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The Uniform: Symbols of Power, Propaganda and Organization in Popular Culture
  • ISSN: 2050-0742
  • E-ISSN: 2050-0750

Abstract

Based on news reports of girls being period-shamed because of menstrual stains on school uniforms, and how female students are forced to remain at home during their menstruating days, the article details the traumatic impact of such incidents. The manner in which these incidents reflect and reinforce menstrual etiquette is analysed against the backdrop of the dominant menstrual culture. Menstrual narratives of women from different cultural contexts have been recounted to comprehend the day-to-day menstrual experiences of women. The article does not place an exclusive emphasis on any single cultural setting and takes up menstrual stories and studies from diverse countries such as India, Kenya, Tanzania and the United Kingdom, highlighting the global nature of the issue discussed. The study, therefore, goes beyond focus on specific cultural locations and attempts to locate the similarities of menstrual experiences across cultural boundaries, and the uniformity that underlie heterogeneous individual menstrual experiences, and sheds light on everyday menstruality. Real-life stories of women becoming victims of and how they contest the dominant social perception of menstrual bloodstains are followed by a discussion on the stain shame and menstrual dignity. Debates surrounding menstrual stains and school uniforms as well as instructional materials for adolescent girls which deal with this issue and the impact it has on their self-esteem and period positivity are also explored.

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/content/journals/10.1386/cc_00067_1
2024-10-31
2025-01-22
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/content/journals/10.1386/cc_00067_1
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  • Article Type: Article
Keyword(s): corporeal heterogeneity; everyday menstrual experiences; menstrual dignity; menstrual etiquette; menstrual stories; menstruation; period stains; period-positivity

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