When Women Were Dragons

Alex describes her experience with sex education and feminine health in fifth grade at Catholic school—an ambiguous, highly scientific affair with very little clarity and no room for questions. Alex also asks a question about dragoning, which Sister Stephen shuts down immediately. Dr. Angus Ferguson, the feminine health “expert” who is also a man, only describes dragoning as a choice, and contrasts it with metamorphosis, which is characterized as being “an inexorable force,” a biological fact (75). Alex remembers that Mary Frances, a girl in her class, undergoes the same biological changes referenced in Dr. Ferguson’s poorly led feminine health instruction—and observes that choice does not seem to be a part of the change.

Alex starts to menstruate toward the end of sixth grade and details both the event and the camaraderie that surrounds her and the girls in her grade while this “metamorphosis” occurs. Alex’s friend helps her in the bathroom and mentions that she should talk to an older woman in her life—but Alex doesn’t have anyone to whom she can turn. Alex doesn’t tell her mother about her menstruation and privately compares her own “transformation” to her Aunt Marla’s dragoning. Despite this lack of overt communication, Bertha leaves feminine hygiene products on Alex’s bed with instructions on how to use them—but she never speaks directly to her daughter about the broader sexual issues that come with Alex’s physical changes.