Collected as part of a small-scale qualitative study of socio-cultural aspects of menstruation, interview data dealing with the task of buying sanitary towels and tampons are presented. They reveal a potentially embarrassing dilemma between an overarching requirement for discretion in menstrual matters and the necessity to ‘go public’ when shopping. Strategies for managing this dilemma form the substance of the paper.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AllenH., (1984), ‘At the mercy of her hormones: Premenstrual tension and the law’, M/F9: 19–44.
2.
BulloughV.BulloughB., (1977), Sin, Sickness, and Sanity: A History of Sexual Attitudes, USA: Meridian Books, New Americal Library.
3.
CrabbeJ., (1975), ‘Menstruation as stigma’, PhD Thesis, University of Colorado.
4.
DaltonK., (1979), Once a Month, Pomona, CA: Hunter House.
5.
DanA., (1986), ‘The law and women's bodies: The case of menstruation leave in Japan’, in OlesenV.WoodsN., (eds), Culture Society and Menstruation, Washington: Hemisphere.
6.
EdwardsS., (1984), Women on Trial: A Study of the Female Suspect, Defendent and Offender in the Criminal Law and Criminal Justice System, Manchester: Manchester University Press.
7.
FaithornE., (1975), ‘The concept of pollution among the Kafe of the Papua New Guinea Highlands’, in ReiterR., (ed.), Toward an Anthropology of Women, New York and London: Monthly Review Press.
8.
GeorgeAlison, (1990), ‘Social and cultural aspects of menstruation: An ethnographic analysis’, unpublished PhD dissertation, University of Wales (submitted December 1989).
9.
HarlowS., (1986), ‘Function and disfunction: A historical critique of the literature on menstruation and work’, in OlesenV.WoodsN., (eds), Culture, Society and Menstruation, Washington: Hemisphere.
10.
JoffeN., (1948), ‘The vernacular of menstruation’, Word, 4(3):181–6.
11.
KesslerE., (1976), Women: An Anthropological View, New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
12.
KitzingerS., (1985), Women's Experience of Sex, Harmondsworth: Penguin.
13.
LawsSophie, (1985), ‘Social meanings of menstruation: A feminist investigation’, unpublished PhD dissertation, University of Warwick.
14.
LoganD.CalderJ.CohenB., (1980), ‘Toward a contemporary tradition for menarche’, Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 9(3):263–9.
15.
MalinowskiB., (1957), The Sexual Life of Savages, third edition, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
16.
MansfieldPennyCollardJean, (1988), The Beginning of the Rest of Your Life?, London: Macmillan.
17.
MeadM., (1930), Growing Up in New Guinea, Harmondsworth: Penguin.
18.
MeadM. (1935), Sex and Temperament in Three Primitive Societies, New York: William Morrow.
19.
MeadM., (1949), Male and Female, Harmondsworth: Pelican Books.
20.
MontgomeryR., (1974), ‘A cross-cultural study of menstruation, menstrual taboos, and related social variables'mEthos, 2(2):137–70.
21.
OlesenV.WoodsN., (eds), (1986), Culture, Society and Menstruation, Washington: Hemisphere.
22.
PahlR.E., (1984), Divisions of Labour, Oxford: Blackwell.
23.
PrendergastS., (1989), ‘Girls' experience of menstruation in school’, in HollyL., (ed.), Girls and Sexuality Teaching and Learning, Milton Keynes: Open University Press.
24.
WeidegerP., (1978), Female Cycles, London: The Women's Press.
25.
WrightFay, (1983), ‘Single carers: Employment, housework and caring’, in FinchJanetGrovesDulcie, (eds), A Labour of Love: Women, Work and Caring, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
