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Vagina Museum @vaginamuseum.bsky.social · 9h

We also hope we don't need to tell you this, but as well as being scientifically invalid, trying to monitor other people's menstrual cycles without their permission is creepy, invasive and pretty gross. So don't do that.

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Vagina Museum @vaginamuseum.bsky.social · 9h

The man claimed success in 11 out of 16 bets he placed using his approach. That's a little above chance but still well within the bounds of probable coincidence.

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Vagina Museum @vaginamuseum.bsky.social · 9h

So, now imagine you're some man thinking he's figured out the betting trick of the century. You probably haven't. There's a decent chance the athletes aren't having periods at all; if they are it might not be a regular cycle... and the menstrual cycle might not have an impact on performance at all.

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Vagina Museum @vaginamuseum.bsky.social · 9h

Even among the elite athletes who were having periods, there was a high rate (21%) of having an irregular cycle where it was more than 35 days between periods.

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Vagina Museum @vaginamuseum.bsky.social · 9h

8% of these athletes had secondary amenorrhoea - they were not currently having periods. 2% had primary amenorrhoea - they had never started having periods.

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Vagina Museum @vaginamuseum.bsky.social · 9h

The other thing is menstrual disorders. A 2025 study of German elite athletes led by Elisabeth Kirschbaum found that elite athletes were at high risk of menstrual disorders.

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Vagina Museum @vaginamuseum.bsky.social · 9h

There are several reasons why an athlete might not menstruate. The first is by choice. A lot of athletes use contraceptives such as the combined pill or the hormonal IUD. These methods suppress the cycle - meaning there is no cycle to have an impact.

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Vagina Museum @vaginamuseum.bsky.social · 9h

Of course, any impact of the menstrual cycle on athletic performance is dependent on the athletes having a menstrual cycle at all. And many athletes do not.

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Vagina Museum @vaginamuseum.bsky.social · 9h

So, broadly, the picture on the menstrual cycle and athletic performance is very spotty indeed, and it's pretty unclear as to if there is any effect on performance at all.

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Vagina Museum @vaginamuseum.bsky.social · 9h

Numerous literature reviews have also been conducted. These tend to find that there is no effect of menstrual cycle on performance, that it's heavily dependent on the type of sport being played, or that any effects relate to level at which the sport is played.

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Vagina Museum @vaginamuseum.bsky.social · 9h

When tested on cognition and performance at varying stages of the cycle, some studies reveal a slightly different state of affairs. A 2025 study led by Flaminia Ronca found reaction times were best around ovulation. A 2024 study led by the same author found performance was best during menstruation.

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Vagina Museum @vaginamuseum.bsky.social · 9h

Results of studies into the topic vary. When focusing on self-report, athletes and exercisers frequently report that their performance is negatively impacted by symptoms in the pre-menstrual ("late luteal") and menstrual ("early follicular") stages of their cycles.

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Vagina Museum @vaginamuseum.bsky.social · 9h

It's also a pretty difficult topic to measure as it involves collecting a lot of data on menstrual cycles, which not everyone is comfortable sharing.

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Vagina Museum @vaginamuseum.bsky.social · 9h

We will preface by saying that the scientific research into the topic is - like pretty much everything pertaining to gynaecological health - pretty sparse and fairly new.

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Vagina Museum @vaginamuseum.bsky.social · 9h

Recently, a sport story went viral: a man had discovered One Weird Trick in betting on women's basketball matches. He claimed to be inferring the athletes' menstrual cycles and believed they performed worse at certain points. So does the menstrual cycle affect sporting performance?

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Vagina Museum @vaginamuseum.bsky.social · 1d

This week at the Vagina Museum, the Reproductive Justice Initiative present a retrospective on decolonising contraception. An installation is on display, and you can join us for an evening conversation on Thursday www.outsavvy.com/event/29889/...

Reproductive Justice Initiative presents: A Retrospective on Decolonising Contraception Tickets - London - OutSavvy

This event is part of the Vagina Museum and Sarah Parker Remnond Centres (Re)producing Justice programme.✨✨✨Join us for the opening event of A Retrospective on Decolonising Contraception. A living arc...

www.outsavvy.com

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Vagina Museum @vaginamuseum.bsky.social · 6d

Now showing in Anarcha's Gallery: Before the Blood, a community-led exhibition exploring stories of menstruation in collaboration with Nisaba, the migrant menstrual justice charity www.vaginamuseum.co.uk/communitygal...

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Vagina Museum @vaginamuseum.bsky.social · 12d

If you'd like to take a bit of time appreciating Wegener's work which was *not* advertising douches, here's a ton of paintings and drawings she did of her wife masto.ai/@vagina_muse...

masto.ai

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Vagina Museum @vaginamuseum.bsky.social · 12d

A beautifully-illustrated circa 1920s ad drawn by the gifted and iconic Gerda Wegener. But before you get this framed or tattooed on yourself, we regret to inform you it's advertising a soap for vaginal douching.

Illustration of two cherubs with tumbled, curly hair. They are standing over a large bowl at waist height. The angel on the left scatters in flakes from an art deco tin labelled Gyraldose. The angel on the right tips water from a Grecian-style jug into the bowl.

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Vagina Museum @vaginamuseum.bsky.social · 13d

Now, we know whenever we post about animal facts, a lot of you wish that this worked for humans, too. So we'll leave you with this: humans tried a process where you gave birth while "asleep". It was actually pretty horrifying. masto.ai/@vagina_muse...

Vagina Museum (@[email protected])

OLD THREAD CROSSPOST Childbirth fads are frequently associated with influencers and seen as a distinctly 21st century thing. Let us tell you about an early 20th century birth fad: the twilight sleep,...

masto.ai

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Vagina Museum @vaginamuseum.bsky.social · 13d

The newly-formed bear family start emerging in spring, when the female bear wakes up, having slept through most of its pregnancy, birth, and a lot of lactation. The bear will have lost a lot of body weight in sustaining itself and its young. No wonder mama bears are so grumpy.

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Vagina Museum @vaginamuseum.bsky.social · 13d

For a female bear, implantation occurs once the bear is hibernating. Bear cubs are born about eight weeks after implantation. The female bear is still hibernating at this point. The litter of bear cubs suckle, and the female bear continues sleeping.

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Vagina Museum @vaginamuseum.bsky.social · 13d

This phenomenon is called delayed implantation, or embryonic diapause. Bears aren't the only mammals who can pause a pregnancy - it's been observed in around 130 species.

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Vagina Museum @vaginamuseum.bsky.social · 13d

This doesn't happen in bears. Once the fertilised egg becomes a blastocyst, all division stops. It doesn't implant. And this ball of cells just kind of floats around in the uterus until it's convenient for the bear to continue its pregnancy.

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Vagina Museum @vaginamuseum.bsky.social · 13d

After the fertilised egg has divided a few times, it makes its way into the uterus. In most mammals, this ball of cells keeps on dividing and implants. Eventually, a placenta forms and provides everything the embryo, and later foetus, needs.

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