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Did Lizzie Borden have imperforate hymen? Truth amid Veedee vibrator, Chattanooga shown in Netflix's Monster series
The latest season of Monster revisits the Lizzie Borden case, blending fact and fiction.
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The Lizzie Borden Story has brought one of America’s most notorious murder cases back into the spotlight, but some of the series’ most startling details, including an alleged imperforate hymen, a Veedee vibrator and a bizarre device called the Chattanooga, require a closer look at what is documented history and what is dramatic invention.
The fourth season of Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan’s Monster premiered on Netflix on September 17, 2026, with Ella Beatty playing Lizzie Borden and Vicky Krieps portraying Bridget Sullivan, the Borden family’s Irish maid. The series takes substantial creative liberties with the 1892 murders of Andrew and Abby Borden.
Did Lizzie Borden really have an imperforate hymen?
There is no reliable historical evidence that Lizzie Borden had an imperforate hymen.
Deep Dive
In the Netflix series, Bridget tells Lizzie that she has an imperforate hymen and suggests that the condition is responsible for her menstrual problems. Bridget then obtains a device called a Chattanooga in an attempt to address the supposed condition.
An imperforate hymen is a congenital condition in which tissue completely blocks the vaginal opening. In modern medicine, it can prevent menstrual blood from leaving the body and may require medical treatment.
But the key point for viewers is that the diagnosis shown in Monster is not established in the historical record of Lizzie Borden's life. The available accounts of the Borden case do not provide credible evidence that she was diagnosed with the condition.
The plot appears to be part of the show's broader fictionalized portrayal of Lizzie and her relationship with Bridget.
Was the Veedee vibrator real?
The Veedee was real, but its appearance in Lizzie Borden's story is another matter.
According to the Science Museum Group material cited by reporting on the series, the Veedee was a mechanical vibratory device marketed for purposes including “curative vibration,” massage, nerve stimulation and blood circulation. It was advertised for a wide range of complaints.
However, evidence indicates that the Veedee was manufactured after the Borden murders. One account citing the Science Museum says the device was made between 1901 and 1930, while Andrew and Abby Borden were killed in Fall River, Massachusetts, in August 1892.
What about the mysterious Chattanooga?
The Chattanooga shown in Monster is even harder to verify.
In the series, Bridget obtains the device after supposedly diagnosing Lizzie with an imperforate hymen. The machine is portrayed as a large, mechanical medical massager.
Reporting on the series found references suggesting that a Chattanooga device did exist, including a 1999 New York Times article describing a Chattanooga costing $200 plus freight in 1904. But there is considerably less reliable documentation establishing the exact device depicted by Netflix or its supposed use in Lizzie's treatment.
The show's version appears to draw partly from historical mechanical vibrators and partly from later stories and images whose provenance is uncertain.
What is actually known about Lizzie and menstruation?
There is a more firmly documented piece of the Borden case involving menstruation, and it concerns the investigation after the murders.
In its examination of the case, CBS reported that investigators found what appeared to be bloody cloths or rags in a pail in the Borden home's basement. When Lizzie said she was menstruating, investigators apparently accepted that explanation rather than closely examining the contents of the pail. CBS News reported that the possibility that the material represented evidence of a cleanup has been raised, but it remains a theory rather than an established fact.
That theory should not be confused with evidence that Lizzie had an imperforate hymen.
The distinction matters because Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story is a dramatic interpretation, not a documentary reconstruction.
The real historical record establishes that Lizzie was accused of killing her father and stepmother in 1892 and was acquitted at trial in 1893. What remains unresolved is how much of the show's intimate details viewers should regard as historical fact, and how much belongs to Ryan Murphy's fictionalized retelling.
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