“Oh No, My Period! Let’s Nuke England!”

I’m not a huge fan of menstruation humor in sitcoms. Most period jokes are centered on the “bitches be crazy, amiritie?” punchline. This was lampooned in 30 Rock in the classic episode, “TGS Hates Women,” where Jenna played a series of historical and important women who made irrational choices when they suddenly got their periods (clip here). Period humor usually shows how long-suffering men have to put up with the crazy women in their lives going even crazier when their hormones go haywire.

In fact, menstruation plots on sitcoms usually follow a very particular pattern: female character acts weepier/more irritable than usual, and the male character is more sensitive than usual because he’s afraid female character will eviscerate him if he says or does the wrong thing. The male character either says/does the wrong thing and the female character snaps at him, OR the female character realizes that the male character is being extra sensitive due to her period and then gets a) furious with him for treating her delicately, or b) overwhelmed with emotion because the male character was being sensitive for a change.

That’s why I was reluctant to watch this week’s episode of New Girl. I love FOX’s entire Tuesday night lineup, but rarely watch the episodes on the night they air, and I tend to catch up on Raising Hope, Ben and Kate, New Girl, and The Mindy Project by the time I go to bed on Thursday. I saw that the New Girl episode was called “Menzies” and felt a sense of dread – would this be another “bitches be crazy” period episode?

As it turned out, yes. And no.

Jess was definitely more irritable than usual while on her period, and she openly sobbed during a job interview when she saw a picture of a puppy sitting in a teacup, but Nick soon realized that Jess’s period was the smokescreen to hide what was really going on with her: she was still depressed over losing her job, and the depression was exacerbated because she’s been unemployed for several months now. Her period didn’t invent irritable or weepy emotions out of nowhere; they simply brought those repressed emotions to the surface.

This is the aspect of the menstruation cycle that a lot of men and male writers simply don’t get. Women don’t become completely different people when they’re on their periods, or become irritable or weepy over issues that normally wouldn’t bother us. Our emotions are often heightened, but not invented. A good friend of mine once broke down in tears after a stressful work event that didn’t go the way she wanted it to, and she blamed her period for making her cry, but she would have felt upset otherwise. The stressful work event had been on her mind for a very long time, and while she was feeling crampy and bloated, she lost her ability to swallow her emotions and hide behind a few sarcastic comments.

Such was the same for Jess: she broke down and snapped at her roommates, but probably wouldn’t have done so if she weren’t feeling depressed and lost at a critical juncture in her life.

“Menzies” was also successful because Nick wasn’t portrayed as the long-suffering, put-upon man who has to deal with his woman’s problem. He wasn’t able to help Jess until he went through his own period (pun intended) of personal journey. He teased Jess for being irrational and angry during her period, and she quickly pointed out that he’s irrational and angry all the time, and we got treated to a series of flashbacks that proved her point. Nick got through to Jess not because he was the rational man and she was the crazy-bitch-be-crazy, but because he found a way to relate to her as a friend.

Even Winston’s story had a surprise twist. He claimed he was also on his period and having “sympathy cramps” because of Jess’s cycle, but soon confessed that he didn’t want to address his post-breakup depression. (Schmidt was the only roommate who didn’t have any anger/weepy moments in the episode, and I enjoy watching Schmidt as the most emotionally stable roommate of the group, since it’s a role he rarely gets to play.) His “alpha female” theory was amusing enough, and even funnier when he admitted that he was faking everything.

For me, the latest episode of New Girl was an example of menstruation humor done well. It focused on Jess’s feelings and didn’t dismiss her as a completely irrational being just because she had a few irrational moments. Period-related humor can be very funny IF writers focus on the female character’s emotions – NOT how the female character’s emotions affect the male characters around her, but how they affect her. Because I’ll be blunt – I’m not interested in examining how men are affected by women’s times of the month. They have to deal with a few weepy moments or blunt comments? We have to deal with our uteri being twisted into knots and stomped on. Focus on the woman’s experiences, and menstruation humor can be very funny indeed.