Camp
The ages varied slightly but it was always young girls. They were grouped according to their start date, in the name of efficiency. Ignoring their personalities and humanity was in line with the ethos of the program. The anxiety and intensity of the experience forced a premature sisterhood amongst them, they would need to rely on each other from now on. Ready or not they had to board the train, what other choice did they have?
When caught off guard it wasn’t uncommon for a camper to show resistance, fear sending their biological instincts into overdrive. But the stoic chaperones who could easily be spotted in their maroon jackets and gold whistles around their necks were trained for this. Where exactly? No one really knew. Almost always synchronized and emotionless, they could wear down any disobedient girl till compliant with the rest of the herd. It wasn’t explicitly violent, but the atmosphere certainly didn’t feel peaceful. There had been hesitant whispers of concerns from the girls’ guardians.
The parents had received the brochure when their daughters turned ten, alongside a plain maroon birthday card to keep it ‘pleasant’. Even though it had been announced a few years back, the ‘invitation’ always seemed to come as a surprise. The government stayed true to their motto of leaving no girl behind and although ten years old was young, the policy ensured that they wouldn’t miss girls who fell outside the average age range. If the leaflet was sent too early, it simply served as a reminder of what was to come, normalising this new system could only do good.
The camp’s selling feature was a discrete environment for women of newly childbearing age to learn how to navigate and hide their flow with a rigid emphasis on their womanly obligations, all while fostering old fashion values. Whilst it wasn’t compulsory per se, a girl would automatically be enrolled after she shed her first drop of menstrual blood. No parent had yet gone through the effort or dared to unregister their daughter from the ‘program’. Or it wasn’t openly known if anyone had tried, with this government in power disobedience came at a cost not many could afford.
On paper, the camp seemed successful. In fact, most of them returned safely and as a better version of their previous younger selves. It was generally agreed that they were far better behaved and more manageable after their camp experience. The girls did not comment on their experience, and no one asked them. Why would they, did their opinions even matter when they had the expert views of males?
A PHD research paper entitled Force, Females and Flow By Francis Frankel further confirmed the success of the camp but with one caveat, mentioned in a footnote:
There was one exception to this finding: endometriosis. The complications and fraught evidence base of the disease meant that further research was not possible. Furthermore, access to subjects was denied by the authorising council. However, they were of no statistical significance.
1 in 10 didn’t return from the Camp. What had happened to those girls?
Marie-Eve Bernier is Québecoise and works as a nursery teacher. She has previously published in Montréal Writes, Quail Bell, LitBreak Magazine, Academy of the Heart and Mind, Afterpast Review, The Amazine, Hungry Zine, Juste Milieu Zine, Scraps Magazine and Elixir Magazine (forthcoming). Marie-Eve recommends the European Cleft Organisation.
