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Tales from the Female Crypt

By Bonnie McMillen

Girdles, think heavy duty Spanx
with a metal clip you hook your nylons to.
Think panty hose without the panty.
 
I know—awful, and this was for all
girls and women, whether skinny
or fat, you had to wear the girdle
because you must not jiggle
or have a panty line.
Only sluts had asses that jiggled.
 
Your period was celebrated
for five minutes
then hated, reviled, hidden,
surrounded with shame.
Called the curse, Aunt Flo, your visitor,
etc., etc., etc., etc.
 
If you snubbed a boy he’d
call out, “She’s on the rag.”
 
No pregnancy tests,
you waited and waited,
made an appointment with
an old white man OB-GYN,
then were told it was too soon to tell.
 
Thirty was old,
forty was ancient,
fifty was NOT mentioned.
 
Sex was dirty.
If talked about it was
misinformation in whispers.
 
The only way to enjoy sex,
we thought, was to get married
and fast. It was a race and
no one wanted left behind.
 
If we didn’t marry young
all the good guys would be taken.
This might help explain
how your mother or grandmother
ended up with that old grouch.

 

Bonnie McMillen is a native of Bradford and spent her younger years playing around the Harry Emery airport on Dorothy Lane. While working as Director of Student Health at Pitt-Bradford, she became interested in writing poetry and short stories. This interest has continued into a busy retirement. Abecedarian, Dear Harry Emery Airport, McKean County 1955, Tales from the Female Crypt

Filed Under: 2021 Issue, Poetry

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