Summary:
During the last few years, the period or, if we want to follow strictly scientificmedical terms, menstruation, has been brought back into the spotlight. Its presence in the public sphere, as well as several activist actions and practices around it, highlight the signs of a process of destigmatisation, which is challenging the oppressive dominant discourse of shame and silence about menstruation.
This paper introduces “menstrual activism” into the Greek vocabulary and examines the development of this particular form of social activism and its connection to the third wave of feminism, developing a feminist theoretical framework for understanding menstruation, based on the interdisciplinary field of Critical Menstruation Studies. In the context of this empirical, qualitative research, data are generated through 12 semi structured interviews with activists from the field of menstrual activism in Greece. The participants of this research are 18-42 years old, active in formal and informal spaces of menstrual activism.
My research focuses on the documentation of contemporary trends of menstrual
activism in Greece, as well as on the points of convergence and divergence from
global trends. More specifically, my primary research questions are the following:
i) what transformations are identified over the years in the dominant narratives
about menstruation, ii) how has period stigma been constructed and consolidated within the context of bio-political societies, and iii) is period stigma ultimately deconstructed or reconstructed through activists’ efforts and actions.
The present research aspires to fill a gap in the Greek literature, as menstruation and menstrual activism in Greece have not yet been explored, especially from the perspective of social sciences.
Through the interviews and experiences of activists, the aim of this paper is to explore the possible changes in the dominant narratives about menstruation and to constitute a first attempt to “map” menstrual activism groups in Greece.
Keywords:
period, menstruation, activism, stigma, gender
