Bloody Images: Everyday Understandings of Menstruation
Author
Lund, Freja
Term
4. term
Education
Publication year
2026
Submitted on
2026-05-28
Abstract
This thesis explores men’s and women’s everyday understandings of menstruation, focusing on the sociocultural ideas, values, and perceptions attached to it. Grounded in social representations theory, it uses a qualitative, multimodal design combining two semi-structured focus groups with four men and four women aged 20–30, participant-created drawings, and video elicitation with two adverts for menstrual products (one portraying emancipation and one emphasizing concealment). The material was examined using latent thematic analysis. Among men, the themes Us/Them, Public/Private, and Normal/Abnormal were identified; among women, Us/Them, Public/Private, and Freedom/Oppression. Across groups, menstruation emerges as a taboo and gendered phenomenon shaped by social structures and stereotypes. Men stress the need to normalize menstruation as a mundane, natural part of everyday life that should not create social distance, while also distancing themselves from men who hold stereotypical views of women. Women emphasize how menstruation is embedded in patriarchal norms and how open talk and making it visible can challenge negative perceptions and promote an understanding of menstruation as natural and empowering. Both groups call for change yet navigate tensions between social norms of discretion and the wish for openness.
Dette speciale undersøger mænds og kvinders hverdagsforståelser af menstruation med fokus på de sociokulturelle idéer, værdier og opfattelser, der knytter sig til fænomenet. Med afsæt i social repræsentationsteori anvendes en kvalitativ, multimodal tilgang, der kombinerer to semistrukturerede fokusgruppeinterviews med fire mænd og fire kvinder i alderen 20–30 år, deltagertegnninger og video-elicitering af to reklamer for menstruationsprodukter (én med et frigørende budskab og én, der fremhæver hemmeligholdelse). Materialet analyseres gennem latent tematisk analyse. Hos mænd identificeres temaerne os/dem, offentligt/privat og normal/abnormal; hos kvinder os/dem, offentligt/privat og frihed/undertrykkelse. På tværs af grupperne fremstår menstruation som et tabubelagt og kønnet fænomen formet af samfundsmæssige strukturer og stereotype forestillinger. Mændene fremhæver behovet for at normalisere menstruation som et almindeligt, naturligt hverdagsfænomen, der ikke bør skabe social afstand, og markerer samtidig distance til mænd med stereotype syn på kvinder. Kvinderne betoner, at menstruation er indlejret i patriarkalske normer, og at åben samtale og synlighed kan udfordre negative opfattelser og styrke forståelsen af menstruation som naturlig og frigørende. Begge grupper efterlyser forandring, men navigerer i spændet mellem sociale normer om diskretion og ønsket om åbenhed.
[This abstract has been generated with the help of AI directly from the project full text]
Keywords