Menstrual Shame: Exploring the Role of ‘Menstrual Moaning’

McHugh introduces the term ‘menstrual moaning,’ to refer to women’s negative communication about menstruation. Women’s talk about menstruation is often negative through its focus on pain, discomfort, and moodiness. McHugh ties menstrual moaning to the stigma associated with menstruation. Cultural attitudes that require girls and women to maintain secrecy and silence regarding menstruation contribute to the experience of menstrual shame. Breaking the taboos against menstrual talk may be a form of resistance. Brown argues that breaking the silence and secrecy taboo may help women to develop shame resilience. However, McHugh suggests that menstrual moaning, by reiterating negative cultural constructions of women’s bodies as flawed, deficient, and diseased, may have a deleterious impact on women’s menstrual attitudes, and perpetuate menstrual shame. Women could develop shame resistance and build community through more positive talk about menstruation, but positive menstrual conversations are rarely documented. McHugh recommends further research and activism on menstrual shame, resistance, and resilience.

Identification of midwifery students’ menstrual attitudes

Problem statement: This study is designed based on the idea that attitudes towards menstruation can be multi-directional; they can be positive as much as negative and the physiological and emotional symptom expectations during premenstrual or menstrual period can influence the attitudes.Objective: The descriptive study aims to identify midwifery students’ menstrual attitudes.Material and Methods: Research population consists of 100 students who are in their 1st and 2nd year in Cukurova University Health Sciences Faculty Midwifery Department during 2014-2015 education year and the sample consists of 92 students. Permission of the institution, ethics committee approval and informed verbal consent of the participants were obtained. A questionnaire that includes sociodemographic information and menstrual features, and Menstrual Attitude Questionnaire. The data was analyzed with IBM 20.0 package program.Findings: The average age of the participants is 19.75±1.86 and average menarche age is 13.77±1.25. It is indicated that 87.0% of the participants have knowledge regarding menstruation, yet 48.9 had worries during their first menstruation, 77.2% have regular menstruations, 71.7% experience premenstrual problems and 89.1% experience dysmenorrhea. Total average score of the participants on Menstrual Attitude Scale is 66,93±8,12; the average scores for subscales are (10,93±2,74) menstruation as an annoying phenomenon, (8,10±2,02) as a natural phenomenon, (11,24±2,12) sensing/recognizing menstruation in advance and (11,81±1,88) denial of menstrual effects.Conclusion: Based on high average scores for Menstrual Attitude Scale, it is found that the students have positive attitudes towards menstruation. It can also be claimed that since the participants perceive menstruation as a natural phenomenon, they can easily cope with related problems. Keywords: Menstruation Menstrual Attitude, Midwifery Student; Keywords: First keyword, second keyword, third keyword, forth keyword;

Emotional Reaction to Menarche and Menstrual Attitudes

The goal of this study was to examine current attitudes toward menstruation in adolescent postmenarcheal girls in relation to age at menarche, time since menarche had occurred, preparedness, and emotional reaction to menarche. Postmenarcheal adolescent girls from primary and secondary schools (N = 246) participated in the study, with an average age of 15.1 years and average age at menarche 12.4 years. Participants filled out the adapted version of Adolescent Menstrual Attitude Questionnaire (AMAQ; Marvan & Molina, 2002), Expected/Experienced Emotions related to Menarche Scale (Emo-M; Nakić Radoš, Mužinić Bikić, & Roso Perić, in press), Preparedness for the Menarche (PM; Rodriguez White, 2013), and Pubertal Development Scale (PDS; Petersen, Crockett, Richards, & Boxer, 1988). The two-way ANOVA showed that early maturers (≤11 years at menarche) had significantly higher level of negative attitudes than average maturers (12 years) and late maturers (≥13 years). Both early and average maturers had a higher level of secretive attitudes than late maturers. However, this effect was present only if menarche occurred in less than two years. Regression analyses showed that higher level of pleasant emotions at menarche predicted higher level of positive attitudes toward menstruation (45.2% variance explained). Lower age at menarche, less time from the menarche, and a higher level of unpleasant emotions at menarche predicted higher levels of secretive attitudes (35.1% variance explained) and negative attitudes (22.7% variance explained). In conclusion, age at menarche, time for adaptation to menstruation, and initial emotional reaction to menarche are significant determinants of menstrual attitudes in adolescent girls. Education and preparing girls for menstruation at early stages of puberty is necessary. Keywords: menarche, menstruation, attitudes, emotions, puberty

A Group of 500 Women Whose Health May Depart Notably From the Norm: Protocol for a Cross-Sectional Survey (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Longitudinal studies of women’s health often seek to identify predictors of good health. Research has shown that following simple guidelines can halve women’s mortality. The ongoing Australian Longitudinal Study of Women’s Health (ALSWH) shows that Australian women are getting better at reducing their smoking and alcohol use, and are generally diligent about attending recommended health screenings, but are becoming less successful at dealing with obesity. There are communities of women who live unusually healthy lives (Rosetans, Seventh-Day Adventists, traditional Japanese women), but their lifestyles are unlikely to be adopted widely. Universal Medicine (UM) is a complementary-to-medicine approach that emphasizes personal empowerment and the importance of menstrual health symptoms. OBJECTIVE This survey investigates whether the approximately 500 women associated with UM exhibit health status significantly above the norm. As part of this investigation, questions for a newly developed menstrual attitudes questionnaire will also be evaluated. METHODS A quantitative cross-sectional survey of women in a UM cohort was designed with the help of three focus groups of women at three life stages: in menses, peri-menopausal, and menopausal. The menstrual attitudes portion of the survey incorporates the insights of these women regarding female health issues. The survey also includes 41 questions taken from the ALSWH. Focus groups generated additional questions about symptoms experienced and attitudes toward female health issues. ALSWH questions, including a range of health scales like the Short Form 36 (SF-36), Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, Perceived Control Scale, Kessler Psychological Distress Scale, and the Multi-Item Summed Score for Perceived Stress, along with questions about experienced major health events, were investigated and incorporated if considered suitable. RESULTS The validity of the menstrual attitudes questionnaire will be evaluated with Cohen’s kappa. ALSWH respondents and UM participants will be compared, using unweighted regression or regression weighted or normalized by age, education, and interest in alternative treatments (to increase comparability), as appropriate. Analyses will determine whether UM-related variables (being a UM participant, length of UM participation, number of UM events attended) are associated with: differences in the number of major health events and health symptoms experienced; SF-36 physical and mental health scores; body mass index; and consumption of alcohol, tobacco, sugar, salt, caffeine, and dairy. CONCLUSIONS If women in the UM cohort are truly in substantially better health than the norm, further investigations may be worthwhile to see whether UM plays a causal role, and whether the women’s practices are generalizable.