A fragile and delicate matter

[Cap'n Jack]

Yes, Debs, so she was eight months pregnant and they were wondering whether the bloodstains could have been caused by her period?
You and me know that is impossible, but they did not.
The fact that the female searcher was looking for a diaper on a very pregnant woman does I think illustrate their severe lack of knowledge in this regard.
And if she had been wearing a diaper she would have escaped the charge of manslaughter. Is that not so?
As impossible as that sounds, we do deal with the absolute impossible here.
The cycle is not monthly at all, it rides its bike from between 21 and 35 days, normally, and spotting may occur at any time during that cycle.
I stand by my tampons.

[Debra A]

Sorry, but the case is nothing like the scenario you came up with in your first post AP.

The female searcher asked her if she was unwell because of the bloodstains on the hip of her underwear, she found no diaper and then noticed from her form that she was pregnant, not because she wasn't wearing a diaper!

[Cap'n Jack]

Debs, I know that.
I wanted to discuss the subject and not the incident.
So far, so good.
I make no apology for my intentional mistake.

[Ally]

Well we've learned to things from this. AP lies and AP deliberately misrepresents the truth to come to conclusions he has already drawn. And he sees nothing wrong with that.

Good to know.

Also, AP knows nothing about being pregnant. The surgeon was right. While it is unusal, women do continue to bleed through for a few months into their pregnancy and can have spotting in the last months as well. This can occasionally mean there is something wrong with the pregnancy, but it can also be a perfectly "normal" pregnancy otherwise. Good lord, and he calls the Victorians ignorant of female matters.

Also, he assumes the pregnant woman was stick thin with a great big ole noticeable pregnant belly when she could have had little to no obvious belly or she could have been shaped such that her overall size minimized the pregnancy and it was not obvious.

He makes too many assumptions.

[Barnaby]

I have two unrelated questions on this topic:

1. As an alternative to vaginal sex, it has been mentioned that prostitutes had anal sex and/or just used their legs. Was oral sex a less popular method then???

2. The original question (I think) remains: Could menstrual blood have been a trigger for Jack?

[Cap'n Jack]

I thank Barnaby for getting us back to the topic at hand.
Which was would menorrhoea have been a red rag to Jack's bull?
I think of that quirky little letter where the writer expresses concern that the bloodhounds will sniff out the 'unwell' women of Whitechapel.

'Well we've learned to things from this. AP lies and AP deliberately misrepresents the truth to come to conclusions he has already drawn. And he sees nothing wrong with that.'

Thanks Ally.
A selective use of information I learn't from the real writers round 'ere.
Them who make money.
My paws were so grubby that I couldn't read between them.

[Limehouse]

You're welcome and thanks.



Difficult or not, it was a common practice for prostitutes then. Their clients were drunk and doing it in the dark, so it may not have been as terribly hard as you think.

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

P.S. Victorian men were not idiots. They knew as much about a woman's cycle as we know today.

Tom,

You misunderstood me. What I meant was, gripping the penis between the thighs as an alternative to penetration [B]whilst the woman was experiencing her period[B] would not have avoided the male being soiled by menstrual blood.

Cap'n Jack

I think you are a little disrespectful towards Donald Rumbelow. His research showed that gripping the penis between the thighs was a popular method of copulation to avoid contracting sexual diseases. I could not vouch for its reliability.

However, back to your original point - was Jack provoked by menstruating women? Well, two points come to mind. One is that in certain Victorian circles, menstruating women were expected to remain indoors partly duie to their 'unwell' condition and partly because it was seen a rather undecent for them to circulate in polite society at that time of the month. Secondly, in the Jewish faith, menstruating women were seen as 'polluted" and were not allowed out in public. When their period ceased, they were expected to 'cleanse' themselves in a special bath before being allowed back into society. So, Jack could well have been looking for women violating these norms. Being a prostitute and being 'on the rag' might well have provoked him.

However, I still think it unlikely that these woman would have been willing to have any sort of sex with strangers during their period. Perhaps I am being naive?

Limehouse

[revpetero]

Limehouse,

Even experiencing their monthly visitor or not rent needs paying, gin needs buying. Though not ideal I am sure that they still went out and worked. It could be a specialist market. Some people are into strange things.

[Suzi]

"MONTHLY VISITOR"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! what is that all about???!!! Obviously a 'male' view on the matter (!) Be 'The Curse' next!!!...or worse!!

How delicate!...I think it's only women who actually don't make up these cutesy terms for mensturation!!! (Why does that word begin with MEN!)

He he!... sorry I sound a bit of a bra burner here...but I can assure you I'm not!

Suz x

[revpetero]

Sorry Suzi for terminology, I was toying with "When United are at home" but thought better.

When on their menstrual cycle.....

[Brenda]

This thread is cracking me up.

The first thing that came to my mind was when Liz Stride makes the statement "Not tonight, some other night"

[Suzi]

Hi revpetero

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm probably a good second thought!!

Obviously not a (menstrual) cycle made for two!

Suzi

[Suzi]

This thread is cracking me up.

The first thing that came to my mind was when Liz Stride makes the statement "Not tonight, some other night"

Good point Brenda-
..............AND poor Kates sad 12 pieces of rag-some bloodstained- always brings it all into focus doesn't it.

[Cap'n Jack]

Just to throw a cat amongst you pigeons, from 1885:

'ARTHUR PURKESS (Re-examined by the COURT ).I have seen several cases of suppressed menstruation—at such a time they generally act in a somewhat irrational manner—it may even amount to not knowing right from wrong—it disturbs the whole functions of the body—it causes headache and bleeding from the nose—that generally gives relief—I have not myself known persons in that state commit acts of violence—I have known of several such cases, and have had others brought under my notice—one case especially, which occurred at Rockstone in 1845, mentioned in Taylor's "Medical Jurisprudence," where a girl about sixteen, without any apparent cause, one night tore up her clothes, and next day took a carving-knife and cut the throat of her mistress's baby, and immediately afterwards went into the dining-room and told the parents what she had done—the girl was tried and was acquitted on the ground of insanity, from some functional derangement—the medical witnesses swore that under those circumstances she might not have known right from wrong—the functional derangement in that case was, I believe, suppressed menstruation.'

[JSchmidt]

To be the wolf among the flock *cough*:
How would Jack know these women were menstruating? It's not like he is some animal that might know it by smell.
The scenario to make that work would be that Jack is a regular customer that only kills when his lust coincides with the period of the prostitue he happens to come across that evening. Does that seem plausible with the streak?