Blood and Guts: Menstrual Suppression in the Context of Objectification, Gender, and Choice

Abstract

Menstrual suppression, the reduction or elimination of occurrences of monthly bleeding, has become increasingly commonplace. As with many choices that women make about their bodies, however, the decision to suppress menstruation may be influenced at least in part by the socially constructed meanings associated with their bodies and its stigmatized functions. In this study, we investigated whether self-objectification may be associated with menstrual suppression using quantitative measures of objectified body consciousness. We found that one aspect of self-objectification in particular, body surveillance, was significantly correlated with menstrual suppression. We also explored menstruators’ self-reported motivations for pursuing suppression using open-ended responses and found that different groups of suppressors endorsed different motivations. That is, menstruators who sought short-term suppression were more likely to be motivated by specific activities for which periods are judged to be incompatible (i.e., sexual relations and important events), whereas menstruators who sought long-term suppression were more likely to be motivated by persistent unpleasant circumstances associated with menstruation (i.e., inconvenience and pain). Finally, we discuss the implications of these findings in context of health, stigma, objectification, and choice.