Women's menarche stories from a multicultural sample

Abstract

This paper reports on the findings of a focus group study that examines how women have experienced menarche at the personal level and in relation to the larger cultural, religious, and societal environment. Fifty-three women from 34 different countries were recruited in 13 focus groups. On the one hand, at the personal level, menarche stories shared in this study revealed salient themes concerning feelings experienced at the time of menarche, the importance of mother's reactions to their daughter's first menstruation, difficulties around understanding the meanings attached to menarche by others, managing menstrual products, as well as making sense of formal education related to menstruation, and finally the age of menarche. On the other hand, the discussions concerning how women experienced menarche in relation to the larger cultural, religious, and societal environment revealed secrecy to be a defining feature of many stories.Cultural expectations of learning and following the rules and regulations surrounding menstruation led to different reactions in women at the time of their menarche. Very few women mentioned a ritual or celebration at the time of their menarche. Findings are discussed in terms of similarities and differences in menarche stories of women from different cultural backgrounds.Limitations of the study are mentioned and suggestions for future research are provided.Key words: menarche, culture, focus groups Women's Menarche Stories 3 Women's Menarche Stories from a Multicultural SampleMenarche, the onset of the first menses, is a significant milestone in a woman's life and reproductive cycle. For the female adolescent, it is a sharply defined, sudden, and distinct biological event (Golub, 1992;Koff, Rierdan, & Silverstone, 1978). Menarche is also a sociocultural event that is shaped and constructed by cultural institutions such as religion, science, and media (e.g., Chandra & Chaturvedi, 1992;Laws, 1990;Paige & Paige, 1981).In psychology, menarche has attracted researchers' attention, especially during 1970's and 1980's. Current studies on menarche are sparse, but a few recent publications on this topic may indicate re-emerging interest in this topic (e.g., Beausang & Razor, 2000;Chrisler & Zittel, 1998;Kissling, 2002). Menarche studies in psychology were typically examined the experience among young female adolescents or college students in North America. Although a few studies have looked at cultural similarities or differences in women's menarche experiences, it is usually in the area of anthropology where we find cross-cultural studies. This particular study was designed to contribute to the slowly growing cross-cultural psychology literature on women's menarche experiences. The goal was to hear and record menarche stories of women from different cultural backgrounds, and thereby to explore salient themes that emerge in their menarche experiences. The study then draws upon these accounts to analyze the effects of the larger cultural, religious, and societal environment on personal exp...

Menstruation During a Lifespan: A Qualitative Study of Women's Experiences

“…As found here and supported by other studies (Amaral, 2011;Beausang & Razor, 2000;Koff & Rierdan, 1995;Rembeck & Hermansson, 2008;Uskul, 2004), for women, one's mother is seen as the primary source of information, as well as emotional and practical support, when reaching menarche. Furthermore, we found that one's mother plays an essential role in how women relate to the menstrual phenomenon later in life.…”

“…Menarche is associated with sexual maturation, symbolizes the transition from childhood to womanhood and is a unique experience for every woman. However, many young girls express sadness at not being ready to become a woman when reaching menarche (Lee, 2009;Orringer & Gahagan, 2010;Rembeck & Hermansson, 2008;Uskul, 2004). Menopause is a part of the midlife changes.…”

“…Menstruation is generally described as intimate (Amaral, 2011) and as a phenomenon that should be kept hidden from others (Amaral, 2011;Lee, 2009;Marván & Trujillo, 2010). Studies from different parts of the world indicate the existence of social rules that require the concealment of menstruation, which may result in continuing stress for women (Çevirme, Çevirme, Karaoglu, Urgurlu & Korkamaz, 2010;Johnston-Robledo & Chrisler, 2013;O'Flynn, 2006;Sommer, 2009;Uskul, 2004). Moreover, attention should be paid to the social context in which women live and to the obligations to follow expected social rules that they feel (O'Flynn, 2006).…”

Menarche and first emotional reactions of Turkish adolescent

“…Feelings and attitudes about menarche that is the sign of transition to adolescence include sociocultural differences (Chrisler and Zittel, 1998, Uskul 2004, Lee, 2008, Chang et al, 2010. First emotional responses to menarche are; fear 35.2%, astonishment 35.8%, embrassment 6.8%, sorrow 4.5%, and rejoice 10.1% in our study.…”

“…First emotional responses to menarche are; fear 35.2%, astonishment 35.8%, embrassment 6.8%, sorrow 4.5%, and rejoice 10.1% in our study. Fear, sorrow, embrassment, feelings herself dirty, and such negative feelings are stated as the first responses to menarche at many national and international studies (Tang et al, 2003, Demirel and Terzioglu, 2003, Uskul, 2004, Jorm et al, 2004, Tortumluoglu et al, 2004, Yeung et al, 2005, Deo and Ghattargi, 2005, Turan and Ceylan, 2007, Chang et al, 2010, Ozdemir et al, 2011, Mcmahan et al, 2011.…”