Periods in Pop Culture: Menstruation in Film and Television

Description

Menstruation seldom gets a starring role on screen despite being experienced regularly by nearly all women for a good many decades of their lives. Periods in Pop Culture: Menstruation in Film and Television, by Lauren Rosewarne, turns the spotlight on period portrayals in media, examining the presence of menstruation in a broad range of contemporary pop culture. Drawing on a vast collection of menstruation scenes from film and television, this study examines and categorizes representations to unearth what they reveal about society and about our culture’s continuingly fraught relationship with female biology. Written from a feminist perspective, menstrual representations are analyzed for what they reveal about sexual politics and society. Rosewarne’s thorough investigation covers a range of topics including menstrual taboos, stigmas and fears, as well as the inextricable link between periods and femininity, sexuality, ageing, and identity. Periods in Pop Culture highlights that the treatment of menstruation in the media remains an area of persistent gender inequality. Introduction. Blood Hunting Chapter 1. Women Bleeding Secretly: The Gender, Place and Segregation of Menstruation Chapter 2. Red Tents and Moon Lodges: Menstruation and Rites of Passage Chapter 3. The Curse of Eve: Cramped Stomachs and Cramped Lifestyles Chapter 4. The Menstrual Mess: The Disgust, Horror and Fear of Menstruation Chapter 5. I Want to Suck Your Blood: Sex, Sexiness and Menstruation Chapter 6. Bleeding Out Proud: Menstruation and Empowerment Chapter 7. You Don’t Know What You’ve Got ‘Til It’s Gone: Absent Menstruation Chapter 8. Where Have all the Menstruators Gone? Rereading Missing Menstruation Conclusion. A Strange Phenomena