Why are our Periods Blamed for Everything? Plumbing Problems are Latest Menses Fallout.

Photo: Getty Images/PhotonicaYou can now officially add "plumbing problems" to the list of things that a woman's period is blamed for.

That's according to at least one dodgy San Francisco landlord, who has been harassing a female tenant for allegedly causing his plumbing system to go all out of whack, and demanding that she hang a "Do Not Flush Tampons" sign in her personal bathroom.

"The building has some plumbing issues for which I have been repeatedly blamed (they have been going on since I moved in)," the tenant wrote to the San Francisco Appeal's Tenant Troubles column Wednesday, prompting Jezebel to pick up the tale.

"My landlord has started calling me once or twice a week to tell me how I have caused the problem and how stressed I am making him," she wrote. "I've been told I am using too much toilet paper, that grease has been leaking out of the pipes when the plumbing backs up, and other disgusting things that I'd rather not include."

That's when she was instructed to hang said sign over her toilet. "Can they request or force me to hang signs like that?" she wanted to know.

Columnist Dave Crow gives great advice, telling her, "Your landlord is just a penurious troll who doesn't want to pay to fix the pipes. Evidently he also has too much time (or something else) on his hands as well." He then advises her to force him to fix his plumbing.

If only we had places to write for support when our little friend gets called out for causing trouble, because, as we all know, there's a long and storied history of blaming menstruation for just about everything. Here's just a sampling:

Mood swings: "What's your problem? Oh, wait, do you have your period?" STFU!!

Shopping sprees: Believe it or not, a recent study found that women are more likely to impulse shop when we are premenstrual—you know, to make ourselves feel better.

Blighted crops: Ancient superstitions have believed menstruating girls should stay in seclusion, lest they destroy crops, kill fish in the rivers, and even cause young men's hair to to prematurely gray. Good one.

Ending breastfeeding: It's just a myth that the return of your period after giving birth makes your milk "go bad."

Filthiness: In some religious cultures today, including in Hinduism, menstruating women are considered unclean, and must abstain from entering temples, using their usual cups and plates, and even physical intimacy.

Violent behavior: Several court trials over the years have tried to pin women's irrational behavior on Aunt Flo; East London barmaid Sandie Smith got off on a murder charge in the 1980s after her lawyer argued that hormones "turned her into a raging animal" each month. Hmm, this one we could maybe work with…