There once was a French expression used to describe women: « Le sexe faible », meaning the weaker gender. The reason was that women, due to their periods, couldn’t control their bleeding (unlike men with injuries) and were therefore unpredictable.

From my perspective, they clearly didn’t consider the physical and emotional challenges women endure during menstruation. If they had known the torture we’re going through monthly, they would have called us « Le sexe fort »,   meaning the strong gender.