From embodied shame to reclaiming the stain: Reflections on a career in menstrual activism. Issue 4 (July 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Quint, Chella
• Other Names: Pickering Lucy guest-editor.; Wiseman Phillippa guest-editor.; Armstrong Sarah guest-editor.
• Is Part Of: Sociological review. Volume 67:Issue 4(2019)
• Page Start: 927
• Page End: 942
• Publication Date: 2019-07
• Subjects: autoethnography -- menstrual activism -- menstrual taboo -- menstruation -- shame; Sociology -- Periodicals; 301
• DOI: 10.1177/0038026119854275
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0038-0261

Abstract

How did I come to embody and then ultimately reject the idea that periods, and period stains, are inherently dirty? How did I get from scrubbing period stains off my clothes at age 12 to crowdsurfing with a stain at a period demo in front of Parliament nearly 30 years later? Who influenced me and how have I influenced others to reject the idea that menstrual blood stains make us dirty? This article traces my 30-plus-year history of adventures in menstruating and my trajectory from embodying shame to thinking critically about how periods are presented to people of all genders – whether we menstruate or not – and trying to move the discourse through art and comedy, menstruating with pride and encouraging others to join me.