BUZZ
Encyclopedia includes experiences of ‘gender-diverse menstruators’
A new Encyclopedia of Menstruation avoids the word “sanitary” because it causes “stigmatization,” and uses the phrase “people who menstruate” to promote its “values of inclusion and diversity.”
The Sage Encyclopedia of Menstruation and Society editors state in the resource’s introduction that they “are critical of using terms such as sanitary in relation to menstruation as this can lead to further stigmatization, but acknowledge many organizations continue to use these terms.”
They also note that “the encyclopedia acknowledges the many intersections of identity with injustice that impact people who menstruate.” Therefore, they included the experiences of “transgender, nonbinary, and gender-diverse menstruators” in the encyclopedia.
“We also acknowledge that menstruators who are disabled or neurodivergent, or both, have different needs, knowledge, and experience that should be—but historically has not been—included in mainstream menstrual knowledge,” the editors wrote.
The team further states that it has sought to address the problem of “academic whiteness” and the continued overemphasis on research from British and American institutions.
As a result, the editorial board focuses on “commissioning a diverse group of contributing authors.”
In addition, the editors state that menstrual health has historically been under-researched and underfunded, with stigma further limiting this study in the arts, humanities, and social sciences.
The encyclopedia “aims to begin to redress that balance, first by foregrounding menstruation itself as an important topic worthy of study and second by beginning to bring together key ideas about its varied social meanings.”
Editor Bee Hughes is a senior lecturer in media, culture and communication at Liverpool John Moores University, according to her personal website.
“Bee’s recent research explores embodied experiences through themes including menstruation, everyday rituals and routines, and the feminist tradition of self-examination,” her website states.
Her co-editor, Kay Standing, is an “intersectional feminist” and professor of humanities at Liverpool John Moores University.
Associate Editor Marybec Griffin is an adjunct assistant professor of social work at Columbia University.
She created an app “to help people of all sexual orientations and gender identities find sexual and reproductive healthcare services,” according to her online biography.
Last year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture granted Southern University Agricultural & Mechanical College in Louisiana $600,000 to study menstrual products and issues, including for “transgender men,” The College Fix previously reported.
However, it later axed the grant because it “does not align with the priorities” of President Donald Trump’s administration.
MORE: Wisconsin Supreme Court strikes down race-based college scholarships
