipping while researching the history of menstrual culture. After that, Elly's name kept popping up in the Atria archives. Who was Elly Brink, and why did she want to break the menstrual taboo?
 

1974: ‘The Menstrual Phenomenon in a Woman's Life’ - a study
Elly Brink, living in Amsterdam on Tweede Jan Steenstraat, studied Sociology at Utrecht University. During a seminar on Life Course and Everyday Life in 1974, Elly and her fellow student Felicia Vizi chose the topic of menstruation. Why? The students noted that menstruation, as they tell in a newspaper interview, that despite being an everyday aspect in every woman's life, receives little attention because of the huge taboo surrounding it.
 

In their paper, they wrote about both the medical and everyday aspects of menstruation, and how it affects women's lives. Their unusual approach was initially met with resistance, as it is difficult to see personal experience as relevant and objective scientific fact. Yet Elly and Felicia did not give up; they wanted their research to be meaningful to others. And it became so: ‘our paper on menstruation goes from hand to hand among women,’ they said proudly.

1974-1981: The research continues - ‘women write’
After the scientific research, Elly came to the conclusion that women themselves should talk about their periods. She had a desire to publish a booklet about this. From 1974 to 1981, Elly travelled all over the country from Amsterdam to disseminate and collect information about menstruation.
 

Elly organised meetings in women's cafés from Zierikzee to Groningen, distributed surveys for new data and placed appeals in newspapers and magazines, calling on women to share their personal experiences through letters. Her research even received attention in some newspaper interviews. As a result, she received responses from all over the country; hundreds of letters poured in. Elly collected a wealth of hidden stories about menstruation, something pioneering at the time.

1976: Menstrueren in het Vrouwenhuis Amsterdam
Elly was onvermoeibaar in haar streven naar betere informatievoorziening over de vrouwelijke cyclus. In 1976 leverde ze een bijdrage aan het themanummer over menstruatie van de Vrouwenkrant, een initiatief van het Vrouwenhuis in Amsterdam (een feministisch bolwerk sinds 1973). Dit nummer behandelde taboedoorbrekende onderwerpen zoals 'menstruatie-extractie', 'tampon of geen tampon', 'ik voelde me vies', 'de eerste keer' en ‘je moet je niet aanstellen’. 

Een maand lang werden er diverse evenementen georganiseerd rondom het thema menstruatie. Bezoekers konden een kopje menstruatiethee kopen of deelnemen aan een workshop menstruatiedansen. Hoewel dit destijds misschien geestig klonk, zijn dergelijke ideeën nu gemeengoed: menstruatiethee ligt in de schappen en sporten volgens je cyclus is de nieuwste trend.

1981: The menstrual booklet - ‘Menstruating, knowing how ut feels!’
In 1981, the long-awaited booklet on menstruation was finally published. Elly's goal of finding out and sharing how women really think and feel about their periods was fulfilled.After years of research and a plethora of letters sent in, this compact but powerful work finally saw the light of day in the magazine Katernen 2000.
 

According to Elly, the first step in breaking the menstrual taboo is by talking about it and sharing experiences. Therefore, the booklet focuses on some excerpts from the letters: personal experiences about religious customs to the fear of pregnancy. For some, the first menstruation was a shocking surprise; others were prepared by their mothers with a girdle and washable pads. For Elly, these shared stories were a response to the glaring lack of information and openness about menstruation.
 

A second step was to understand the connection between these experiences and society, and what this means for women's self-image and position. Elly points to the ‘menstrual paradox’: menstruation should remain invisible, while being a symbol of womanhood - the biggest menstrual taboo in Western societies. According to Elly, this paradox causes a ‘crippling duplicity’ and contributes to ‘social inequality.’

Making a fervent plea for openness, Elly argues that women must learn to deal with their periods themselves, in their own way: ‘take it easy on those days or just get on with your work, take the pill or have your period sucked’ (yes, that was apparently a thing back then?!). This booklet is an ode to the strength and perseverance of menstruators, a call to break the age-old taboo and a celebration of the right to talk without shame about what makes us human.

1982: A revolutionary menstrual exhibition in Amsterdam
Elly's ambitions extended beyond the written word. In 1982, Elly organised, in collaboration, the exhibition ‘Appears monthly: about menstruation’ at the feminist art gallery Amazone on Keizersgracht. She believed an exhibition could make the everydayness of menstruation even more visible. As the press release stated:

De Groene Amsterdammer wrote that the exhibition made visible how invisible women menstruate: ‘odourless, painless and unnoticeable to others’. Western menstrual culture, science, medical practice, commerce and women themselves were the themes at the heart of the exhibition. Through texts, visual art, videos, menstrual products and advertising materials, the subject was contextualised.

Menstruation-related art by female artists from Amsterdam, such as tampon art and bleeding giant vaginas, filled the exhibition space. Special attention was paid to the then-new developments around premenstrual tension (PMS). Women's personal stories, written in letters to Elly, were also given a stage.

Although the exhibition was a great success and received many requests for takeovers, it remained with this groundbreaking exhibition. Currently, a major exhibition on menstrual culture is on display at a museum in Berlin, claimed to be the first ever. However, after my research, it turns out that this is not true; your exhibition is the true forerunner.

1986: A comic book for girls - ‘The M of Bertien’
Elly's latest publication is a comic book for girls, ‘The M of Bertien’, which highlights menstruation and sexuality in a refreshing way. This educational booklet combines informative and narrative elements in comic book form, drawn by artist Els Korver.
 

In the story, some second-year secondary school students decide to set up a project on menstruation, driven by the realisation that little information is available. Their path is not without obstacles, but with determination they manage to organise an exhibition at school.
 

The story is clearly inspired by Elly's personal experiences and career. Her journey began with a study project on menstruation, which eventually led to a major exhibition. In doing so, this work closes a meaningful circle. Unfortunately, the trail to Elly ended here. Why? I hope you can tell me one day.

The menstrual taboo - then and now
Elly was a pioneer in arguing menstruation as a ‘social problem.’ With her progressive vision, she gave women a voice by encouraging them to share their stories. Thus, the first steps in de-stigmatisation took off. Elly's message to women in particular was to stop hiding menstruation and persevere stubbornly like men do, but instead to use this period to slow down and accept that you cannot always do everything.
 

This message came into focus for me only when I read Maisie Hill's popular book Period Power (2018). Hill's message about the four-seasons and ‘life-following-your-cycle’ resonates strongly with Elly's original ideas. It is particularly thanks to Hill that taking rest during menstruation is now more widely accepted.
 

Today, we see an explosion of initiatives in which menstruation is made visible and discussable. A progress that Elly would be proud of. More and more menstruators are getting and demanding a stage. There are many organisations, companies, workshops, podcasts, events, hormone coaches, media platforms and period-influencers who thus unwittingly continue Elly's work. This development is visible not only in Amsterdam, but worldwide.
 

An important aspect is the growing education and shame-free information about menstruation. The Dutch online Period! Magazine has been doing this for ten years with accessible and original articles. Platforms such as the Menstruation Girls podcast and VPRO's Menstrual Association programme have explored new ways to make this hidden topic discussable. Menstrucation has offered effective education in schools to the newest generation since 2021, while the Arnhem Open Air Museum collected objects and stories about menstruation for future generations in 2023.
 

Whereas in the 1980s, Elly organised discussion evenings in women's cafés, this concept is now back. Amsterdam-based Studio Affect Lab, for instance, organised several gossip sessions (2023-2024) with their Bloody Beautiful project and collected personal stories via a phone line. Women are increasingly coming together to share their experiences, although this often still remains within female-dominated domains, such as women's circles and online communities on Telegram.

A shift towards more inclusive language in the approach to menstruation is also developing. Amsterdam-based organisations and companies like Women Inc. and Yoni are advocating for terms like ‘just menstruated’ and ‘menstrual products’ to banish negative connotations. And not only women menstruate, but everyone with a uterus!
 

Discussions around menstruation continue to expand into medical and social domains. PMS is now well known, but thanks to more scientific research and media coverage, conditions such as endometriosis and menopause symptoms are increasingly getting the attention they deserve. For instance, the Amsterdam UMC hospital has invested in an app for menstrual complaints, research on menopause and there is now an endometriosis clinic - so complaints are taken more seriously.
 

A new theme is menstrual poverty: the lack of access to menstrual products. Thanks to research, campaigns and policy advocacy by (Amsterdam-based) organisations such as Neighborhood Feminists, Poverty Fund and Periodic.nl, this is now higher on the political agenda. For example, have you ever spotted a menstruation station in Amsterdam on the street or toilet? Scotland became the first country to make menstrual products available for free in 2020. Amsterdam launched a pilot last year; would the products soon be accessible everywhere here too?
 

I wonder what Elly would think of the current developments. The menstrual revolution of the past decade shows that Elly's message from the 1970s and 1980s is finally becoming mainstream. This growing movement also shows how far ahead of her time Elly was.
 

A letter back
It is extra special for me to write a letter to you through this project, even though at the time you called on women from all over the Netherlands to share their stories through letters. I hope this letter will also reach many people and inform them about the special work you have done.
 

In 2024, exactly 50 years after the beginning of your struggle as a progressive woman from Amsterdam to make menstruation discussable, I am writing this ode. Openly discussing our menstruation seems to be the first step towards breaking the taboo. Where I used to hide it, I now talk about it more and more openly. Thanks to the large-scale efforts of people like you to break the taboo, I have been able to undergo this change. In turn, like you, I hope to inspire others to do the same.
 

It has been fascinating to research and discover how you have worked to normalise menstruation. With your pioneering work, you have taken an important first step towards the recognition of menstruation as an important and discussable aspect of female life. Although we still have a long way to go, I and many others are continuing the fight. Thank you very much for the road you have opened for us.
 

Kind regards,
 

Debra Knoop