“I never felt that I could open up about things”: Exploring how menstruation stigma is enacted in menstrual health conversations

Menstruation is constructed as taboo, resulting in hyper-vigilance and self-policing to avoid breaching societal norms that require concealment. This research explores menstruation stigma is enacted in discussions around menstrual health both socially and with healthcare professionals. Reflexive thematic analysis of 45 semi-structured interviews with menstruating women, provides insights into the complex interplay between hegemonic femininity and menstrual stigma in how women approach menstrual health conversations with each other and healthcare providers. Results illustrated how enacted stigma as well as internalisation of stigma and hegemonic femininity contributed to participants’ sense of anticipated stigma, which inhibited their ability to communicate openly about menstruation outside of close informal support networks. Stigma experiences eroded participants’ trust in healthcare providers, and resulted in self-censorship in conversations about menstruation more broadly. However, the research also shows how empowering positive healthcare interactions can be, and a number of participants engaged in menstrual activism by resisting menstrual taboo. By highlighting the experiences of young women in menstrual health communication, this research contributes to our understanding of the pervasive impact of menstrual stigma and patriarchal norms of femininity, while shedding light on the potential to harness change through supportive healthcare interactions and everyday menstrual activism.