The Attitudes Associated with Menstruation in College Women and Men [University of West Florida]

Abstract

Almost every woman will experience menstruation during her life. These women will not only experience the biological symptoms of menstruation, but they will also experience the social stigma surrounding menstruation. Many studies have been conducted to understand the stigma found in today’s society. These studies discuss the awareness levels of women and men regarding this stigma. Additionally, studies show that women and adolescent girls internalize this stigma and feel required to modify their behaviors to adapt to societal rules surrounding menstruation. The purpose of our research is to replicate these studies and to further explore the prevalence of and reasons for the stigma and individual perceptions surrounding the discussion of women’s menstrual cycles in college women and men. Additionally, unlike previous studies, our study will ask both women and men about how comfortable they are with discussing menstruation with a variety of groups, including their family members, members of the same or opposite sex, friends, and coworkers; their attitudes towards menstruation; and how the quality of their relationships affect their attitudes. For this study we will be using a self-reported survey with semi-structured and open-ended questions, in which both qualitative and quantitative data will be collected. We will then use this data to discern the most common reasons for stigma and discomfort, experienced by both sexes, regarding the topic of menstruation. We expect to find women are relatively comfortable discussing the topic of menstruation with other females, but become uncomfortable when males are present. We predict the majority of men are uncomfortable discussing the topic of menstruation in all scenarios, though some may be less stigmatized due to previous exposure to the topic through relationships with other women in their lives, and the quality of those relationships. Data will be collected and analyzed from January through March 2019.