Fall 2023: Nadine Jose
A Period Piece: Analyzing Portrayals of Menstruation in Film from the 1960s to the 2020s
Nadine Jose
Cinema & Television Arts, Elon University
Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements in an undergraduate senior capstone course in communications
Abstract
Menstruation is a universal human experience for over half of the global population, yet it remains relatively absent in media, especially in fictional narratives. This content analysis examines films from the 1960s to the 2020s to determine if depictions and attitudes toward menstruation have changed. The study identified a dearth of representation and substantial negativity toward menstruation and menstruators within the films. Findings also reveal a pattern of those menstruating experiencing some aspect of shame, maintaining secrecy, using coded language, or experiencing derisive treatment in all films. Conversely, while contemporary films contain some harmful ideas or actions, efforts of normalization and rectification were employed to combat them. The observed patterns demonstrate some progress in dismantling outdated attitudes toward menstruation while emphasizing the ongoing need for normalization. These findings underscore the importance of exploring and understanding fictional media’s role in shaping cultural norms and beliefs.
Keywords: menstruation, film analysis, cultivation theory, media representation
Email: njose@elon.edu
Author’s Note
While the content below focuses on “girls” and “women” when referencing people who menstruate, the author acknowledges that other genders experience menstruation. The majority of the literature focuses on the impacts and experiences of cis-gendered girls and women menstruating, which leads to some limitations on inclusive gender pronouns.
1. Introduction
Period. That time of the month. Aunt Flo. Shark week. The curse. Regardless of its moniker, menstruation is an undeniable reality for more than half of the world’s population. Menstruation has long served as a unique marker in both the biological and cultural transition from childhood to womanhood (Rembeck, Moller, & Gunnarsson, 2006). Despite its universality, representations of menstruation in media remain scarce. Lauren Rosewarne (2012) found that a defining catalyst to her text, Periods in Pop Culture, Menstruation in Film and Television, was the disparity between the opportunities for dialogue and community in her own life, and what she was seeing in film and television. Rosewarne’s sentiments are not atypical but echo a pattern concerning the tumultuous relationship that menstruation and media have.
Historically media regarding menstruation, or the lack thereof, has been used as a tool to “support and reinforce social structures and gender roles that curtail the potential of women in terms of their public involvement as well as their personal identities” (Merskin, 1999). The dearth of media on menstruation contributes to misinformation, and real-life consequences like policing both the perception of those who menstruate and how people menstruate. Currently, twenty-one states in the United States still charge sales tax on period products, colloquially known as the tampon tax (Alliance for Period Supplies, 2023). By taxing menstrual products, states are deeming them as non-essential items, creating an unfair financial burden on half the population (Elsesser, 2023). Further, without easy access to menstrual products, women have reported: “missing school or work and feeling embarrassed, ashamed, or depressed” (Elsesser, 2023). This financial barrier reinforces a cultural ignorance of the ways that menstruation impacts women’s public and private lives.
Lese (2016) argues that “women are taught that periods are a private process.” The absence of fictional mediums like film serves as an intentional means of maintaining social inequity through underrepresentation. When a particular group’s experience is not represented, there is an implicit message that certain communities are lesser than others, degrading lived experiences through explicit omission (Klein & Shiffman, 2009). The minimal representations of menstruation and those who menstruate indicate a cyclical pattern where media mirrors reality, and reality shapes media; if the menstrual experience is repressed in real life, then the same stifling is reflected in media. Therefore, it becomes exceedingly important to address how visual media can shape society’s views on menstruation.
Brian De Palma’s (1976) horror, Carrie, is one of the most prominent depictions of menstruation in popular culture. When the film’s eponymous Carrie experiences menarche, it prompts cruel treatment from her peers and instigates both suffering and a violent rampage of evil. Although the bloodshed in Carrie is particularly prolific, the film’s attitude toward menstruation is not novel. When menstruation is integrated into media, most often, “menstruation is portrayed as a cultural taboo in negative media depictions of periods and women during menstruation” (Lese, 2016). Meaning, that even when films include menstruation in their narrative, they are typically unfavorable or even damaging depictions of the experience, all of which contribute to narratives like expected secrecy, crippling shame, sexual objectification, or even being viewed as an otherworldly entity. Women then deal not only with the bodily facet of menstruation but must also navigate societal expectations fortified by media on how girls and women should act when menstruating.
Menstruation is by no means a new phenomenon, but it has yet to traverse from taboo to typical. As cultural development is highly dependent and reflective of the media created, if something as fundamental as menstruation has not reached a level of normalcy in a medium like a film, there is a blatant and conscious effort of erasure (Gerbner & Gross, 1976). To exclude or vilify menstruation is to disregard the experience of all girls, women, and people who menstruate. In looking at the future of cinema, it is integral to interrogate just how the entertainment industry treats menstruation on screen.
This article will review the literature on cultivation theory and symbolic annihilation theory as well as how the process of menstruation has been treated culturally in the past. Next, the paper’s methodology will be described, then, the findings section will answer the research questions and link the results back to the literature. In addition, portrayals of menstruating girls and women in U.S. films, and the different associations and norms that come out of such depictions will be analyzed.
Theoretical Framework
Cultivation Theory
Cultivation theory proposes that as people view more television, they are more likely to believe in and be influenced by what they are seeing; as viewership increases, so does the belief that the events on screen are portrayals of reality (Gerbner & Gross, 1976). While Gerbner and Gross (1976) isolate television in their study, film’s status as a form of mass communication has become comparable in accessibility with the rise of avenues like streaming services.
Cultivation theory argues that even when viewers are presented with a fictional world, they assume it takes “place against a backdrop of the real world. Nothing impeaches the basic ‘reality’ of the world of television” (Gerbner & Gross, 1976). While viewers can comprehend that they are seeing characters in a made-up story, the world in which they exist remains tethered to reality. In television, and therein film, there is fundamentally no delineation between fiction and reality.
The world films create is a socially constructed reality that gives a “coherent picture of what exists, what is important, what is related to what, and what is right” (Gerbner & Gross, 1976). Under the premise of realism, films can tactically and purposefully convey a set of norms and beliefs about how the world is or should be. If the reality the film designs promotes discriminatory actions or normalizes negative stereotypes, there is a notion of permissibility communicated to viewers.
In considering attitudes toward gender, the role of women has “largely been influenced by patriarchal values that portray and socialize them as subordinate, submissive, and deferential to males (Bahlieda, 2015). Under cultivation theory, the consistent portrayals of women as lesser than is not merely an idea, but a fact of life. What is presented to viewers is a reality in which women are inferior. Thus, depictions of scenarios that deal with the degradation of women provide a paradigm scenario for male emotional responses to women outside the screen.
Symbolic Annihilation Theory
As Gerbner and Gross (1976) understood it, “Representation in the fictional world signifies social existence; absence means symbolic annihilation.” Symbolic annihilation is the absence of representation, or underrepresentation, of some group of people in the media as a means of maintaining social inequity (Venzo & Hess, 2013).
Symbolic annihilation is uniquely concerning because it, “presents people with implied messages about what it means to be a member of a culturally valued group versus a member of a socially disenfranchised group (or ‘out group’)” (Klein & Shiffman, 2009). The absence of a particular group’s experience is a stance in itself, showing viewers “how one should or should not act” (Klein & Shiffman, 2009). Presenting a singular mode of being, if any at all, is a concerted effort to control marginalized groups, erase specific experiences, and vilify particular communities. Through regulation of exposure, specific groups are conditioned to subscribe to expectations they did not set.
For women, there is a long-standing precedent of symbolic annihilation. Intentional or implicit, their absence is indicative of society’s devaluation of their ideas and experiences. Symbolic annihilation extends beyond film, “As with so many fields of politics and research, women are absent from, or insignificant to, the central concerns of the history, culture, politics, and economy of (paid) work, industrial relations, and organizational studies” (Franzway, 2005).
II. Literature Review
Men and Menstruation: Patriarchy’s Role in Menstruation Attitudes
To interrogate the relationship between menstruation and media, the cultural structure in which menstruation and those who menstruate function must be established. The pervasive influence of patriarchy, a social system spanning generations, is central to understanding this dynamic. The core of patriarchy is not based merely on the oppression of women, however, a “social system that is male-identified, male-controlled, male-centered will inevitably value masculinity and masculine traits,” and as a byproduct marginalizes femininity and feminine traits (Becker, 1999). Bahielda (2015) argues that if culture is an expression of ideology, then “patriarchy is the social expression of culture.” Under this premise, culture, and patriarchy become so intertwined that they merge into a nearly single entity. This interconnectedness becomes particularly evident as patriarchy is recognized as the oldest group-think ideology, setting up the foundation for all other ideologies to build upon the patriarchal structure (Bahlieda, 2015). This means that an element of the patriarchal framework affects almost all societies in some capacity, thereby subjecting women to varying degrees of male control and dominance.
Patriarchy’s dominance over culture does not render women’s contributions moot; instead, it highlights the intentional exclusion of women in pivotal institutions that shape culture, like gender, economics, religion, education, leadership, power, and in this case film (Bahlieda, 2015). Further, the contributions of women become responses shaped by, whether intentionally or subconsciously, the patriarchal framework.
Within the patriarchal framework, menstruation serves as a symbol of both femininity and its perceived inferiority (Lese, 2016). Patriarchy defines societal norms, by shaping notions of decency. Patriarchal cultures have labeled menstruation as indecent, thereby restricting female empowerment through the perpetuation of shame and stigma. Consequently, women are compelled to adhere to these established cultural norms, “as a way to protect men from women’s bodies when they are presented in culturally undesirable forms” (Lese 2016). Effectively, safeguarding men from what is considered culturally unfavorable representations of the female body. The culture women must operate in is then inherently discriminatory in creating and enforcing specific ideals that contribute to the repression of women.
A Life of Shame and Secrecy
The shame patriarchal cultures place upon menstruation is most evident in the lengths girls and women endure to conceal their menstrual cycles. Menstrual blood staining has emerged as an emblem of women’s shame, representing “a lapse in the culturally mandated responsibility of all women to conceal evidence of menstruation and to prevent the embarrassment of others” (Roberts et al., 2002). Although the presence of blood itself is not inherently embarrassing, the act of witnessing menstrual blood is specifically labeled as taboo, reflecting a negative moral judgment on an action, regardless of intent (Gottlieb, 2020). This aversion to the sight or reminders of menstrual blood often leads to avoidance and is viewed as a blemish on a woman’s character (Johnston-Robledo & Chrisler, 2020).
Menarche, the first menstrual period, marks a physical transition but it also “demands emotional and social adjustments to the new identity and expectations” associated with “growing up” (Natsuaki, Leve & Mendle, 2011). Post-menarche, girls are treated differently by peers and parents and encouraged to adhere to restraining “ladylike” behaviors (Johnston-Robledo & Chrisler, 2020). This shift is accompanied by expectations that menstruation should be “a private event not to be talked about in public” (Rosewarne, 2012). The emphasis on privacy reinforces the perception that menstruation is an inherently “embarrassing event that must be concealed from others and never discussed openly,” perpetuating a cycle of silence (Lese, 2016).
To mitigate social discomfort around menstruation, euphemisms and metaphors are often employed. Euphemisms entail substituting milder or less direct words and phrases to soften the impact of concepts considered too harsh, blunt, or offensive. Euphemisms for menstruation like “my time of the month,” “the curse,” or even “period,” act as evasions of the term menstruation. The abundance of, and frequency in use of euphemisms implies a cultural history of associating shame with menstruation passed down through generations, (Lese, 2016). Opting for euphemisms is a strategy for self-preservation, aiming to avoid “emotional, sociological, spiritual, and/or political risks” (Gottlieb, 2020). These euphemisms contribute to the reinforcement of shame and secrecy, shaping discussions and descriptions to conform to societal language norms and avoid the stigma associated with the term menstruation (Lese, 2016).
Shame from peers, particularly male peers, can foster a climate of secrecy, especially during the onset of menstruation. Male peers often discussed “menstruation in a humorous context by making fun of girls in school who were seen with feminine products or dismissing and mocking PMS” (Lese, 2016). In this context, girls are the subjects of derision, chastised for even inadvertently revealing they are menstruating. The fear of being ridiculed occurs in private as well with girls withholding information from brothers or fathers in fear of being teased (Lese, 2016). Whether at home or in public, discussing menstruation feels unsafe for many girls and women due to constant language policing, leading to an enforced silence.
Talking about or revealing that one is menstruating involves constantly navigating power dynamics. Hypervigilant monitoring of staining or using euphemisms diminishes women’s autonomy and reinforces shame. Shame and secrecy operate in tandem to suppress open conversations about menstruation. Given that even mere discussion is frowned upon, then the integration of menstruation in media becomes the ultimate transgression.
The Sexualization of Menstruation
The innate connection between sexuality and menstruation stems from the idea that “menarche itself is a defloration,” (Delaney et al., 1976). The concept of menarche being a form of defloration underscores the connection between menstruation and readiness for marriage, where “many societies use the occasion of the menarche for a ritual defloration, either actual or symbolic,” (Delaney et al., 1976). This intersection of menstruation and sexuality is often emphasized through sexually charged discussions about girls’ bodies during puberty. Particularly, mother-daughter communication tends to focus on girls entering a sexual phase in their lives where they can now become pregnant, rather than centering the conversation strictly on biology, or the accompanying emotional turmoil of this experience (Lese, 2016).
While it is essential to recognize that menarche signifies a step into womanhood, it is not a complete transformation. Placing girls into a sexually charged context as soon as they begin to menstruate can lead to both biological and cultural confusion. Childhood is culturally framed as a period of asexuality, whereas womanhood is linked to a sexualized and objectified body (Bobier, 2020). This transition is where self-objectification becomes significant. Self-objectification refers to internalizing external viewpoints to the extent that one’s own identity is diminished to a mere object for assessment (Lese, 2016). This phenomenon intensifies during menarche, when girls’ bodies become more overtly sexual and, consequently, more objectified by others (Lese, 2016). During times of physiological changes like menarche, girls are at a heightened risk of adopting an observer’s perspective of their bodies (Lese, 2016). The lack of separation between the reproductive, and therefore sexual, aspect of menstruation forces girls into unwitting sexual beings as they begin to navigate their conceptions of self in conjunction with the messages thrust upon them.
Menstruation as Monstrous
While blood generally elicits horror regardless of the context, menstrual blood is accompanied by a distinct sense of dread. Menstrual blood possesses unique properties that set it apart from venous blood – it lacks the ability to clot, flows from a single source, and naturally stops without intervention. Despite causing occasional pain, menstruation rarely leads to severe hemorrhaging or death. The fact that menstruation involves the release of blood, but remains benign to the body, endows it with mystical properties (Gottlieb, 2020). The enigmatic nature of menstrual blood has led to its portrayal as an archetype for women in horror films. Briefel (2005) suggests that the “horror film positions menstruation as the structural double of the masochistic moment offered by male monsters.” Whereas men in horror films engage in self-mutilation to initiate their sadistic acts, this framing for women ignores the biological reality that menstruation is not a voluntary choice, nor is it pleasurable. Given that menstruation is symbolically linked to monstrosity, horror narratives often commence once the female monster reaches her period, serving as a precursor to violent acts (Briefel, 2005). This association between menstruation and monstrosity extends beyond a temporary monthly phenomenon, into the notion that menstruation is a curse inherited by women (Gottlieb, 2020).
This curse, deeply ingrained in cultural and religious interpretations, is rooted in the Judeo-Christian Bible. In the book of Genesis, the pain of childbirth is attributed as a curse for the “first woman,” Eve’s disobedience to god (Gottlieb, 2020). A succeeding book, Leviticus, connects the pain of menstruation with prescribed limitations for women. Over time, these stories have become intertwined in biblical interpretation, to construct the idea that menstruation is a divine curse linked to the fall of humankind due to Eve’s actions (Gottlieb, 2020). Since Eve is perceived to be the original woman, her curse is the curse of all women, until now. These biblical interpretations of menstruation have existed for centuries, leading to generations of women passing down both the notion of and physical actualization of “the curse” (Gottlieb, 2020).
Modeling Menstruation
Social cognitive theory, as proposed by Bandura and Bussey (1999), highlights how an individual’s perception and behavior are directly related to observing the relationships and experiences of others, known as models, through the context of social interaction and outside media influences. Modeling is a means of transmitting values, attitudes, and patterns of thought to convey the rules and structures embodied in the exemplars for generative behavior; when people observe a model performing a behavior and the consequences of that behavior, they remember the sequence of events and use this information to guide subsequent behaviors. Once an observer grasps the fundamental rules and structures underlying a modeled activity, they can “generate new patterns of behavior that conform to the structural properties but go beyond what they have seen or heard” (Bandura & Bussey, 1999). In this study, films serve as a bountiful source for all sorts of models to be shown and replicated outside of the direct context of their script. Viewers can take the general attitudes that are depicted on screen, and apply them in their own lives, normalizing or glorifying behaviors and attitudes that may be harmful in the process.
Further, modeled performance can create incentives or disincentives for certain actions. For example, seeing someone punished for engaging in certain activities, like discussing menstruation in a negative light, “can instill negative outcome expectations that serve as disincentives,” further discouraging behavior due to fear of ostracization or social shame (Bandura & Bussey, 1999). Under the social cognitive theory, gender role information is heavily shaped by the “repeated modeling of gender-typed behavior in the home, in schools, in workplaces, and televised portrayals,” and “the prototypic behaviors associated with each of the sexes” are instilled. For girls and women, gender-linked beliefs are largely socially prescribed rather than intrinsic, meaning that they will likely pursue “courses of action they believe will bring valued outcomes and refrain from those they believe will give rise to aversive outcomes” (Bandura & Bussey, 1999). If menstruation is consistently modeled as something to be treated with shame and secrecy, and discussions or portrayals of it are depicted negatively, then it becomes the norm that women are meant to follow in real life. Overall, social cognitive theory underscores how exposure to gender-linked behavior models in media forms like film can significantly influence real-life actions and choices.
III. Methods
In this study, a content analysis was conducted on four films spanning from the 1960s to the 2020s to examine frames about menstruation. The four films analyzed were: Clavell’s (1967) To Sir, With Love, De Palma’s (1976) version of Carrie, Zieff’s (1991) My Girl, and Shi’s (2022) Turning Red. The films chosen met the criteria of focusing on or containing scenes dedicated to menstruation and/or female puberty, as well as menstruation contributing to the advancement of the plot. Films were found using MUBI, a global streaming platform, production company, and film distributor that creates collections of films based on topics. The films selected were found in a curated list of movies on MUBI where the listed films all contained depictions of menstruation in some capacity.
Although the films used in this study vary in genre with To Sir, With Love being a drama, Carrie as a horror film, My Girl as a romance drama, and Turning Red as a family comedy, all films are based in the English language to minimize translation discrepancies or culturally untranslatable ideas revolving around menstruation. These four films span sixty years to give the study an ample frame to help track how sentiments of menstruation and those who menstruate change over time. This study aims to answer the following questions:
RQ1: Do the characters in these films openly discuss menstruation? Are there explicit attempts to avoid the discussion of menstruation with other characters in the film? If so, is coded language used to supplement such avoidances?
RQ2: Is menstruation reacted to with disgust, shame, mockery, or teasing from the character, peers, or adults in the film?
RQ3: Are there efforts to normalize menstruation in the film?
Content analysis is a research method for “analyzing written, verbal, or visual communication” (Elo & Kynagäs, 2007). This form of analysis provides a systematic process of describing and coding occurrences that allow researchers to group words, phrases, behaviors, and other sorts of data that can suggest commonality (Elo & Kynagäs, 2007). Content analysis is uniquely appropriate for analyzing films because the data generated accounts for filmmaking and viewer practices “in terms of an actual film text but also terms of its context, exposing practices linked to intertextuality and, most importantly, to socio-cultural dispositions” (Brylla 2018). Essentially, content analysis for film is a way to understand both the construction of a movie and how the narrative it creates is not only interpreted but is related and reflects other cultural ideas. Further, the patterns content analysis may yield can elucidate potential stereotypical clichéd representations (Brylla, 2018). Using content analysis for these films will be able to decipher both blatant and subliminal messages in examining the depictions of menstruation and those who menstruate, as well as the potential effects of those portrayals.
The films were watched from beginning to end and coded individually using attributes developed by the researcher. The categories coded for were: the physical expression of disgust (retching, gagging, screams); the verbal expression of disgust (“ew,” gross); allusions to menstruation to avoid a direct acknowledgment; the visual presence of menstrual products; the use of the word “normal” in describing menstruation; the employment of shame, mockery, or teasing from the peers or adults in the character’s life; and if there was a positive, negative, or with neutral reaction to menstruation. These codes are based primarily on identifying negative reactions to menstruation or those who menstruate, as well as looking at the presence or absence of menstruation or menstruation-related items. Thus, what is documented in each film using these codes can show if there is progress toward exposure and normalization of menstruation over time in the films. After the four films were watched and coded using the researcher’s attributes, the individual film results were then compared to one another.
IV. Findings
To Sir, with Love (1967)
Figure 1: Clavell (1967), Sir reprimanding girls in his class
Clavell’s (1967) film To Sir, With Love centers on a rambunctious London high school, where a novice teacher Mr. Thackeray, referred to as “Sir,” struggles to connect with students disinterested in learning, or respecting authority. They consistently test Sir by pulling dangerous pranks and sabotaging Sir’s attempts at conducting a proper lecture. One day, as Sir heads into the school, his students throw a water balloon at him from a window; luckily, he avoids the projectile. Perturbed, he enters his classroom and swiftly detects something burning in the classroom stove. The students wait in anticipation for his reaction, excited for a large reaction from the typically reserved Sir. He opens the stove and discovers the source of the smell: a used menstrual product. He is enraged and demands the boys leave the classroom and the girls stay. As the last boy leaves, he slams the door and directs his attention to the frightened girls.
Sir, who demands politeness, launches at them:
I’m sick of your foul language, your crude behavior, and your sluttish manner! There are certain things a decent woman keeps private! And only a filthy slut would have done this! And those who stood by and encouraged her are just as bad—I don’t care who’s responsible! You’re all to blame! Now, I am going to leave this room for five minutes by which time that DISGUSTING object had better be removed and the windows opened to clear away the stench! If you must play these filthy games, do them in your homes—NOT IN MY CLASSROOM! (Clavell, 1967)
After he finishes his impassioned speech, he leaves the girls to reflect on the most severe reprimands they have ever faced. When he returns the class is united quietly waiting for Sir. Back to his cool demeanor, he shares his epiphany with the class: “l realized you are not children. You will be adults in a few weeks, with all the responsibilities. From now on, you will be treated as such by me and by each other as adults. Responsible adults” (Clavell, 1967).
This outburst, which lasts no longer than two minutes, serves as a depiction of his deep conviction in his belief, and the beginning of a shift in the plot wherein the students start to adapt and conform to the ideas that Sir sets forth. Sir concludes that part of his job as their instructor is to teach them not only how to be a good student but also mold them into his conception of a good adult. Therein, he becomes a model for a patriarchal society’s expectations of the boys and girls and his class, creating the frames in which they believe they must operate moving forward. For the girls, this means a vehement denouncement of their behavior, not only in the prank but the girls in their totality. While the male students’ crude jokes or harmful pranks left Sir perturbed, he was largely unshaken by their repeated incidents. Yet, when the girls burn one of their used menstrual products in the classroom fireplace, he comes completely undone. Although the girls’ prank can be considered a little unsanitary due to the burning and fumes, it is not fundamentally harmful. Even then, Sir attacks them with unbridled ease. In his monologue, he reinforces the idea that “while it is acceptable to know about your period, it is culturally unacceptable to let other people know about your period” by claiming that a “decent woman” keeps the fact that they’re menstruating private (Lese, 2016; Clavell, 1967). Not only does he highlight the shame that the girls who crafted the joke should feel, but he also classifies menstruation as an inherently indecent act.
To Sir, these young women are indecent because they have chosen to be explicit in their menstruation, and worse, expose men to it. He goes on to say that they are “filthy sluts,” simultaneously pushing the notion that they are overtly sexual beings because they are menstruating, and that too is wrong. Days prior, these young women were merely students, but in a matter of minutes, they have shifted into promiscuous, abhorrent women. He correlates the act of exposing their menstrual product with exposing themselves sexually, as if they went from children to women, asexual to sexual beings (Bobier, 2020). Sir also makes a concerted effort to address this perceived digression as the workings of a group, stating that they are “all to blame” for this prank. To Sir, the knowledge that one girl menstruates is a gruesome reminder that all the young women in his class must menstruate, serving as an unwanted reminder he believes breaches social norms and enters the territory of taboo (Johnston-Robledo & Chrisler, 2020). By condemning them so viscerally in their singular action, he establishes a reaction that the girls in his class will interpret as fact (Bandura & Bussey, 1999). This interaction models to them that to reveal they are menstruating to others, results in extreme backlash, as well as negative social classifications.
Sir reacted with immense negativity to menstruation and expressed both physical disgust in his facial expression as well as verbally disparaging both the process and the young women who experience it. In doing so, he also shamed them about it without directly mentioning the actual process. While To Sir, with Love (1967) may have only been one scene, it proved to be an incredibly nuanced portrayal of how masculinity complicates perceptions and treatment of menstruation.
Carrie (1976)
Figure 2: De Palma (1976), Carrie begins menstruating in the locker room
In De Palma’s (1976) Carrie, the namesake character is a sheltered, awkward, sixteen-year-old girl who faces ridicule at school and abuse from her pious mother at home. Her already turbulent teenage years are further complicated after she goes through menarche and realizes that she has supernatural powers.
During a particularly rough gym class, Carrie heads into the locker room shower to rinse off. However, instead of a rejuvenating shower, she ends up menstruating for the first time. Carrie’s menarche is not only unexpected by her, but also by viewers as it is framed using lingering shots of Carrie’s breast, naval, thighs, and pubic area, only for this sensual scene to be disrupted by a stream of blood from the very spot she had just been stroking (De Palma, 1976). This thereby positions menstruation and sexualization as co-actors in puberty. Confused and panicked by the sight of her own blood, Carrie runs out of the shower naked and seeks aid from her peers, who rather than helping begin to mock her mercilessly. They push her away, disgusted at the menstrual blood on her hands collectively batting her away as she yells “HELP ME!” at the top of her lungs (De Palma, 1976). The girls in the locker room laugh and jeer at her terror, helping only marginally in throwing tampons at Carrie and screaming “Plug it up!” repeatedly (De Palma, 1976). Finally, her gym teacher, Rita Desjardin, stops the other girls. As Desjardin calms Carrie down, the girls look on and continue chatting and snickering. None of her peers, who presumably have already gotten their periods, provide her with any sympathy or grace. Carrie is left hurt and confused, crying in Desjardin’s arms.
This scene highlights the conflation between menstruation and sexuality. In juxtaposing Carrie sexually touching herself with her ensuing horror at her menstrual blood there is a twofold implication suggesting that her outpouring of blood is a self-inflicted wound, brought on through her illicit touching. Here there is a misplacement of sexuality with menstruation, treating her period as her defloration – a loss of her sanctity (Delaney et al., 1988). This explicitly sexual framing as she is menstruating is also a reminder of Carrie transforming from a non-sexual girl to a sexual woman. A shift that as the film progresses becomes a large point of contention with her pious mother, who begins to view her not as the child she raised, but as a promiscuous, dirty woman.
Beyond the overtly sexual nature of the scene, is the intensity of the ridicule her peers subject her to. While Carrie is enduring what she thinks is severe injury, the girls around her do not aid her, but participate in normalizing that a period is something to be disgusted by, mocked, and made fun of, rather than a collective, rudimentary experience. The girls’ ease in taunting and shaming Carrie is reflective of how deeply ingrained the disgust around menstruation is. Even people who may have experienced the same plight around their menarche are eager to invoke the same cruelty unto someone else. Carrie’s association with being verbal in her menstrual experience is instantly written off as taboo, and something to be kept to herself for fear of inflicting more abuse on herself. Essentially, Carrie is learning that if menstruation is womanhood, then to be a woman is to always be shamed. Ultimately adopting the fact that menstruation is not something to be shared, under any circumstance.
Carrie’s bloodlust and otherworldly powers occur almost immediately after menarche, signaling that puberty makes monsters out of girls. Rather than exterior factors posing as threats or monsters, De Palma places the fear within Carrie, the monster to be scared of is inside of her; the threat is Carrie, and the menstrual experience that catalyzed her powers, becomes the thing to fear. This is especially evident toward the end of the film as Carrie’s powers become fully realized. The climax of the film is when Carrie is jokingly crowned prom queen and a bucket of pig’s blood spilled above her head, ruining a prized moment. To Carrie, her deepest shame—the “secretness of blood—is exposed on stage triggering her telekinesis powers” (Briefel, 2005). The blood is a loud, and humiliating callback to her first menstrual experience and one that traumatized her so severely that she seeks vengeance on her peers. Suddenly, her inability to control her body, both in the bloodshed and her otherworldly powers, is twisted into a weapon. She imposes her powers for violence on the gym full of peers who laugh and tease her once again for bloodshed, even if it is not her own. This is congruent to Briefel’s (2005) notion that female monsters do not commit acts of self-mutilation out of pleasure but instead “commit acts of violence out of revenge for earlier abuse by parents, partners, rapists, and other offenders.”
Carrie’s peers reacted negatively to her discovery of her period and expressed physical disgust by pushing Carrie away and in their facial expressions. The young girls in the locker room were verbally disgusted by Carrie’s period and proceeded to shame and mock her for having gotten it. Although only one scene was analyzed, the entire movie’s fixation on blood and womanhood carries throughout and creates a thematic connection between menstruation and the idea of a monster.
My Girl (1991)
Figure 3: Zieff (1999), Shelly comforts Vada
Zieff’s (1991) My Girl revolves around eleven-year-old Vada coming of age one summer at her father’s in-home funeral service while mourning her mother. As summer begins, her father employs Shelly DeVoto to be the parlor’s new makeup artist, and the pair eventually get engaged – to Vada’s dismay. As Vada contemplates running away with the news of her father and Shelly’s engagement, she discovers something even more frightening: she’s dying. Horrified, Vada runs from her room to look for her father but finds Shelly. When Shelly inquires about what is wrong, Vada explains that she is hemorrhaging and needs her dad. Shelly’s alarmed concern quickly transforms into an assured smile when she realizes that Vada is not dying, but experiencing menarche. Shelly quickly assures her that all is OK and that it is time for a talk.
Vada’s fear is not unusual or unfounded, as the secretion of blood has rarely been a sign of good health (Gottlieb, 2020). Nonetheless, Shelly’s ease in defusing Vada’s reaction is compassionate and understanding. Rather than reacting with disgust or horror, she approaches the topic with a knowing serenity. Although the phrase “it’s OK” may not seem to say much, Shelly’s nonchalance displays an acceptance of menstruation as a normative function rather than a cursed secret. Shelly does not tell Vada to quiet down, or claim that this is a strictly private experience, but assuages her immediate fears, and follows it with a conversation.
The scene that ensues is in Vada’s bedroom where we meet the pair at the end of Shelly’s promised “talk.” Vada asks in horror: “My Mommy and Daddy did THAT?” (Zieff, 1991). Shelly answers, contending that, “it’s a beautiful thing,” only for Vada to retort that it should be outlawed; even with Vada’s disgust, Shelly concludes that “someday, you’ll feel differently,” (Zieff, 1991). With the “it” referencing sex, the immediate scene after Vada’s first menstrual experience turns from realizing she is entering puberty to how one day sex will be pleasurable for her. To the adults around her, Vada’s transition from girlhood to womanhood means a growth into her sexuality, even if she doesn’t realize it. Vada experiences a rapid, and unknowing defloration, emerging as a sexual being during a time when she is having a difficult time conceiving of blood as anything but a symbol of injury or death (Delaney et al.,1976).
Zieff’s choice to immediately link menstruation and sex negates the exploration of her girlhood and self by pushing her into a certain ideal of womanhood. She is inundated with Shelly’s interpretation of adult femininity, one that narrows Vada’s outlook on who and what she is or could be as a woman, even concluding that “It’s not fair. Nothing happens to boys,” (Zieff, 1991). Menstruation for her has now transcended meaning. Her conception went from a period being this thing that all girls endure to a reinforcement that women are distinctly different from men in an inequitable way. Moreover, Vada’s menarche pushes the plot forward as it declares the crux of the film, which is coming to terms with what growing up looks like. When her best friend Thomas J., who she usually takes any opportunity to play with, arrives at her door shortly after her talk with Shelly, she pushes him away, telling him, “Get out of here! And don’t come back for five to seven days” (Zieff, 1991). Vada has gained a new perspective in which she must accept the changes ahead of her, including new and unpleasant gender roles she is subject to. She has now been introduced into a world of structures and meanings that depend on the subordination of women based on gender (Delaney et al., 1976).
No one around Vada reacted negatively to her discovery of her period nor was disgust or any form of shame or mockery employed. While My Girl (1991) may have only tackled menstruation in one scene, it proved to be an insight into how periods can be handled with positive emotions rather than negative ones, but there can also be times when antiquated beliefs or assumptions may be reinforced.
Turning Red (2022)
Figure 4: Shi (2022), Meilin hides from her mother after becoming a large red panda
In Shi’s (2022) animated film, Turning Red, thirteen-year-old Meilin Lee must navigate familial expectations along with the tumultuous changes that accompany adolescence. To make puberty even stranger, it also happens that women in Meilin’s family turn into large red pandas whenever they feel strong anger or frustration during menstruation. Unlike previous films that contained only a few scenes that center on menstruation, Turning Red uses menstruation as a vehicle to explore female puberty as an external and interpersonal entity.
Meilin’s menarche quickly sets the foundation for the film. During a seemingly regular morning, she groggily enters her bathroom and discovers that it is not a human in the reflection, but Meilin as a fluffy, red panda. She is immediately horrified, and her enlarged, hairy body crashes into walls, knocks down frames, and makes a commotion; so much so that her mother knocks on the door and begins to inquire if all is well. Initially, her mother runs through a list of ordinary ailments, before pausing, and asking if the “red peony bloomed,” her euphemism for menstruation (Shi, 2022). Meilin denies anything being wrong at first, before forfeiting a “maybe” and begins wailing in her bathroom about the horror of it all. Her mother is sure that she is menstruating and collects nearly a dozen packs of menstrual products before bursting in the bathroom where Meilin hides behind a shower curtain. She assures her “Mei-Mei” and says, “I know this is upsetting, but we are going to get through this together. I have ibuprofen, vitamin B, a hot water bottle, and pads. Regular, overnight, scented, unscented, thin, ultrathin,” (Shi, 2022). Meilin’s mother understands that in their family, menstruation means much more than a few days of bleeding. In the back and forth, Meilin’s mother offers comforting words: “It’s nothing to be embarrassed about,” even if Meilin believes she is a “gross red monster,” (Shi, 2022).
In this scene alone, Turning Red attempts to normalize periods, puberty, and the rollercoaster of emotions that accompany girlhood. While yes, her mother did rely on a euphemism of a blooming flower in place of confronting menstruation outright, in this scenario it is used to comfort her daughter during a time of high anxiety, not an attempt to avoid the situation at hand. Her conscious effort to skirt around the word menstruation was not used as a way to stifle the conversation but to open up avenues that make her daughter more comfortable. Beyond that, her mother makes a concerted effort to validate and assure Meilin that whatever she is going through, is nothing to be embarrassed about, nor is it anything that needs to be hidden.
A massive part of Meilin’s journey is the physical, not merely through her menstruation, but most prominently in her transformation into a big, furry, red panda. Her metamorphosis is hereditary, passed down from generations of women in her family. Since this transformation is framed at the same time as her period, there is a strong implication that menstrual blood not only endows mystical properties but is a curse shared amongst all women (Gottlieb, 2020). Although Turning Red may employ the furry creature in a jovial way, the notion of a curse among women is still reinforced. That said, the film does work to treat this as more of a blessing than a curse, but the underlying concept remains.
While Meilin’s mother continuously affirms that her experience is normal, there is still social resistance and internalized cultural shame that Meilin has about menstruation. In a scene where Meilin is sitting in class, her friend tells her that her mother is spying on her outside. To make it worse, the school security guard approaches her mother, and their interaction quickly escalates as Meilin’s class begins to gather by the window. Her mom is hauled off by the guard, but not before pulling out a pack of “ultra shield” pads from her purse. As she waves the menstrual products around and calls for Meilin, the class, including their male teacher, collectively gasp and wince. Meilin is mortified at the spectacle, and she transforms into the imposing red panda. While at home Meilin’s embarrassment and insecurity stemmed from the uncertainty of what was going on with her physical self, here the source of horror is other people’s knowledge of her period. Roberts et al. (2002) were able to demonstrate that even reminders of menstrual blood like tampons or pads can lead to avoidance and social distancing. The mere implication of menstruation through an item like menstrual pads is enough to elicit shock and outrage from her peers and her teacher. Exposure proves enough of an infraction to cross the threshold between what has been deemed acceptable and not acceptable in the social realm. Regardless of the support Meilin may be receiving at home, the expectations established in the external world are out of her control.
Meilin’s peers did react negatively and did employ a level of shame and mockery at Meilin’s experience. While her mother may have been dramatic or over the top, she conversely reacted positively and neither expressed disgust nor did she employ any form of shame or mockery. Even though the film does show menstrual products, and is thematically reliant on menstruation and puberty at large, it does not directly use the word period or menstruation. Although only a fraction of the film was analyzed above, the entire movie does work hard to normalize not only periods but the wild nature of girlhood.
V. Discussion
The qualitative content analysis examined if and how depictions of menstruation and those who menstruate have changed over time in the context of four films spanning sixty years. This study showed that there were shifts in how menstruation and those who menstruate were depicted. Generally, more contemporary films sought to normalize menstruation and lacked negative reactions or shame to menstruation in comparison to earlier films, ultimately showing menstruation in an increasingly positive light over time.
All films operate in a predominantly patriarchal society, regardless of how progressive their portrayal of menstruation may have been. Every character that experienced menstruation had some sort of interaction with men, men in these instances operated as representatives for all men in that world, which altered their perception of menstruation. To Sir, With Love is the most blatant display of how patriarchy shapes attitudes toward menstruation as Sir acts as a double to the established societal norms when he condemns the girls in his class for being forthright about their menstruation. Seeing that the girls are not abiding by the cultural rules set for them, Sir sees their behavior as an infraction that he must be the one to punish. Further, he believes that as the girls are breaking cultural conventions, they are also infringing upon Sir’s right as a man to be ignorant of menstruation, considering the prank “a lapse in the culturally mandated responsibility of all women to conceal evidence of menstruation and to prevent the embarrassment of others,” (Roberts et al. 2002). In My Girl, Vada is learning the different gender roles, which are shaped by a patriarchal society, that she is expected to follow post-menarche. She even points out the inequality between girls and boys during puberty, which Shelly concedes is a mere fact of life. While Shelly serves as her guide through this process, Shelly’s conceptions of menstruation are guided by a patriarchal framework that predates the current standards of Vada’s generation.
This study also found that all films observed used euphemisms or avoided directly addressing menstruation. While Carrie used the term “period” three times during the film, the term is still a euphemism for menstruation, albeit more direct than others. In To Sir, With Love and My Girl, there was neither a direct use of the term menstruation nor even a euphemism for the process. Menstrual stigma is perpetuated indirectly through silence, thus both the absence and the evasion that all films employ for referencing menstruation is a method to reinforce negative social attitudes toward menstruation (Johnston-Robledo & Chrisler, 2020). Further supported by symbolic annihilation theory, the absence of an idea can be just as damaging and effective as the presence of a negative idea (Gerbner & Gross, 1976). The intentional exclusion of “menstruation” and “period” in favor of allusions to the process is emblematic of a much larger effort of erasure. Using euphemisms to discuss menstruation is an attempt to hide the shame of periods and the “offensive feelings associated with it” (Lese, 2016). However, the relationship between euphemisms and Turning Red differs from the previous films. While the film does not directly reference menstruation, the entire film revolves around it and pursues other efforts to normalize menstruation like showing menstrual products on screen.
Another avenue the films used to perpetuate a culture of secrecy and shame surrounding menstruation is through expressions of disgust either physically or verbally. All films had one, or both expressions of disgust as a reaction to seeing or hearing about menstruation. Oftentimes reactions of disgust would intersect with the mocking or teasing of those menstruating. In To Sir, With Love, Sir calls the girls filthy, in My Girl, Vada is disgusted by her own body, in Carrie a locker room full of girls are simultaneously horrified by Carrie’s blood and hysterically throw tampons at her, and in Turning Red an entire classroom gasps in the horror of Meilin’s mother holding up pads for her. These expressions of disgust “reinforce the cultural taboo that women are dirty during menstruation and medicalizes periods as a hygienic crisis” (Lese, 2016).
Of the four films, two connected menstruation with being monstrous. Both Carrie and Turning Red imply that menstruation implores qualities of otherworldliness, and even that it is a curse. Carrie’s telekinesis occurs nearly in tandem with her first period, and Meilin’s shapeshifting into a giant red panda also coincides with menarche. Their proximity in occurrence is no coincidence, but an intentional relationship. The “stigma of menstruation also marks women as ill, disabled, out-of-control, unfeminine, or even crazy,” supporting the belief that a menstruating being embodies qualities considered abnormal, and thus warrants the same fear that mythical monsters yield (Briefel, 2005). When looking at this specific proposition, cultivation theory would posit that the more people who view media with portrayals of menstruation as fundamentally deviant, the more they are affected by and believe the message.
Overall, the results show that there are changes in the ways that menstruation is portrayed over time. While the earlier two films, To Sir, With Love and Carrie, showed strictly negative reactions to menstruation, more contemporary films like My Girl and Turning Red yielded neutral and even positive results. Although Turning Red also includes negative reactions, they existed in a larger, more nuanced narrative that also championed positive iterations of menstruation.
All of the observed films hold the capacity to act as models for audiences. Whether a viewer is the one menstruating or not, these films depict behaviors and attitudes that can serve as guides on how to react in real life. Both positive and negative portrayals can impact how menstruation and people who menstruate are regarded in the future.
VI. Conclusion
In Clavell’s (1967) To Sir, With Love, De Palma’s (1976) version of Carrie, Zieff’s (1991) My Girl, and Shi’s (2022) Turning Red, there were observable patterns in terms of how these films treated and depicted menstruation. Based on the results of this content analysis, it is possible to conclude that some film portrayals of menstruation have changed since the 1960s, while some depictions and themes have been maintained over time, resulting in menstruation being more often negatively portrayed on screen. This paper sought to examine the evolution of portrayals of menstruation in film. Portrayals of menstruation are historically linked to a culture of shame and secrecy, overt sexualization of girls, and the notion of menstruation as a form of monstrosity. While these films varied in genre, time period, and subject matter these identified characteristics remained present in some capacity through the observed films. That said, patterns and characteristics noted in these films depict increased normalization of menstruation as a natural and shameless process, while still highlighting the remaining work necessary towards destigmatizing menstruation.
While the research sample was limited to four films, each showed the numerous nuanced ways that menstruation is understood biologically and culturally. This study is only a fragment of the issue at large and has limitations that open opportunities for further research. For example, the only media explored in this text were films. No television shows, advertisements, or any other form of media were explored. Television programs are often easier to produce and can have dozens of hours of episodes and arcs to sample, rather than a film which typically does not extend beyond three hours. Further, long-running shows that have families with children can explore multiple facets of puberty, including menstruation, more organically as audiences may have more time to familiarize themselves with the character whereas films do not hold that space. Another evident limitation is that only four films were examined. Although these films spanned multiple decades, four is just a fraction of the films that could have been explored.
In terms of further research beyond looking at different forms of media or television, the author would seek to analyze more films. The author would also conduct a survey among girls and women who menstruate to garner further understanding of the tangible role menstruation in media may play in daily life. Insight from people who menstruate can better inform how the absence or prevalence of portrayals of menstruation shapes the perspective and behavior of girls and women, as well as the impact that such shaping may have at large. Although what is on screen is tremendously important, it is the people who watch these films that serve as reflections of cultural norms and taboos, and who have the potential to alter the way functions like menstruation are depicted in the future and thus perceived.
Acknowledgements
Thank you to my faculty mentor, Dr. Jane O’Boyle, for her unbridled patience, guidance, and support through the entire research process, and even after. This paper is only possible through the care, compassion, and diligence offered by Dr. O’Boyle and other faculty members.
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