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Journal of Reproductive and Infant

Psychology
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Girls' experiences of menarche and

menstruation
a b
Anne Burrows & Sally Johnson
a
Northampton College , Daventry , UK
b
Psychology Group , Faculty of Health , Leeds Metropolitan
University , UK
Published online: 19 Aug 2006.

To cite this article: Anne Burrows & Sally Johnson (2005) Girls' experiences of menarche and
menstruation, Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology, 23:3, 235-249

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 JOURNAL OF REPRODUCTIVE AND INFANT PSYCHOLOGY,
VOL. 23, NO. 3, AUGUST 2005, pp. 235–249

Girls’ experiences of menarche and

menstruation

ANNE BURROWS
Northampton College, Daventry, UK

SALLY JOHNSON
Downloaded by [University of Bath] at 05:46 07 October 2014

Psychology Group, Faculty of Health, Leeds Metropolitan University, UK

Abstract A review of the literature on girls’ and women’s experiences of menarche and
menstruation revealed many negative representations, both in traditional and feminist research
and theorizing, though a few studies have highlighted positive aspects. Qualitative research has
begun to show how experience is constructed and, to develop this further, the aim of this article
is to examine how girls construct meaning around menarche and menstruation in social
interactions and specific contexts. Analysis is informed by a reflexive feminist constructionist
approach. Data from nine girls, aged between 12 and 15, who participated in two focus group
discussions are analysed alongside existing literature. It is theorized that developing and
changing, context specific, socio-cultural representations and practices construct meanings in
relation to menstruation. In common with other feminist literature, menarche and menstruation
were largely constructed as embarrassing, shameful and something to be hidden, specifically
within the school context. Menstruation was also constructed as illness. The production and
perpetuation of gender-related difference narratives was also evident. Implications for
individuals, as well as for the subjugation of girls and women, are discussed, and it is argued
that current negative representations of, and practices in relation to, menarche and
menstruation need to be challenged.

Introduction1
The original aim of the research on which this article is based was to explore girls’
experience of menarche and menstruation. An initial review of the literature in this area
suggested that menarche and menstruation are frequently perceived negatively (see, for
example, Clark & Ruble, 1978; Grief & Ulman, 1982; Koff et al., 1981; Rierdan &

Address for correspondence: Sally Johnson, Psychology Group, Faculty of Health, Leeds Metropolitan
University, Civic Quarter, Leeds LS1 3HE, UK.
1
The first author conducted the research reported in this article. The second author supported and advised the first
throughout the study and co-wrote this article. In order to convey the unfolding and reflexive story we thought that it
was appropriate that the article be mainly written in the first person.

ISSN 0264-6838/print/ISSN 1469-672X/online/05/030235-15

# 2005 Society for Reproductive and Infant Psychology
DOI: 10.1080/02646830500165846
 236 A. BURROWS & S. JOHNSON

Koff, 1990). For instance, Koff et al. (1981) concluded that, for many white, Western,
middle-class girls, menarche can be traumatic. Ruble and Brooks-Gunn (1982) argued
that though the term ‘trauma’ might be too strong a way to describe menarche, it can
be disruptive, creating ambivalence and confusion. Several studies have found that
postmenarcheal girls have more negative attitudes towards menstruation and
experience more negative emotions than premenarcheal girls (see Brooks-Gunn &
Ruble, 1982; Clark & Ruble, 1978; Grief & Ulman, 1982; Koff & Rierdan, 1996).
Thus a substantial body of literature, particularly from the late 1970s and early 1980s,
suggests menarche and menstruation are mainly negatively perceived and experienced
by girls. This surprised me, as I did not expect girls’ views and experiences to be so
negative because of social changes towards greater sexual liberation and better sex
education in the late 1960s and early 1970s. I initially believed these negative findings
must have arisen out of the hypothetico-deductive quantitative paradigm that aims to
test particular assumptions stemming from researchers’ concerns rather than girls’
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experiences.
On reviewing the feminist literature, however, I began to understand why girls’ might
hold such negative views. Feminists have highlighted a number of largely negative
representations that surround menarche and menstruation in Western societies (see, for
example, Britton, 1996; Gannon, 1998; Kissling, 1996; Lovering, 1995; Moore, 1995;
Thurèn, 1994; Ussher, 1989). For instance, it is argued that menarche conveys
conflicting societal messages; it represents the beginning of womanhood and sexuality
but girls of this age are seen as too young to be sexually active (Britton, 1996). Though
some argue that the idea of menarche and menstruation as a universal taboo is too
simplistic (e.g. Kissling, 1996), most agree that these events are surrounded by secrecy,
shame, embarrassment and concealment. Menstrual blood is seen as dirty and
menstruation in need of careful management. The power of medical discourses has also
been emphasized, in that the menstrual cycle is depicted as medical and even
pathological; it leads to discomfort, illness and emotional instability. Recent post-
structuralist feminist theorizing has emphasized that these representations do not
merely reflect women’s lives but ‘actively subjugate female subjectivity through creating
and reinforcing the notion of ‘‘woman’’ as lack, as absence or as other to man’ (Ussher
et al., 2000, p. 85). The feminist literature therefore highlights how negativity
surrounding menarche and menstruations is a product of socio-historical processes
and cultural attitudes, and that there is a need to attend to these in order to seek
change.
Though feminist critiques have been useful in emphasizing the importance of the
social context they can imply social determinism and negate agency. This somewhat
deterministic view did not reflect my own experiences of menarche and menstruation
which were not as negative as is implied in the literature reviewed so far. I was therefore
pleased to find that, because of concerns about negativity and its impact, certain
researchers have tried to reframe research to include more positive aspects of menarche
and menstruation. Koff and Rierdan (1996) highlight the lack of consideration of
positive aspects of menstrual-related changes in the literature and in popular culture,
despite these being noted over 50 years ago. Choi (1994) argues that there is evidence
to support positive attributions to the menstrual cycle but she highlights how the bias in
research in this area has led to a focus on negativity and illness. When included, positive
aspects have been reported (see, for instance, Choi, 1994; Choi & McKeown, 1997;
Koff & Rierdan, 1996). Choi and McKeown (1997) argue that the inclusion of positive
 GIRLS’ EXPERIENCES OF MENARCHE AND MENSTRUATION 237

aspects of the menstrual cycle in research can have positive consequences for the way in
which women view menstruation. In fact, there is much research to suggest that
stereotypes of premenstrual women can lead to misattributions about the causes of
behaviour and there is the suggestion that this might be changing and more positive
views beginning to emerge. A study by Lawlor and Choi (1998) aimed to replicate
earlier research that found that people tend to attribute negative moods experienced
premenstrually to the menstrual cycle but positive moods to other factors. They found
that the under age 18 group in their study did not differ in their mood attributions.
They suggest that this age group may hold more positive views towards the menstrual
cycle than previous generations. Though the refocusing of measures to include more
positive aspects of menstruation is to be welcomed, most of these studies still arise
mainly out of the quantitative paradigm with a focus on testing theory and researchers’
concerns rather than girls’ experiences. This splitting of experience into positive and
negative aspects also seemed to simplify a phenomenon that some of the qualitative
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literature suggests is not singular or unilateral. I would describe my own experiences as

neither particularly positive nor negative but rather in a somewhat neutral way as part
of ‘normal’ female functioning.
Qualitative research has begun to emerge in the area of menstruation which gives a
more detailed picture how experience is constructed (see, for example, Britton, 1996;
Choi & McKeown, 1997; Kissling, 1996; Koutroulis, 2001; Lovering, 1995;
Prendergast, 1989). For instance, Britton (1996) shows variations in collective shared
beliefs in how women learn about menstruation. Choi and McKeown (1997)
demonstrate that women can, and do, distinguish between their own experience of
menstruation and negative stereotypes. Therefore, some of these studies have begun to
show how discourses are taken up or resisted, and their implications for girls’ and
women’s lives. However, few have examined the ways in which girls account for
menarche and menstruation in everyday conversations and particular contexts. The
aim of the study reported here was to examine how girls construct meaning around
menarche and menstruation in social interactions and specific contexts. Rather than
conceptualizing experience as something which is ‘owned’ by individual girls or
women, or is simply a matter of choice, I now believe that it is constructed, negotiated
and resisted through social interactions emanating from changing socio-culturally
representations and practices.

The study
A focus group methodology was chosen. A strength of the focus group is that it
simulates ‘everyday discourses and conversations’ (Flick, 2002, p. 121) and is therefore
far more likely to provide insights into how participants’ construct their experiences
than a quantitative methodology which uses theory-led structured questionnaires.

Participants and procedure

The process of finding participants was, in itself, illuminating. I approached three
schools and the leader of a local Girl Guide group in the Northampton area. The two
sources that did respond indicated that this was a problematic and ‘sensitive’ topic and
were doubtful about my chances of getting anyone to talk to me. Though it can be
difficult to gain access to participants through such organizations, responses indicated
that their reluctance was mainly related to the subject matter. For instance, the Girl
 238 A. BURROWS & S. JOHNSON

Guide leader spoke to me, at length, about the problematic nature of the topic and her
reservation that parents would not consent to their daughters talking about it.
The four girls in Group A were eventually recruited by approaching personal friends.
Each mother was first telephoned or visited. I outlined the nature of my study and
permission was obtained to approach their daughter. Contrary to the pessimists, all the
girls agreed to take part. Group B was recruited through a personal contact at the
Rangers organization, which is the next ‘step’ on from the Girl Guides. The leader of
the Rangers approached parents by letter, outlining the nature of my study and
requesting permission for their daughter to take part. Five of the seven girls approached
agreed to participate. All the girls attended the same school. I realize that the girls who
volunteered are self-selective and, presumably, only those happy to talk about this
subject agreed to take part; this will inevitably bias the analysis in that it represents
those less reluctant to talk about menstruation.
Each group discussion lasted approximately 45 minutes and took place in fairly
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similar settings, in quiet rooms without interruptions. At the beginning of each session
the issue of confidentiality was raised. Anecdotes about menstruation were told in order
to put the girls at ease and a pre-prepared interview schedule was used to guide the
discussion. This covered issues to do with knowledge, information and preparation for
menstruation, who the girls had spoken to about it and the meanings they ascribed to it.
They were specifically asked about their experiences of menstruation in the school
context. Each discussion was recorded on to an audio-cassette recorder. A feature of
qualitative research is that statements are made in a certain situation and within a
certain social interaction, therefore, attached to a particular context. However, Morgan
(1993) argues that if different groups express similar opinions, it is likely that these
views are common to a broader population.
Demographic and socio-economic details were not taken from the girls but, knowing
the area they live in, the girls probably fall into the ‘category’ of white, Western and
middle-classed. The age of the girls ranged from 12 to 15 years. The girls in Group A
were all 12 years old (Lucy, Fran, Chloë and Jo2) and their age at menarche ranged
from 10 to 12 years. The girls in Group B were older, their ages ranging from 13 to 15
(Amy, Bee, Vicky, Laura and Emma). Their age at menarche ranged between 11 and
14 years. It is recognized that the sample size is small and relatively homogeneous and
therefore is limited in that it might only reveal something of the participants’ current
positioning in that specific social group. Nevertheless, this will be examined in relation
to current literature and theorizing in order to broaden its potential applicability.

Interpretation of data
I (Anne) undertook data transcription and interpretation, in discussion with Sally. In
line with my changing views about girls’ experiences of menarche and menstruation, a
feminist constructionist approach to analysis (see Lee, 1998; Wilkinson & Kitzinger,
1995) rather than one which assumes a realist ontology (e.g. grounded theory) was
adopted. Themes were identified through reading and re-reading the transcripts a
number of times. The focus was on how words, descriptions and metaphors clustered
together to form discourses or narratives that socially construct a specific concept.
These discourses and narratives were identified not only in the girls’ stories but also as

2
All names have been changed to protect the participants’ identities.
 GIRLS’ EXPERIENCES OF MENARCHE AND MENSTRUATION 239

they applied to the theorizing on menstruation. In line with Braun and Wilkinson
(2001), it is theorized that meanings attached to the body, and specifically
menstruation, are constructed by developing and changing, context specific, socio-
cultural representations and practices, and that these interact with the material aspects
of girls’ and women’s lives.

Analysis and discussion

Menarche and menstruation as secret, embarrassing and shameful
It has been argued that a girl’s first menstruation (menarche) is a significant physical
marker of her transition from childhood to adulthood, even though it can occur at an
age when girls are still considered to be children and too young for sexual activity
(Britton, 1996). Because it is represented as an important moment in the life course
and a movement towards womanhood, I believe it should be an occasion for celebration
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and joy. This did not specifically represent my own experience which was of menarche
and menstruation as somewhat ‘ordinary’ or ‘normal’. However, I was interested in
understanding why menstruation might be constructed negatively when it could be
construed as a positive indication of female development. The girls that I spoke with
expressed largely negative views and in their accounts menstruation was constructed as
embarrassing, shameful and something to be hidden.
The sensitivity of the topic first became apparent to me from the response of the
Head Teacher at one of the schools that I approached to participate in the study. From
the outset, the Head was unhelpful and negative, and expressed two main concerns
about this ‘sensitive topic’. He suggested that ‘nobody would want to talk about it’ and
that there would be ‘hell to pay’ from his many ‘conservative parents’ if he put his name
to the research. Although he told me he did not personally hold this view, by using his
power and control, and not allowing the subject to be brought into the open, or even
giving the parents the option to choose, he was perpetuating the cloak of secrecy that
seems to surround menstruation at this school and, perhaps, many others. This is
recognized in the literature and Prendergast (1989, p. 86) calls it the ‘hidden
curriculum’, which it could be argued leads to feelings of fear, shame and secrecy.
This secrecy, in line with other studies of young women (see, for example,
Koutroulis, 2001), was also reflected in the girls’ accounts3:

Laura: … I do worry about wearing pads.

?: Yeah
Int: You do?
?: Yeah.
Bee: People can tell.
Int: Do you think that people can tell?
?: I don’t know.
Bee: I can never tell when anyone else is on4 so I don’t know why I worry that
people can tell that I am, but I still do.

3
Quotes can be identified as follows: Lucy: name of speaker; Int: interviewer (Anne); ?: denotes
that it was not possible to ascertain the identity of the speaker from the audio tape.
4
The term ‘on’ is slang for menstruating.
 240 A. BURROWS & S. JOHNSON

All the older girls told me they change the kind of clothing they wore in order to hide
any indication of menstruation. For instance, Emma said, ‘I never went back to skirts
again once I’d started’.
In our discussions the girls talked about the issue of secrecy in the practical
management of menstruation in the school context. They spoke of hiding physical signs
of menstruation from other people. In this respect, there were major problems when
trying to obtain sanitary wear at school, as there were no sanitary towel dispensers in
the girls’ toilets. Previous dispensers had been vandalized and not replaced. However,
none of the girls thought they would be able to use a sanitary towel dispenser, even if
one was available. If a period started unexpectedly, the only recourse was to ask for a
sanitary towel at the school office, which may mean asking in front of peers. None of
the girls even contemplated doing this. A few girls were happy to ask a close friend to
help out, if necessary, but for those who found this difficult, an unexpected period must
constitute a major source of concern and may lead to some girls being in a constant
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state of readiness. Lucy told me she wore a pad all the time, ‘just in case’. When I
suggested the girls might get together and ask for a machine to be placed in their toilet,
there was lots of incredulous laughter and Fran said, ‘it’s just embarrassing [to ask]’.
Thus, the girls seemed helpless; the Head of school would not replace the dispensing
machine and the girls seemed unable to change or control their situation because of
representations of menstruation as something to be ashamed of, embarrassed about and
kept hidden.
Most of the girls solved the practical problem of the unavailability of sanitary
protection at school by always carrying a pad with them but the boys’ reported reaction
to this meant this was also fraught with difficulties.

Vicky: A boy stole my bag and emptied it out and they found the stuff [sanitary
towels] and started chucking it around the room.
Fran: ‘cos once when Lucy had some stuff in her bag and S [a boy in her class]
went through it and he found it.
Lucy: … and I’m like, how embarrassing.
Bee: I had a friend who … a boy went into her bag quite recently and found
sanitary towels and [he said] ‘ugh, sanitary towels’.

Discussions about games sessions were a further example of keeping signs of

menstruation hidden in the school context. This posed specific difficulties which
needed to be overcome, especially when dressing and undressing. Lucy said:

It’s like, when you’re getting changed for PE you have to [demonstrates getting
dressed with exaggerated care] as people might see the wings or something and
people might say ‘er, we saw your … [sanitary towel].

Prendergast (1989) describes how the experience of menstruation at school, for many
girls, is often unhelpful and negative, and the school that the girls in the present study
attended was no exception. Time spent at school takes up a large and important part of
adolescents’ lives, and so it is likely that the experience of menstruation at school will
have an influence on how girls conceptualize menstruation.
As can be seen in the following extract the girls also expressed a general feeling of
menstrual blood being distasteful:
 GIRLS’ EXPERIENCES OF MENARCHE AND MENSTRUATION 241

Fran: I think it SMELLS.

Lucy: It does.
Fran: Really badly.
Lucy: Yeah, you know, it does.
Jo: It’s like, really, ugh.
Lucy: It smells like a … not washed dog.

This obviously touched a nerve with the others in the group and there ensued a lively
discussion about the smell of menstrual blood, which the girls described as ‘ugh’. Their
descriptions conveyed distaste and shame.
There was also evidence of silences or a lack of positive language with which to refer
to menstruation. Emma said that menstruation ‘doesn’t usually come up in general
conversation’. For some, this invisibility extended to naming menstruation; when I
asked the younger girls what names they used for menstruating, there were lots of
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embarrassed giggles. Most of them told me ‘periods’, but in their real-life conversations
with me, they often referred to menstruation as ‘it’ or ‘the thing’. For Lucy,
menstruation had no word to describe it and she indicated a squiggle in the air as if she
were writing. Hunter and O’Dea (1997) similarly note that when women were asked
about the menopause, ‘it’ and ‘this’ were frequently used to describe ‘the change’. This
suggests that there are silences surrounding, or lack of a positive way of referring to
certain reproductive issues.
These accounts of secrecy, embarrassment and shame reflect current dominant
Western social representations of menstruation identified by many feminists (see, for
example, Britton, 1996; Gannon, 1998; Kissling, 1996; Lovering, 1995; Moore, 1995;
Thurèn, 1994; Ussher, 1989). This secrecy and silence is evident in other literature
about girls’ and women’s bodies, for instance, in relation to the vagina (see Braun &
Wilkinson, 2001, 2003). Braun and Wilkinson (2001) identify seven persistent negative
representations of the vagina (e.g. as inferior to the penis, as sexually inadequate, as
disgusting) which, they argue, encapsulate Western social attitudes towards the vagina,
as well as reflecting attitudes towards women more generally. Braun and Wilkinson
(2001, 2003) argue that representations of the vagina may have important implications
for women’s health, well being, and sexuality. Similarly the lack of openness and the
negativity surrounding menarche and menstruation could have implications for girls’
and women’s health and well being. For instance, it could hinder seeking medical or
sexual health advice.
As I argued earlier, certain feminist critiques are useful in emphasizing the
importance of the social context and the potential implications of this; however, they
can represent a somewhat deterministic view. Feminist constructionist theorizing
emphasizes how identity is a dynamic aspect of social relationships, constructed and
reproduced through the ‘agency/structure dyad’ within the context of unequal power
relationships (see Bhavnani & Phoenix, 1994, p. 9). Bhavnani and Phoenix (1994)
argue that individuals are located in, and choose from, a number of different and
sometimes contradictory identities, depending upon political, cultural, economic and
ideological aspects of their context. Foucault’s notion of power and resistance also
highlights the possibilities for agency and therefore change. Foucault (1990) suggests
that discourse transmits, produces and reinforces power but also that it undermines and
exposes it. This suggests that there can be diversity in cultural representations and the
ways in which they are taken up. In line with this view that dominant constructions can
be resisted, and the potential political and personal benefits of representing menarche
 242 A. BURROWS & S. JOHNSON

and menstruation more positively, I was interested in exploring alternative construc-

tions with the girls in the present study.

Is it all so negative?
As argued in the introduction, the traditional psychological research in this area has
tended to focus on negative aspects of menstruation (see, for example, Clark & Ruble,
1978; Grief & Ulman, 1982; Koff et al., 1981; Rierdan & Koff, 1990), so, in keeping
with my idea that menstruation need not be so negative and the literature which
includes positive aspects (e.g. Koff & Rierdan, 1996), I specifically asked the girls what
they thought was good about menarche and menstruation. Their answers were either
vaguely framed in terms of fertility (‘you can have babies’) or normality (‘it’s healthy’)
with just Vicky reporting specific positive emotions and feelings of happiness (but not
until I had asked). Vicky said:
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It makes me feel happy and (…) like, in the middle [of her cycle], I feel really
happy, and just, really lively.

After Vicky’s comment I asked the other girls again if any of them thought there was
anything positive. Their responses were brief and indicated that they did not; they then
began to talk about the negative aspect of the menstrual cycle. I found myself trying to
defend my position that menstruation can have positive aspects, but the girls did not
seem convinced and resisted my, and Vicky’s, attempts to discuss it in this way. This
seems to support studies that have found that postmenarcheal girls have negative
attitudes towards menstruation (see Brooks-Gunn & Ruble, 1982; Clark & Ruble,
1978; Grief & Ulman, 1982; Koff & Rierdan, 1996). However, it contradicts more
recent research by Lawlor and Choi (1998) who found that those under 18 years of age
might hold more positive views towards the menstrual cycle than previous generations,
that is, the 18 to 34, 35 to 54 and over 55 age groups involved in their study. These
contradictions could be a reflection of differences in the operationalization of concepts
associated with menarche and menstruation, differences between samples used or in
terms of research questions. Nevertheless, it suggests that girls construct menarche and
menstruations somewhat negatively in certain contexts.
This inclusion of questions about positive aspects of the menstrual cycle did not seem
to bring forth many positive comments in my discussion with the girls, as suggested in
some of the literature (e.g. Choi, 1994; Choi & McKeown, 1997; Koff & Rierdan,
1996). However, as argued in the introduction, this splitting of experience into positive
and negative aspects inevitably simplifies a multiplex phenomenon. One aspect of this
is that discussions about menstruation are likely to be context specific. For instance,
Vicky’s positive comments about the menstrual cycle were put forward in an almost
apologetic manner, as though she was embarrassed about feeling this way. This could
be explained in that her experiences were at odds with the hegemonic cultural scripts of
menstruation which were reflected by her peers in this context. This also supports Lips’
(1994) view that through socialization practices girls are prepared to behave in
powerless ways.

Menstruation-as-illness
In contrast to the vaguely framed positive connotations of the menstrual cycle being
seen a sign of normalcy and healthiness, one representation that did seem to be
 GIRLS’ EXPERIENCES OF MENARCHE AND MENSTRUATION 243

acceptable to the girls was that of menstruation-as-illness. Clarke and Ruble (1978)
showed that a young girl soon internalizes the idea that menstruation is synonymous
with illness. Before they have had direct experience, girls already believe menstruation
is accompanied by physical discomfort, increased emotionality and mood changes.
Lucy tells how her first experience of menstruation was as an illness:

When I started at first, I used to think I was ill, and I used to think, I’m ill, I’m
really ill, don’t talk to me, I’m ill.

All the girls used an illness narrative when talking about menstruation, i.e. headaches,
tummy aches and period pains. This supports Oxley (1998) who found that there is a
strong emphasis upon pain and discomfort when women talk about menstrual
experiences. However, an example from Fran, aged 12, shows how she attempted to
resist this menstruation-as-illness narrative:
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Fran: My mum always tells him [her dad] when I’m on and like, if you’re doing
something my dad’ll say, oh no, she’s a bit ill and I’m like, I’m not ill.
Int: Does that annoy you?
Fran: Yeah. Well, I’m NOT ILL.

As well as using and resisting a physical illness narrative to frame menstruation, one of
mental illness was also drawn upon. This narrative portrays menstruating women as
unstable and out of control (see Ussher, 1989). In the school the girls attended, the
word ‘stressy’ was synonymous with menstruation. In the context of a discussion about
boys’ lack of understanding, their negative reactions to menstruation and their greater
freedom to discuss their own puberty (see the discussion in the next section), Vicky
said:

Sometimes, if you’re like, if you get moody and you shout at somebody, they [the
boys] say, er, someone’s ‘stressy’, even if you’re not, that’s even more annoying.

Vicky, and other girls, implied that the boys attributed their behaviour to menstruation
and used it as a weapon to demean them in the school context. Men also have changing
moods but these are usually given an external, rather than internal, attribution; as
Tavris (1993, p. 150) points out, ‘both women and men have mood swings but only
women have theirs packaged into a syndrome’. It has been argued that some
researchers have perpetuated the stereotype of an unstable menstruating woman at the
mercy of her hormones. One such is Katrina Dalton, a medical expert who Ussher
(1992, p. 41) describes as ‘the guru of PSM’ because she popularized the view that
women are victims of ‘raging hormones’. Dalton (1978) asserts that, during what she
calls the ‘bogey of once a month’ (p. 121), a woman will become ‘an argumentative,
shouting, abusive bitch’ (p. 94) and even potentially a ‘child-batterer’ (p. 110). Even
though research does not support ‘raging hormones’ theory (Nolen-Hoeksema, 1987),
Choi and McKeown (1997) argue that there is evidence to suggest that stereotypes of
premenstrual women can lead to misattributions about the causes of behaviour. They
also cite research which suggests that preadolescent girls and boys hold negative
attitudes, and that these are acquired early and based on cultural stereotypes rather
than experience. It is not surprising, therefore, that both boys and girls can and do grow
up thinking that menstruating women are, as Ussher (1989, p. 42) puts it, ‘mad or bad’.
 244 A. BURROWS & S. JOHNSON

Any stereotype brings with it the inherent dangers of becoming a self-fulfilling

prophecy and most of the girls reported feeling moody, angry, or irritable
premenstrually. Brooks-Gunn and Ruble (1982) suggest that negative affect is not
necessarily related to the menstrual cycle but that one or two instances of ‘bad mood’
over the course of a year may occur at the same time as a period and that, because of
cultural stereotypes, a girl soon learns to associate this bad mood with menstruation.
The concept of illness and infirmity that seems to frame menstruation in our society
implies that, for a large part of their adult lives, women are debilitated. This has
implications for women as they progress through the lifespan, when a woman’s
perceived bad mood at menstruation may be transmuted into a diagnosis of
premenstrual syndrome. This ‘syndrome’ has been argued to be largely socially
constructed, with little or no basis in biology (see, for example, Ussher, 1999),
however, others have developed integrative frameworks that include biological,
psychological and social aspects (see, for example, Vanselow, 2000). Both these
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perspectives give credence to psychosocial aspects of the menstrual cycle and, as

discussed earlier, socio-cultural constructions can have implications for girls’ and
women’s health and well being. It has been argued that by framing women’s problems
simply in terms of their biology, economic, political and social explanations are
sidelined (see Gannon, 1998).

The production and perpetuation of gender-related difference narratives

As discussed earlier, keeping menstruation secret in the school context was an
important issue for these girls. One aspect of this related to how to keep signs of
menstruation a secret in games sessions. In addition, all knew of girls who used their
period as an excuse to ‘skip’ a games lesson. For instance, Emma said:

I know a whole group in my class who use it as an excuse to sit together and talk all
through the PE lesson, just a way of getting out of it.

Oxley (1998) found that women often avoid situations where they may have their
menstruation exposed, and it is not surprising, given the practical difficulties and
potential for embarrassment, that girls avoid games. This narrative of menstruation as
an ‘excuse’ for not participating in physical activity could be one of the reasons why
women do not participate in exercise as much as men (see the Allied Dunbar National
Fitness Survey, 1992, for details of women’s lesser participation) and could therefore
have implications for their long-term physical and psychological health (also see
Prendergast, 1989).
The girls also expressed an awareness of differences in the way boys and girls could
speak about their developing bodies:

Lucy: It’s like, one day I was sitting next to a boy, in science and he goes like, ‘I’ve
got an erection’ … I couldn’t believe it, because he just came out with it and I was
like, ugh … he goes, do you want to know what I’m doing with it, and I go NO, I
don’t want to know.
Int: Do you think they do it to shock you?
Lucy: Yeah, ‘cos they think it’s like, yeah, ‘cos if their voice is breaking, they say to
their mates, yeah, my voice is breaking.
Fran: He said, that ‘oh, I’m going through puberty’ (…) big deal. I don’t think
they get embarrassed at all.
 GIRLS’ EXPERIENCES OF MENARCHE AND MENSTRUATION 245

The purported attitude of the boys towards menstruation is illustrated in this next
quote:

Lucy: I think they think it’s a bit gross really. ‘Ugh, you’ve got a period.’
Fran: Sometimes they think you’re funny as well.
Lucy: Yeah, they start laughing and you think, why, it’s not funny, what you
laughing for?

By ‘funny’ the girls were not implying that they thought the boys saw them as
humorous, but rather that, compared to themselves, the boys thought the girls were
different, or odd because they were menstruating.
These exchanges can be seen as examples of how narratives of gender-related
differences are produced in everyday conversations. Crawford and Unger (2000) argue
that language conveys the message that men and women are different in important ways
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and that this is used in psychology, and it could be argued more generally, to justify
girls’ and women’s social inferiority. The extracts emphasize differences and inequal-
ities in the ways that boys and girls can talk about their developing bodies. The girls
have constructed boys as being able to talk about their developing bodies in a different
way to themselves. Boys’ bodies and their development are constructed as something to
be proud of, whilst girls’ are something to be ashamed of. This reinforces the notion
that girls’ and women’s bodies are inferior to boys’ and men’s (Ussher et al., 2000).
Kerfoot and Knights (1994) argue that power inequalities are produced, reproduced
and maintained through these kind of gendered subjectivities and individuals’ actions.
I asked the girls if managing their periods would be easier if they could talk about it
more openly with the boys but this was something they felt uncomfortable with:

?: I’m not sure if I would like it though if it was brought out into the open
?: if they [boys] all knew you were on your period
?: yeah, but they would all like, have this thing about you

To ‘have this thing about you’ implies a hold over a person, and this representation
indicates that the knowledge that a girl is menstruating could be used as a tool for
oppression and ridicule, especially in the context of school. This again highlights how
gender inequalities are produced and maintained through the ‘actions’ of gendered
individuals and the employment of gender difference narratives. However, not all boys
were constructed in this way. The girls indicated that they would talk selectively to boys
and men, for example, brothers or fathers:

Int: You told your brother?

Jo: Yeah.
Int: So he’s quite good about it, he understands?
Jo: Yeah, like, if I’m in the toilet or something, and started, I say, yeah, go and get
me a pad, he will.
Lucy: He’s very sensitive (…) he’s a nice boy.

Jo’s brother is constructed as a non-typical boy in comparison to other boys who are
seen and insensitive and unpleasant. This difference in construction could be due to the
differing contexts; the public arena of school verses the private and more personal
environment of home.
 246 A. BURROWS & S. JOHNSON

The anxieties expressed about ‘managing’ menstruation in the school were prevalent
in the girls’ accounts. As highlighted earlier, this was in terms of concerns about people
(particularly boys at school) finding their pads or finding out they were ‘on’, being
teased or bullied, pads being visible beneath clothing and being unprepared for their
period starting. Given the anxieties and concerns described by these girls, it is not
surprising that menstruation can become associated with feelings of anxiety and
embarrassment for adult women (Oxley, 1998).
This analysis of the girls’ accounts demonstrates the way in which narratives of
gender differences are produced and maintained in everyday conversations. These can
have practical implications for girls and women in terms of their participation in
physical activity, being ashamed about their bodies in comparison to boys and men,
and anxieties and concerns about the visibility of menstruation specifically in public
contexts. However, this analysis also demonstrates that these narratives do not simply
reflect girls’ experiences but can act to subjugate them in that they reinforce the notion
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of ‘woman as lack, as absence or as other to man’ (Ussher et al., 2000, p. 85).

Conclusions
When I began reviewing the literature for the study reported here I came across many
negative representations of menarche and menstruation, both in traditional and
feminist research and theorizing. However, I was pleased that some researchers had
recognized the potential implications of such negativity and incorporated more positive
aspects into their research. This was more reflective of my own views, and I agree with
Choi and McKeown (1997) that this can be a way of challenging stereotypes and
potentially lead to positive consequences. This was one of the reasons why I specifically
asked the girls if they thought there was anything good about the menstrual cycle.
However, I was somewhat disappointed by their responses which seemed to reflect
dominant representations of menarche and menstruation identified by feminists:
something to be ashamed of, embarrassed about, kept secrecy and an illness. The
meaning of menstruation for these girls seemed to be largely constructed through a
range of negative socio-cultural representations and practices.
From its conception through to the writing of these conclusions, my theoretical ideas
have changed considerably. By adopting a qualitative approach, I initially thought I
would ‘get at’ girls’ own experiences rather than potentially prioritizing the researchers.
This change from analysing the accounts within a realist ontology to one that
recognizes the value of a feminist constructionist framework has led me to be somewhat
optimistic. I now believe that the girls’ accounts reported here tell us something about
how experience is constructed, negotiated and resisted and that these constructions are
not unitary but multiplex. Indeed, in the present study, Vicky reported positive
experiences in a context where these were being strongly resisted by the other girls, and
Fran spoke of resisting the illness narrative of menstruation. In Braun and Wilkinson’s
(2003) analysis of women’s discussion about the vagina, they argue that this talk could
be classified into positive and negative dimensions but that these aspects, as well as
more neutral talk, co-existed in the women’s accounts. I would therefore argue that our
analysis can tell us something about specific social interactions and contexts in which
these girls’ experiences of menstruation are constructed and it is within these that
largely negative constructions might arise, for instance, the school (or other public)
contexts or in talking about it in the company of peers.
 GIRLS’ EXPERIENCES OF MENARCHE AND MENSTRUATION 247

I have also argued that representations of menarche and menstruation can have
implications for girls and women. For instance, negative representations could lead to
difficulties for individuals in terms of reluctance to seek help or advice. In addition,
embarrassment and shame about managing menstruation might lead girls and women
to restrict their involvement in physical activities. Our analysis indicates how girls’ and
women’s behaviour can be misattributed and other important aspects of their
experience ignored. I have also highlighted how gender-related differences narratives
are produced and perpetuated through gendered subjectivities and how these can be
used to subjugate girls and women.
Braun and Wilkinson’s (2003) analysis of women’s talk about the vagina shows how
feminist and other challenges to negative representations of the vagina were evident in
women’s accounts, as many of the women in their study spoke about the vagina as an
‘asset’. Braun and Wilkinson argue that this suggests that ‘promoting more ‘‘positive’’
knowledges about the vagina … may well be effective in helping allow positive
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meanings and experiences …’ (p. 39). However, resistance and more positive
representations will not come easily in the face of hegemonic cultural scripts of
menstruation and socialization practices which prepare girls to behave in powerless
ways. However, there is some suggestion in the literature that this may be changing. For
instance, Lawlor and Choi’s (1998) study of mood attribution suggests that those
under the age of 18 may hold more positive views towards the menstrual cycle than
previous generations. However, Kissling (1996) suggests that, despite movements in
the United States to promote and celebrate menstruation, the girls in her study found
them strange and humorous and, similarly, it could be argued that the girls in the
present study resisted positive constructions.
In line with our theoretical framework, we argue that meanings attached to menarche
and menstruation are constructed by developing and changing, context specific, socio-
cultural representations and practices; therefore it is these which need to be challenged
and disrupted if girls’ and women’s experiences are to change for the better. One way of
doing this is to promote more positive representations of menarche and menstruation.
Ways in which this can be done are for academics and practitioners to continue to
critically examine how socio-cultural representations inform theory and practice.
Potential sites and contexts for promotion of positive representations included
academic writing, health professional education, school sex and health education, the
management of menstruation in schools, and the media, including girls’ magazines and
the internet. However, some of the views of those responsible for the contexts in which
young people operated in the present study, and the negativity portrayed by the girls,
show that such changes may not be easily achieved.

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