– I have been looking for a song that I can listen to when I have PMS, says Margrete Skretting Bergset. PMS stands for premenstrual syndrome, and when she couldn’t find it, she just as easily made the song herself. The feedback she has received suggests that she has hit a nerve. Margrete Skretting Bergset wanted to highlight the emotional and psychological problems that can be caused by PMS. – I want to clarify that it is so much more than a misogynistic joke where people say “Do you have your period or not?” Photo: Ingrid Nedrebø / news The eternal circle Margrete released the song “Luteal” just under two weeks ago. – Women say that they feel very bad about forgetting that PMS is a thing when you are in the middle of it. Margrete made the PMS song she misses in her own life. Photo: Axel Berggraf Egenæs Because that is precisely what Margrete sings about: The feeling you get once a month. It feels like the whole world is against you and your mood swings uncontrollably without you understanding why? But then, a week later, you get the point. You were just premenstrual! Everything makes sense. Then a month goes by and everything happens again. But then you’ve forgotten. And so it goes in an eternal circle, at least if you have a uterus. Do you know yourself? If so, Margrete’s song probably hits a nerve with you too. – Why not music about PMS too? Influencer Martine Halvorsen has just heard Margrete’s song on the radio when she is asked what she thinks about Norway’s perhaps first pop song about PMS. – We have music about everything else possible such as drugs, rape and violence, so why not have music about PMS as well? I think it’s about time! Influencer Martine Halvorsen talks loudly about women’s health on social media. There she broke, among other things, taboos related to PMS. – It is not just a myth that you get a short fuse before your period. Photo: Privat Halvorsen shares personally about life with endometriosis on social media. When she was diagnosed in 2017, she had never heard of endometriosis before. Therefore, the influencer believes that it is a good thing to focus on women’s health through popular culture. – In 2017, I searched online for information about endometriosis. I found one Norwegian article about it. Now we sit here and talk about it and Margrete sings about PMS. A lot has happened since then and it shows that it works, says Halvorsen. – Visible women’s health in music, series and films helps The endometriosis association has also brought in “Luteal”, which celebrates the way Margrete has portrayed women’s health. – We think it is absolutely fantastic that Margrete releases such a song, says Ane Løvereide, communications manager at the endometriosis association. Ane Løvereide, communications manager at the Endometriosis Association, believes that the presentation of women’s health can often be too unwholesome and everyday, but believes that Margrete has achieved this in her music. Photo: Robert Belgau Ellefsrød They think it is effective to show different forms of women’s health in popular culture, Løvereide says. – We always get feedback when, for example, endometriosis is the subject of a film or series. She highlights the series “Conversations with Friends” as an example. There, the main character Frances has endometriosis. – Some say that the roommate or boyfriend gained more sympathy and understanding of the disease after watching the series. Others say it has been a conversation starter. – That is why we generally want more of that in the future as well, says Løvereide. Frances is in great pain and bleeding in the series “Conversations with Friends”. Later it turns out that she has endometriosis. Photo: Enda Bowe/ Element Pictures
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Influencer Martine Halvorsen pays tribute to Margrete’s song about PMS – news Culture and entertainment
