Menstrual Reform + Activism

emilie pichot

Some Important Theories…

• Paula Weideger, Menstruation and Menopause, 1975.

The Menstrual Taboo1. Universal – most cultures and religions 2. Informs other taboos ex: sex taboo, incest taboo3. Projection of fears of castration, death,

and corporeality

• For non-menstruating bodies “the taboo actually reinforces their fears and keeps them from examining them but in the immediate present, acts to reduce their anxiety.” (93)

• For menstruating bodies, “the taboo acts as a constant confirmation of a negative self-image. It represents the source of the shame (they) feel about (their) body and (their) sexuality.” (93)

• Is the menstrual taboo just about fear of blood or death? – Yes: There is a desire to control the more

animalistic and corporeal aspects of bodies in order to be civilized and live in society.

Mindy Erchull, Distancing Through Objectification?: “humans may distance themselves from menstruation in order to avoid reminders of their own corporeality and mortality, and the objectification of women has received empirical support as one means to do so.” (32)

– No: Blood is seen and dealt with in many other situations and contexts ex: popular culture, the news, nose bleeds, paper cuts, etc.

Elizabeth Kissling in Capitalizing on the Curse: “menstruation does not make woman the Other; it is because she is Other that menstruation is a Curse.” (4)

Screenshot from MRK’s River of Blood

Weideger, continued.

• “Thousands of years of history and the history of their own experience have led women to their present opinion that menstruation and menopause are fundamentally unacceptable parts of life and must be ignored as important biological events. Compared with primitive practices, the modern day version of the taboo makes social and emotional change particularly difficult.” (220)

Why?

• The Menstrual Taboo is considered a thing of the past and is invisible in today’s society.

Today it manifests itself in: • shame surrounding leaks and stains• lack of support for menstruation with no

feminine hygiene products available and affordable

• silence: menstruation cannot be used as a reason for anything

• strictures: the lack of a variety of choices acceptable for menstruating bodies.

Weideger, continued.

• “Instead of protesting the contemporary version of the taboo, women, unaware of its existence, protest the “problem” of menstruation and its legacy, menopause. Instead of protesting against the societal attitudes that created the taboo, we are attacking our own bodies and that portion of female identity which presents us with the “problem.” (220-221)

Sharra Vastral, Under Wraps, 2008.

• “…menstrual hygiene products can be interpreted as technologies of passing. The technologies help to hide female bodies viewed as dysfunctional, thus assisting women in passing as healthy. They allow women to present themselves as non-menstruants.” (3)

• “The need for women to efficiently manage their own menstrual flow grew as corporations relied on women laborers.” (4)

• Menstrual products make menstruating bodies more like non-menstruating bodies.

Arvida Byströms, There Will Be Blood

Vastral, continued.

• “ The consumer purchase of tampons does not bring improved citizenship rights for women, though arguably women do benefit in a pragmatic sort of way in the daily management of their bodies….Whether or not menstrual hygiene technologies can deliver political freedom is another question.” (104)

My ideas + goals • Free products – products should be more

affordable, visible, and accessible. • Free choice – menstruating bodies should be able to

manage their period in whatever way they choose, free-bleeding or not.

• Credibility + visibility – can speak casually about menstruation and for it to be acknowledged as valid.

• Shift in subjectivity - the voices of the menstruating bodies matter more than the voices of non-menstruating bodies.

Activism

Leaving free tampons and pads in restrooms

Flyer placed on envelopes left in restrooms

Art: re-thinking the feminine hygiene ad

Art: Pests

Social Justice Grant awarded me $6,000 to bring 214 free Diva Cups to campus.

Round Table questions• Any questions for me? • Can a society exist without the Menstrual

Taboo?

Round Table questions

• How can menstruating bodies both abolish the taboo but also continue to use menstrual products to help conceal and manage their periods should a person choose to do so?

Round Table questions

• What do emancipated menstruating bodies look like?

Round Table questions

• What are the needs on campus you see for menstruating bodies?

Round Table questions

• What solutions do you see for these problems?

Round Table questions

• Finally, who wants a free menstrual cup??

Works Cited

• Erchull, Mindy J. “Distancing Through Objectification? Depictions of Women’s Bodies in Menstrual Product Advertisements.” Sex Roles 68 (2013): 32-40. Print

• Kissling, Elizabeth. Capitalizing on the Curse: The Business of Menstruation. Boulder, Colorado: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 2006. Print.

• Vastral, Sharra L. Under Wraps: A History of Menstrual Hygiene Technology. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books, 2008. Print.

• Weidegger, Paula. Menstruation and Menopause: The Physiology and Psychology, the Myth and the Reality. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1975. Print.