Paper
The bleeding obvious: Menstrual ideologies and technologies in Australia, 1940-1970
Published Jan 1, 2014 · C. Pascoe
Lilith: a feminist history journal
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Abstract
Menstruation is an impolite topic, often avoided in both everyday conversation and academic journals. This article expands the limited historiography on the subject by investigating a pivotal moment in the Australian history of menstruation: 1940-1970. By exploring sex education texts and menstrual product advertisements alongside oral history accounts, the article reveals that the middle decades of the twentieth century were a time when the ideologies and technologies of menstruation were transformed. Australian girls were encouraged to reject older messages about incapacity at 'that time of the month' and embrace a full range of activities, armed with the much-lauded protection offered by disposable, commercially-produced pads and tampons. This article engages in transnational debates about this modernisation of menstruation, asking: have Australian women and girls been liberated by these changes to participate more fully in the public sphere, or have they become enslaved to a more rigorous set of hygienic expectations?
Australian girls were encouraged to embrace a full range of activities during menstruation from 1940-1970, with disposable pads and tampons offering protection.
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