Why the Myth of Period Syncing Won’t Go Away
For decades, researchers have been poking holes in the study that introduced the concept of “menstrual synchrony.” Many people believe in it anyway.
There are pretty much only two reasons periods ever get discussed on prime-time television: first, to draw attention to their lateness, thus introducing a pregnancy story line. And second, to note that two characters’ menstrual cycles have synced, indicating that they’ve been bonding or spending a lot of time together. In an episode of Jane the Virgin that aired earlier this year, for example, Jane and her fiancé, Rafael, briefly compete over which of them has a closer relationship with another character, and Jane boasts to Rafael that “Petra and I are on the same cycle.” Sex and the City and GLOW have employed synced-up periods for a similar purpose, while other shows—Modern Family, The Office, —have invoked the idea as a punch line.
