Google searches for 'luteal phase' have surged 300% in the past five years, driven by TikTok videos where women share memes and humorous skits about mood changes during this period. The term describes the 14-ish days between ovulation and menstruation, when progesterone rises and estrogen lowers, causing symptoms like irritability, bloating, and food cravings.
Dr Karen Tang, a Pennsylvania gynaecologist, says the trend reflects a desire for control: 'It's about wanting to take control and learn more about their bodies. People are saying: I had no idea that other people had these similar patterns.'
Empowerment and Misinformation
Emily Rae Detrick, a health coach, told the podcast Culture Apothecary with Alex Clark that tracking the luteal phase is 'a way that you honor God and the way we were created.' She claims that during the luteal phase, 'the reason why your stress threshold is so much lower is because this is the time your body would be incubating a potential baby.' This interpretation resonates with 'Make America Healthy Again' (Maha) adherents, who promote pronatalism and traditional gender roles.
Mariah Wellman, an assistant professor at Michigan State who studies influencers and wellness culture, notes that women lack information from healthcare providers: 'By no fault of their own, women are lacking information and not getting it from their healthcare providers.'
Medical Reality and Oversimplification
Tang warns against generalizations: 'There's a lot of verbiage and absolutes, as if it were astrology.' She notes that awareness has helped some women identify premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), which affects about 6% of people who menstruate. 'It's wonderful to see those patients go from being absolutely miserable almost a quarter of their life... When they're able to get treatment, they're themselves again.'
Haley Martinez, 29, an energy-healing coach in Clinton, New Jersey, says learning about the luteal phase brought relief but also anger: 'There was a relief having an explanation, but there's also an anger at not being taught this at all.'
Commercial and Political Co-Option
The wellness industry markets products like 'PMS bars' and aromatherapy oils to address luteal phase symptoms. 'The wellness industry has a big incentive to commercialize the luteal phase as something you can purchase your way out of,' Wellman said. Meanwhile, Maha influencers like Clark urge women to quit birth control to experience 'natural' cycles, linking ovulation to health and fertility. Clark captioned an Instagram photo of her fiance, Maha blogger Vance Voetberg: 'Me and the man who loves me through my luteal phase.'
Tang warns that these messages can become prescriptive: 'None of this is so absolutely universal that you have to live your life based on these principles.'
Humor and Harm
TikTok videos often depict women as irrational during their luteal phase, with husbands playing the role of longsuffering partners. In one skit, a husband reads off things his wife said: 'Shut up,' 'Can you not breathe on me,' 'Don't even, that's just gonna piss me off.' Wellman says: 'Women are the butt of the joke. It's another way women can be torn down by men for something that is natural and that they have no control over.'
Martinez finds humor in the unpredictability: 'I'll joke with my boyfriend if I'm feeling especially sensitive... But I always want to say: be careful not to dismiss yourself, because our feelings are always valid to some degree.'
