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Abstract

Strong cultural messages are sent to women that their bodies are unacceptable as they are, thus encouraging engagement in a variety of body-altering practices. It seems that one of the obligations that women have in a culture that sexually objectifies their bodies is to conceal their bodies' more physical functions, such as menstruation. A new scale was constructed to measure women's attitudes and emotions toward menstruation. A study was conducted to test the relationship between self-objectification and women's menstrual self-evaluations. Results showed that women who internalize a more sexually objectified view of their physical selves have more negative attitudes and emotions, including disgust and shame, toward their own menstrual cycles.

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Female Trouble: The Menstrual Self-Evaluation Scale and Women's Self-Objectification

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