Preferred Name
Kathryn Lese
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Date of Graduation
Spring 2016
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
School of Communication Studies
Advisor(s)
Heather J. Carmack
Abstract
In 2015, Rupi Kaur’s photography project featuring a menstruating woman was censored on Instagram, a photo sharing social media platform. The menstruation censorship created a surge in public media discourse about what is and is not appropriate to discuss about menstruation. Menstruation communication is often discrete or invisible in dominant discourse and focuses of medicalization rather than the social norms of “performing menstruation”. This thesis explores menstruation communication in public media discourse and examines how it empowers and disempowers the menstruating female body. Themes including the everyday language of menstruation, patriarchal censorship of women’s bodies, shame and stigma in menstruation discourse, and medical ideology and essentialization are examined. Recommendations for future research suggest inclusive approaches to women’s health research and expanding research approaches to women’s health care research and studies on menstruation.
Recommended Citation
Lese, Kathryn M., "Padded assumptions: A critical discourse analysis of patriarchal menstruation discourse" (2016). Masters Theses, 2010-2019. 103.
https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/master201019/103
Included in
Critical and Cultural Studies Commons, Gender and Sexuality Commons, Gender, Race, Sexuality, and Ethnicity in Communication Commons, Health Communication Commons, Social Media Commons
