A contemporary phenomenology of menstruation: Understanding the body in situation and as situation in public health interventions to address menstruation-related challenges

Social science and public health research has pointed to, firstly, the challenges women face in terms of the management of menstruation and, secondly, to the negative symbolic associations made with the menstruating body. This research, however, seldom engages with philosophical issues relating to e...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Women's studies international forum 2017-07, Vol.63, p.33-41
Main Authors: Kelland, Lindsay, Paphitis, Sharli, Macleod, Catriona
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Activities of daily living
Advocacy
Challenges
embodiment
Females
Feminism
Feminist theory
freedom
Freedoms
Health care policy
Health education
Health research
Human body
Intervention
Medical research
Menstruation
Phenomenology
Public health
Public policy
Social research
Subjectivity
Theory
Women
Womens health
Womens studies
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Summary:Social science and public health research has pointed to, firstly, the challenges women face in terms of the management of menstruation and, secondly, to the negative symbolic associations made with the menstruating body. This research, however, seldom engages with philosophical issues relating to embodied subjectivity in order to explain and understand the trends noted. In this paper, we attempt to bridge the divide between feminist theory and current research on the menstruation-related challenges facing women today. We provide a feminist phenomenological account of menstruation in which women's shared bodily lived experiences of menstruation—the body as situation—are set within contexts that enable and/or restrain freedom—the body in situation. This account allows us to understand the universal and differentiated aspects of menstruation and menstrual management, thereby providing a nuanced picture of the interplay between the physical occurrence of menstruation, the symbolic associations made with menstruation, and the socio-material, historical and political conditions within which women live. Such an account, we suggest, should inform advocacy around public policy and institutional civic society that promotes the freedom of women to engage in important life projects, and ground public health interventions around menstruation related challenges.
ISSN:0277-5395
1879-243X
DOI:10.1016/j.wsif.2017.09.004