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Not all that long ago, menstruation was absent from romance novels featuring woman main characters. And no, these women were not living in some advanced, utopian society free of periods and their associated ills (endometriosis, PCOS, PMS, PMDD). They had them; they just happened off-page.
And while there are plenty of things that are skipped over in romance novels for the sake of saving us from the mundane—you'll rarely see two characters feeling shy about morning breath before a pre-work quickie, and I don't think I've ever seen a scene where a guy stands in front of the mirror, carefully trimming his nose hair—the lack of periods hits different.
Because the implicit message is that they're shameful. That they have no place in a book about two (or more) people falling in love and, potentially, having sex. But in a genre where at least 50% of the books feature at least some on-page intimacy, and we all know that periods occur in the same place where a lot of intimacy is focused . . . shouldn't we see more of them?
That's what I love so much about today's microtrope. Not only is it putting periods on the page, but it's also normalizing the idea of talking about menstruation, and the idea of menstruating people vocalizing their needs and getting them met during what for many can be a difficult time of the month, quarter, or year.
But before I dive into how you can incorporate the trope into your own romance novel, let's go into exactly what the trope is.
What is the period care romance microtrope?
The period care romance microtrope is when one love interest, or multiple love interests, takes care of their partner while they're menstruating. You'll most often see this microtrope in romance novels between man and woman main characters, aka MMC and FMCs, but it also crops up in lesbian romances and romances featuring transmasculine characters.
The care in question can take many forms; it might be as simple as a love interest asking their premenstrual or menstruating partner what they need to feel more comfortable. It could also take the form of:
-washing any stained sheets or clothes
-going to buy whatever menstrual products their partner prefers
-disinfecting a mooncup
-massaging their partner's stomach
-filling up a water bottle
-getting painkillers
-cooking comfort foods for their partner
Basically, fulfilling whatever needs their menstruating partner has in the moment.
Now that you know what the microtrope is, you're probably wondering how to use it. There are multiple ways, but the first is to bring your romance novel's characters together.
How the period care romance microtrope can bring your characters together
As with the hair washing microtrope I covered last week, the period care microtrope is a great one to bring your characters closer. This can be physical closeness, through a massage or placing a hot water bottle on their stomach, or emotional closeness. The benefit of physical closeness is that it can remind characters who might be fighting their attraction to each other that yes, their love interest is still a total hottie. That close proximity, and the touching involved in a massage or a hot water bottle placement, can fan the flames, so to speak.
But it's the emotional closeness this microtrope encourages that can make the biggest difference to your romance novel. Because taking care of a menstruating partner requires clear communication, trust, and, on the part of the menstruating character, vulnerability. They have to acknowledge that they need, then ask for or accept, help, which requires opening up to the other main character/s and letting them see them without the armor, physical or metaphor, they might wear to face the world.
And without each of your romance novel's characters being vulnerable, they can't truly connect or fall for each other. That makes the period care microptrope a great one for showing a different, softer side to menstruating characters who fall into the ice queen, alpha female, alpha shifter, billionaire, boss, criminal, demon, devil, and morally grey character tropes; this is especially beneficial if you're writing a story whose tropes necessitate what I like to call the "transformation moment," when one character realizes they've misjudged the other, or their feelings about them. This moment is essential to stories using the enemies to lovers, friends to lovers, opposites attract, rivals, childhood enemies, and marriage of convenience tropes.
On the subject of tropes, showing golden retriever and cinnamon roll characters looking after their menstruating partners can also highlight the emotionally intuitive and inherently kind natures of those tropes.
What other tropes work well with the period care microtrope?
As well as the relationship and character tropes mentioned above, the period care microtrope also goes well with the forced proximity trope; stick your characters in a situation where they can't escape, have one of them menstruate, and even the shyest main character in the world will have to come clean about their care needs.
There are a few other microtropes that work well with the period care trope, too. Non-sexual cuddling, making sure the love interest is warm/cozy, hair washing, and non-sexual (and sexual) showers are just a few to choose from.
And, as with most other microtropes, the period care microtrope works with any romance sub-genre, though there's a definite trend of it in sci-fi romances, especially in scenes when human heroines have to explain to their extraterrestrial mates why they're bleeding. The mate reacts with shock and horror, not about the blood, but about the heroine and her gender in general having to go through something so awful. The extraterrestrial mate then usually asks what they can do to make her feel better. It's hilarious, and a reminder that, while natural, periods can be pretty traumatic, and in an ideal world, we'd all skip the bleeding, procreate by laying eggs, and be able to wear white underwear and trousers to our hearts' content.
As always, this post has been so fun to write. If there's a microtrope you'd love to see me deep dive into, let me know in the comments below, or shoot me an email at emily@theromancegenrespecialist.com. And until next post, happy reading and writing!