Are menstrual periods an environmental liability? Period poverty and eco-feminist bioethics.

IF 1.7 2区 哲学 Q2 ETHICS
Bioethics Pub Date : 2025-04-22 DOI:10.1111/bioe.13417
Cristina Richie
{"title":"Are menstrual periods an environmental liability? Period poverty and eco-feminist bioethics.","authors":"Cristina Richie","doi":"10.1111/bioe.13417","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Period poverty has led to many initiatives across the world. In some places, period (or menstrual hygiene management [MHM]) products are free and readily found in restaurants, universities and pubs. However, conversations on mensuration management have also led to discussions on sustainability. One ad in a bathroom states, 'why not try swapping (from tampons or pads) to a…carbon lowering menstrual cup?' This begs the question not only how can menstruation management be more sustainable, but also, since it (ostensibly) is not, do females have an ethical obligation to limit, or eliminate, periods for the sake of environmental conservation? This question speaks to deeper themes whereby females are vilified for their bodies (think: blaming the victim in sexual assault; blaming females in the developing world for having 'too many children'; and blaming females for miscarriages related to high-risk behaviours). This paper will first offer the background of the period poverty movement. It will then explore salient themes related to gender, ecology, ethics and health through the lenses of eco-feminism and feminist bioethics. The third task of the paper will be to analyse the implications of environmental ethics on female physical functioning, with specific attention to menstruation: this may be thought of as a case study in the underdeveloped area of eco-feminist bioethics. After describing the ethical and social issues surrounding sustainability and menstrual hygiene management, the paper, fourth, will return to the question initially raised: the ethical obligation to eliminate menstrual periods for the sake of the environment. The paper will claim that (1) females do not have a special obligation for menstrual elimination based on an environmental rationale, but, like all people, have a general ethical obligation to sustainability in all areas of life, including health care choices. (2) Females retain the right for period elimination for any reason, including environmental reasons.</p>","PeriodicalId":55379,"journal":{"name":"Bioethics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.7000,"publicationDate":"2025-04-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Bioethics","FirstCategoryId":"98","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1111/bioe.13417","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"ETHICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0

Abstract

Period poverty has led to many initiatives across the world. In some places, period (or menstrual hygiene management [MHM]) products are free and readily found in restaurants, universities and pubs. However, conversations on mensuration management have also led to discussions on sustainability. One ad in a bathroom states, 'why not try swapping (from tampons or pads) to a…carbon lowering menstrual cup?' This begs the question not only how can menstruation management be more sustainable, but also, since it (ostensibly) is not, do females have an ethical obligation to limit, or eliminate, periods for the sake of environmental conservation? This question speaks to deeper themes whereby females are vilified for their bodies (think: blaming the victim in sexual assault; blaming females in the developing world for having 'too many children'; and blaming females for miscarriages related to high-risk behaviours). This paper will first offer the background of the period poverty movement. It will then explore salient themes related to gender, ecology, ethics and health through the lenses of eco-feminism and feminist bioethics. The third task of the paper will be to analyse the implications of environmental ethics on female physical functioning, with specific attention to menstruation: this may be thought of as a case study in the underdeveloped area of eco-feminist bioethics. After describing the ethical and social issues surrounding sustainability and menstrual hygiene management, the paper, fourth, will return to the question initially raised: the ethical obligation to eliminate menstrual periods for the sake of the environment. The paper will claim that (1) females do not have a special obligation for menstrual elimination based on an environmental rationale, but, like all people, have a general ethical obligation to sustainability in all areas of life, including health care choices. (2) Females retain the right for period elimination for any reason, including environmental reasons.

经期对环境有害吗?时期贫困与生态女性主义生命伦理学。
时期贫困在世界各地引发了许多倡议。在一些地方,经期(或月经卫生管理[MHM])产品是免费的,在餐馆、大学和酒吧都很容易找到。然而,关于测量管理的讨论也引发了关于可持续性的讨论。浴室里的一则广告写道:“为什么不试试(从卫生棉条或卫生巾)换成……降碳月经杯呢?”这就引出了一个问题,不仅月经管理如何才能更可持续,而且,既然(表面上)不是,女性是否有道德义务为了环境保护而限制或消除月经?这个问题涉及更深层次的主题,即女性因其身体而受到诋毁(想想:指责性侵犯的受害者;指责发展中国家的女性生了“太多孩子”;并指责女性流产与高危行为有关)。本文首先提供了这一时期贫困运动的背景。然后,它将通过生态女权主义和女性主义生物伦理学的镜头探讨与性别、生态、伦理和健康有关的突出主题。本文的第三个任务将是分析环境伦理对女性生理功能的影响,特别关注月经:这可能被认为是生态女权主义生物伦理欠发达地区的一个案例研究。在描述了围绕可持续性和经期卫生管理的伦理和社会问题之后,第四篇论文将回到最初提出的问题:为了环境而消除经期的伦理义务。该论文将声称(1)基于环境理由,女性没有消除月经的特殊义务,但是,像所有人一样,在生活的所有领域,包括保健选择,都有可持续发展的一般伦理义务。(2)女性保留以任何理由(包括环境原因)取消经期的权利。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
求助全文
约1分钟内获得全文 求助全文
来源期刊
Bioethics
Bioethics 医学-医学:伦理
CiteScore
4.20
自引率
9.10%
发文量
127
审稿时长
6-12 weeks
期刊介绍: As medical technology continues to develop, the subject of bioethics has an ever increasing practical relevance for all those working in philosophy, medicine, law, sociology, public policy, education and related fields. Bioethics provides a forum for well-argued articles on the ethical questions raised by current issues such as: international collaborative clinical research in developing countries; public health; infectious disease; AIDS; managed care; genomics and stem cell research. These questions are considered in relation to concrete ethical, legal and policy problems, or in terms of the fundamental concepts, principles and theories used in discussions of such problems. Bioethics also features regular Background Briefings on important current debates in the field. These feature articles provide excellent material for bioethics scholars, teachers and students alike.
×
引用
GB/T 7714-2015
复制
MLA
复制
APA
复制
导出至
BibTeX EndNote RefMan NoteFirst NoteExpress
×
提示
您的信息不完整,为了账户安全,请先补充。
现在去补充
×
提示
您因"违规操作"
具体请查看互助需知
我知道了
×
提示
确定
请完成安全验证×
copy
已复制链接
快去分享给好友吧!
我知道了
右上角分享
点击右上角分享
0
联系我们:info@booksci.cn Book学术提供免费学术资源搜索服务,方便国内外学者检索中英文文献。致力于提供最便捷和优质的服务体验。 Copyright © 2023 布克学术 All rights reserved.
京ICP备2023020795号-1
ghs 京公网安备 11010802042870号
Book学术文献互助
Book学术文献互助群
群 号:481959085
Book学术官方微信