*nod* While I am not generally someone who shares my bodily functions with the world at large, some of the drift on MR inspires me with the urge to announce over post-egalitarian-thank-you-minyan bagels as loudly as possible: "So, the other day, when I was having my period...."

(Actually, it occurs to me that I'm more likely to self-censor telling a casual acquaintance that (say) I've been cranky because I have menstrual cramps -- as I'd say if I had a headache -- because I don't want to be seen as justifying or even offering grounds for justifying my behavior on a hormonal basis. Getting rid of a little of the mythology that menstruating women are OMGScary (and we have our share of that in rabbinic Judaism) would be worth a number of cheesy rituals.)