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Sex Roles (2013) 68:918DOI 10.1007/s11199-011-0052-z
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
The Menstrual Mark: Menstruation as Social Stigma
Ingrid Johnston-Robledo & Joan C. Chrisler
Published online: 31 July 2011# Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2011
Abstract In this theoretical paper, we argue that menstruation is a source of social stigma for women. The word stigma refers to any stain or mark that renders the individuals body or character defective. This stigma is transmitted through powerful socialization agents in popular culture such as advertisements and educational materials. We demonstrate, in our review of the psychological literature concerning attitudes and experiences of predominantly American girls and women, that the stigmatized status of menstruation has important consequences for their health, sexuality, and well-being. We argue that the stigma of menstruation both reflects and contributes to womens lower social status and conclude with suggestions for ways to resist the stigma.
Keywords Menstruation . Stigma . Self-objectification . Womens health . Media
Introduction
The American artist Vanessa Tiegs (http://menstrala.blogspot.com
Web End =http://menstrala. http://menstrala.blogspot.com
Web End =blogspot.com ) and the German artist Petra Paul (http://mum.org/armenpau.htm
Web End =http:// http://mum.org/armenpau.htm
Web End =mum.org/armenpau.htm ) are known for collecting their
menstrual flow. When they have collected enough, they sprinkle, splash, and brush their blood across their canvases to create beautiful, and intriguing, works of art. Reactions to their work include shock at their audacity, amazement at their creativity, and disgust at their willingness to exhibit one of natures most stigmatized fluids (http://www.truenuff.com/forums/showthread.php?135-Menstrual-Art-by-Vanessa-Tiegs&p=1371&viewfull=1
Web End =www.truenuff.com/forums/showthread.php?135- http://www.truenuff.com/forums/showthread.php?135-Menstrual-Art-by-Vanessa-Tiegs&p=1371&viewfull=1
Web End =Menstrual-Art-by-Vanessa-Tiegs&p=1371&viewfull=1 ). One journalist (Heath 2007) wondered whether Tiegs work should more properly be called art or a biohazard. Contemporary artists often aim to shock viewers (Stallabrass 2006), but these artists have a greater goal in mind (Chesler 2006; Cochrane 2009). They seem to want us to ask ourselves why a mundane product of nature is so shocking, given that most women experience the menses and manage their own menstrual flow for decades of their lives. They want us to consider why menstruation, a benign process essential to the production of human life, evokes fear, disgust, and comparison to toxic waste. We believe that viewers of Tiegs and Pauls art react the way they do because menstrual blood is a stigmatized substance. In this theoretical paper, we review feminist scholarship...