A fragile and delicate matter

[belinda]

Well, actually I'm not shocked but the tone of this discussion seriously made me wonder if the fair sex tries to gross out us poor males.

Yes We do it for revenge,well I do

[Natalie Severn]

You know there seems a lot of talk about this subject of him being offended by menstruating women .Its likely his impotence or poor development could have been more the problem. For him to only need a faint whiff of menstrual blood to set his homicidal mania raging seems very far fetched to my way of thinking.
On the other hand he may have been troubled with terrible wind for all we know or been very "under-developed" in a certain area .Either could have resulted in peels of laughter and ridicule when he went with the sex workers in Whitechapel and this might have triggered his rage.
The smell of things certainly didnt seem to bother him when he was running round Whitechapel clutching his stolen apron piece for nearly an hour, and that was all smeared with blood and faeces.

[Victor]

It is possible that as three of them were in they late 40s, that their menstrual cycle was irregular and infrequent. due to pre Menopause. Also their state of health and insufficient food would have affected the regularity of their cycles.

Not only that, they consumed a lot of alcohol too which may also disrupt their menstrual cycles.

[Cap'n Jack]

JS
'Letters From Hell' by Evans & Skinner, page 229, sent 10th October 1888.

[Natalie Severn]

Well someone in Lambeth certainly was aware of the situation in October of 1888:

'Jack the Ripper
Sir
you had better be carefull How you send those Bloodhounds about the streets because of the single females wearing stained napkins - women smell very strong when they are unwell'

....and a dirty pig smells its own smell first! [actually I think real pigs are sweet animals but you know what I mean when I say that about stinker Jack!]

[JSchmidt]

So, like the bloodhound told him about it?

Yes, they had a little nice chat in dingy bar at the docks and he gave the bloodhound a little treat he saved from a victim. Explains all the murders, he just wanted to feed his little doggies.


Well, actually that statement above (where exactly is that from?) only tells us that someone knows that hounds react strongly to menstruating women.
It does neither tell us whether he took a sniff himself or if he just derived that from the reaction of his hounds. And I suspect the latter.

[Cap'n Jack]

So, like the bloodhound told him about it?

[JSchmidt]

Well someone in Lambeth certainly was aware of the situation in October of 1888:

'Jack the Ripper
Sir
you had better be carefull How you send those Bloodhounds about the streets because of the single females wearing stained napkins - women smell very strong when they are unwell'

Well, actually that refers to the ability of hounds (and cats and possible all other animals that have an acute sense of smell) to detect this hormone change. I actually referred to that in my first post in this thread.
But unless Jack had some trained animal to smell them out for him, I am still not very convinced that a stranger could detect it.

[Cap'n Jack]

Well someone in Lambeth certainly was aware of the situation in October of 1888:

'Jack the Ripper
Sir
you had better be carefull How you send those Bloodhounds about the streets because of the single females wearing stained napkins - women smell very strong when they are unwell'

[JSchmidt]

Well, actually I'm not shocked but the tone of this discussion seriously made me wonder if the fair sex tries to gross out us poor males.

Well, seriously, the body odour change was known to me. But I still wonder if it is plausible that "our" jack would have noticed it. Like most other changes during menstruation it takes some acquaintance with the female to notice these small things.
Also Miss Marples arguments make me seriously doubt the plausibility of Jack reacting to his victims period.
But it seriously would be a good plot device for a supernaturally tinted JtR novel.

[belinda]

Perhaps I need a stint on Ladette To Lady

http://www.itv.com/Lifestyle/LadetteToLady/default.html

[Natalie Severn]

Belinda,anyone clicking onto this thread thinking it was going to deal with a matter of great delicacy would be in for a terrible shock!

[miss marple]

elephant in the room

It is possible that as three of them were in they late 40s, that their menstrual cycle was irregular and infrequent. due to pre Menopause. Also their state of health and insufficient food would have affected the regularity of their cycles.

When I was in a shared female house when a student, in the seventies.Our periods did 'sync' unless one was on the pill.
My mother [born1924] and grandmother [ born 1897] referred to periods as being unwell.
Miss Marple

[belinda]

Talk about spilling the (baked) beans

[Mike Covell]

Tom, if she reads that I will disappear for a lot longer!!