In many cultures, menstruation is often celebrated as the moment in a young girl’s life where she enters womanhood. Despite it being a regular bodily event, it remains a target of discrimination and embarrassment. Cultural, religious, and social taboos work to reinforce stigmas surrounding the menstrual cycle, shaping how menstruation is both viewed and discussed. Period stigma works to suppress the voices of menstruating individuals and plays a role in shaping society’s perception of those who do menstruate.
Stigma surrounding menstruation creates a space where menstruating individuals are disempowered. One of the first things many young girls are taught by their families concerning their cycles is that others should not know when they are menstruating (van Lonkhuijzen et al., 2022). If one does exhibit signs of menstruation, they are labeled as “dirty” or “impure,” which only shatters their confidence. By noting the attitudes and behaviors of menstruating women, one study found that “women made strong efforts to hide their menstruation to avoid being stigmatized” (van Lonkhhuijzen et al., 2022). As menstruators go through the efforts of hiding all evidence of a monthly cycle, they begin to view their cycle as inconvenient. It is exhausting having to refrain from wearing tight bottoms to avoid the imprint of a pad or having to hide a tampon up our sleeve on the way to the restroom. However, if one fails to follow these unspoken rules, it is followed by a series of laughs or whispers.
Evidence of a monthly cycle is typically restricted to being a feminine experience. By gendering menstruation, society excludes members of the LGBTQ+ community. Such actions force non-female-identifying individuals out of the discussion, leaving them without a support system. The silence surrounding menstruation forces all menstruators into a society that works to silence their voices and discourage them from participating in society. Such behaviors restrict menstruators from feeling empowered and comfortable in embracing their bodies.
Shame influences one’s approach to menstruation discourse, which may be accompanied by feelings of embarrassment and discomfort. By using indirect language such as “the time of the month” or “shark week” to describe the menstrual cycle, one is conforming to the social norms that menstruation should be contained to secrecy. Some argue that such language conceals the embarrassment followed by the discussion, while others claim that the use of euphemisms is damaging (Beecham, 2022; Jacobson, 2022). By normalizing indirect language to discuss menstruation, it is evident that society has conditioned individuals to either discuss menstruation privately or not to discuss it all. The societal pressure to maintain the concealment of a menstrual cycle is a practice derived from persistent stigma and shame.
Period stigma perpetrates further stereotypes that can be used as a manipulation tactic against women. One belief is that a menstruating individual’s emotional state is directly correlated to where they are in their cycle. If a menstruator expresses the slightest amount of frustration or irritability, one may be quick to reply, “You must be on your period.” Thisreinforces the idea that menstruators are “irrational” and “emotional” during their menstrual cycle. It may also be receivedas a way to dismiss one’s feelings by reducing them to attributes of their emotional nature. Such a response minimizes the person’s emotional state by referencing it as a product of the menstrual cycle rather than acknowledging their emotions. These actions reflect the social tendency to invalidate menstruators and perpetuate gendered assumptions about their behavior.
By analyzing common menstrual stigmas and stereotypes, it is acknowledged that many menstruator behaviors and attitudes are a product of internalized shame and social expectations. Social pressures leave individuals feeling forced to conform to menstrual norms while internalizing harmful beliefs regarding menstruation, all at the cost of their confidence. To deconstruct the systems that built these beliefs, we examine their origin to cultivate new behaviors and attitudes that will challenge them. Only by creating a community where menstruation is normalized would menstruators be able to feel empowered in their bodies.
References
Beecham, A. (2022). No more ’the of the month’: why we need to stop using harmful period euphemisms and start talking about menstruation openly. Stylist. https://www.stylist.co.uk/health/period-euphemisms-need-to-stop/744905
Jacobson, L. (2022, December 14). ‘Human Period Euphemisms’ Call for an End to Period Euphemisms. Business Wire. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20221214005289/en/‘Human-Period-Euphemisms’-Call-for-an-End-to-Period-Euphemisms
van Lonkhuijzen, R. M., Garcia F. K., Wagemakers, A. (2022 September 27). The Stigma Surrounding Menstruation: Attitudes and Practices Regarding Menstruation and Sexual Activity During Menstruation. Women’s Reproductive Health, 10(3), 364-384. https://doi.org/10.1080/23293691.2022.2124041
