Logansport's Berkley Conner challenges taboos at U. of Iowa

Dec. 10—Logansport native Berkley Conner, a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Iowa, wants to talk about menstruation

She recently finished second in a university speech competition where contestants presented their dissertation in just three minutes.

"Female doctors who taught women's university (physical education) classes in the early 1900s saw their white students as the future mothers of the race," she told her audience during the speech. "So they taught them specialized exercise routines meant to ease menstrual pain and lighten menstrual flow, strengthening the body to bear, quote, 'robust white babies.' And while white women were doing military-esque training, the menstrual health of Black women wasn't even considered as they were seen as unfit for motherhood."

The journey to break through the taboos of menstruation began as a speech during her senior year at Ball State in 2014. Conner was a communication studies major and participating in a speech competition called "After Dinner Speaking."

"(After Dinner Speaking is) essentially persuasive speaking but you can tell jokes," she said. "I like to compare it to 'Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.'"

Conner's speech was inspired by the tampon tax, which had become a hot topic that year as some states stopped taxing tampons as a luxury item. It's still a battle being fought in many states, including Indiana. Indiana House Republicans voted against a bill that would have eliminated sales tax on tampons and diapers in January 2022.

"I was fascinated about that and decided to write a speech about access to menstrual products," she said. "While I was researching for that speech I thought 'there are so many things you could write about with respect to menstruation.' I hadn't read a lot about it in academic scholarship. In the realm of reproductive health and justice most people are writing about abortion, but there is not a lot about menopause or menstruation."

Conner would go on to win two national tournaments with the speech. She also helped the Ball State Forensic Speech team finish sixth in the nation.

Speech wasn't always part of her life. Conner was a theater kid, and she joined the Logansport High School speech team because her other actor friends were members. But it wasn't until she reached Ball State when speech really took off for her.

"I loved the speech team at Ball State," she said. "The most transformative experience for me as an adult was joining the speech team. It made me smarter. It made me a better writer. It made me a better thinker. And I made all of my best friends."

A huge taboo

Conner now studies the history of menstruation and how people speak about periods, especially medical authorities, in the communication studies program at Iowa.

"Culturally, there is a huge taboo around menstruation," said Conner. "We don't like to talk about it. It makes people uncomfortable. People are squeamish about it for one reason or another. And that's part of why I'm interested in studying it."

Conner felt there was a lack of academic discourse about periods, so when she decided to remain at Ball State for her master's degree she made a plan to read as much of the existing research as possible.

At about the same time, former Indiana governor Mike Pence signed House Bill 1337, a restrictive bill focused on prohibiting abortions of fetuses with abnormalities. In protest, women began calling the governor's office to provide updates on their menstrual cycles. The movement was known as "Periods for Pence."

Conner wrote about the protest for her master's thesis. As her research evolved over the years, new instances arose.

In 2019, publications ranging from "The Guardian" to "People" magazine reported that Trump administration official Scott Lloyd kept records of the menstrual cycles of migrant girls who had been separated from their families at the border. There was also a lawsuit filed against the administration for allegedly not supplying the girls with menstrual products.

"Why is menstruation of so much interest to these people?" Conner asked. "And all of it has to do with policing things like who can give birth, policing things like abortion."

Conner sees similarities between modern interests in abortion bans and concerns about young people not having children with situations in the past.

She said in the early 20th century many worried because women were starting to wait to have children because of growing opportunities for white women outside of the home.

"This is part of how my research intersects with the moment," Conner said. "A lot of this menstrual surveillance is performed in the interest of keeping the country white."

Always education

When choosing a graduate school, Conner was advised to pick a place where she would feel comfortable spending the bulk of the next decade, where she felt she could fit in and make friends.

"When I visited Iowa, there was a lot of warmth," she said of the other students. "I think we all connected quickly and easily. I couldn't do this without them. They have been fundamental to my progress in the program."

Still, she called working on her doctorate the hardest and most stressful thing she has ever done.

Conner said she would not be in a doctorate program had it not been her experience competing in speech, both in high school and college. She credited Logansport English teacher and speech coach Jessica Kranz for her influence.

She also said teacher Tammy Minks, whom she took a creative writing class with, was instrumental in preparing her for the dissertation workload. She learned from the class how to bring life to what otherwise would be dull academic writing.

"I loved school," Conner said of her days at Logansport High School. "I was a really anxious student and studied really hard. I also really enjoyed it. Some of the classes I enjoyed the most were the most difficult like A.P. European history."

Conner hopes to defend her dissertation in the spring and graduate in May. She knows her love of school and education will keep her in a classroom.

"I always felt like school was where I would end up and then I chose school as a career," she said. "People always ask what I want to do with my Ph.D., and I just want to be a professor."

She encouraged current students to ask questions when they see something that needs to change.

"I take comfort in knowing that my concerns are valid and that I'm never alone," she said. "You can connect with people who share your values by asking questions. For instance, in the case of access to menstrual products, are they free in Cass County schools? If not, why not? What steps can we take to make this change? Chances are, others have these same questions. Finding those people can empower you to speak up and advocate for what you believe in."

And when it comes to menstruation, she said the challenges surrounding the issue aren't just for women and girls to solve.

"Issues around public health and access to health care are community endeavors and solving them requires community effort," she said. "Vocalize your needs, ask members of your community what they need and support those who are struggling. It's not hard to care about other people."