NEWS: Issues Related to Menstruation Interfere With Yet Another Sporting Event.

Oh wait. No they didn’t. In fact, quite frankly, they don’t. When it comes to the world of sports, menstruation is something that is wholly left out of the conversation, which is interesting considering that it affects about half the population, around a quarter of the time, for the bulk of their athletic careers.

First, let’s talk about menstruation. Calm down, not literally. I won’t explain the ins and outs, as I am going to work under the assumption that everyone has been aptly educated and is aware of the entire process (especially the guys in the “room”, right?) And if not, don’t worry, it’s not entirely your fault…

“[Popular television displays] the availability of an ever-increasing number of menstrual hygiene products as a mystery to men, emphasizing male ineptitude in this clearly female realm… much of the humour and role reversal serve to fundamentally reinforce gender stereotypes” (Roberts, 2008).

While some attempts are being made in popular culture to bring menstruation into the dominant discourse, (Thank you, Broad City!), its something that is widely absent from the mainstream dialogue, including that surrounding sport.  For that reason, what we are going to talk about, is menstruation as it pertains to sport.

Why this topic? After reading Jackson’s identification of the relationship between beer, sport, and masculinity as a “holy trinity”for advertisers in contemporary consumer culture (2013), I was curious about what the female version of this trinity was, or if it even existed. Sure, there are lots of products which are advertised to woman through promises of increased “femininity”, however the one instance in which the link with sport and femininity appears almost ubiquitously is the feminine hygiene industry. In the same way that the consumption of beer works to affirm masculinity in men, through a hypermasculine sports context, feminine hygiene products use a feminized portrayal of sport, to similarly posit their consumption as the means through which to achieve femininity.

When given the choice between beer or tampons as a way of affirming identity, I really don’t know how one is to choose!

Advertising:

So why is advertising such a big deal? Yes, we live in a consumer culture, but if we are all aware of the intention of advertisers (which we claim to be), and if we are all skeptical of the processes they employ in order to sell to us, then why does it really matter how it is done? Well, first it’s important to note that advertising doesn’t exist independently from the ideologies that shape our society. Goldman, Heath, and Smith identify that advertisers channel certain aspects of discourses, for example feminism, into “semiotic markers that can be attached to commodity brandnames” (1991). Rather than simply trying to sell somebody a product they don’t need, advertisers tap into what society is already telling the consumer they should be, or embody, or strive for, and offer a way to attain that identity through consumption. Even the harshest skeptic of advertising is not exempt from the hegemonic processes that govern society, and work to establish status quo.

Sports advertising is thought to be particularly valuable because of the universal and spectacular nature of sports. There is an obvious economic value associated with sports, with the industry in America alone in 2014 being worth $60.5 billion, and projected to reach $73.5 billion by 2019 (Heitner, 2015). Sport is also defined by Jackson as “one of the oldest and most universal forms of performative culture” (2013), and the ability of a brand to show themselves as accepted by the industry, through their sport-related ads, renders them infinitely more powerful. Lastly, sports are just plain sexy!

Advertising & #FEMINISM

Historically, women have been portrayed as the weaker sex, especially when it comes to athleticism. With the continued pervasion of third-wave feminism, those labels are starting to change, and women are included in the sport landscape now more than ever. Naturally, advertisers are hopping on the bandwagon, using feminism as the avenue through which to communicate with women in an authentic way. The term for this, coined in the 90’s, is commodity feminism (Goldman, Heath, & Smith, 1991). Campaigns such as COVERGIRL’s #Girls Can, Pantene’s Not Sorry, and Dove’s #MyBeautyMySay all attempt to combat this rhetoric of women as “weak”. Whether it be through sport, passion, talent, or a number of other signifiers, the common theme throughout all of these ads targeted at women is strength. Perhaps the most popular example  of this commodity feminism through the promotion of strength among women is Always’ #LikeAGirl campaign (below) that aired at the 2015 Superbowl. The ad attempts to draw attention to typical stereotypes surrounding the athleticism of women, and present a more empowering portrayal of strong and athletic women.

Advertising & Femininity

In viewing these campaigns, I’m going to say that on the surface, this is a good thing. Especially when compared to more historical advertising for women, which blatantly position products as things that women need in order to be desirable by men, the embracement of feminism by advertisers is at least a leap in the right direction. While the hijacking of subcultures and discourses such as feminism for the purpose of selling is not something I’m overly enthused about, it’s an ingrained aspect of contemporary consumer culture, and something that’s here to stay. However, my concern comes from the fact that these #feminist ads do not necessarily operate in as empowering and subversive ways as they claim to. Referring back to Goldman, Heath, and Smith’s work on commodity feminism, it is important to note that:

“For most women, interpreting these narratives depends on a taken for granted familiarity with the codes of patriarchy” (1991)

Essentially, regardless of how inspiring these ads are, and how much they attempt to defy stereotypes that associate women with weakness, they still exist within a hegemonic and patriarchal ideology, and impose certain ideas of what an acceptable female identity entails.

So why is all of this relevant when it comes to menstruation, and how does it have anything to do with sport? Well, let’s look at a whole bunch of feminine hygiene ads, and find out.

Feminine Hygiene Branding

In the feminine hygiene marketplace, the top brands in the industry all follow the same strength-related rhetoric outlined above, using sport specifically as the avenue through which to appeal to female consumers. This marks a shift away from the idea that menstruation is “weak”, or “impairing”, and towards the idea that women are strong and empowered, and that nothing, even bodily functions, stand in the way of their power. The landscape of feminine hygiene ads is incredibly varied:

It ranges from the atrocious, in which “comfort” is the product functionality that will allow thin women to prance about like fools pursue their interests without limitations:

To those attempting to inspire: Playtex Sport’s “Play On Canada” grant program, targeting teenage girls in order to “keep girls in the game”, and combat lower participation and higher drop-out percentages of girls in sports (Harris 2016).

To those like UbyKotex’s “Reality Check”, and Bodyform’s “The Truth” which refreshingly deconstruct the ridiculous signifiers which we are so used to being berated with in feminine hygiene ads (***These are both hilarious, I would highly recommend giving them a watch***). 

To finally arrive at those which achieve none other than “badass” status. Bodyform’s 2016 campaign “Blood” has been widely applauded as the first feminine hygiene ad to finally employ real blood throughout the ad. This contrasts the vast collection of previous feminine hygiene campaigns in which blood is altogether excluded from the narrative.

So what do all of these ads have in common? Save for those few that poke fun at the feminine hygiene industry in general, each of these campaigns use sport as the link to female strength, thus appealing to modern feminist desire to not be viewed as weak.

So, what’s the problem?

Menstruation = BAD

Menstruation is something that is commonly represented in a negative light, as something shameful, and even as something that has been constructed as an illness. (Kissling, 2006). Elizabth Kissling’s book Capitalizing the Curse: The Business of Menstruation explores this negative representation, and classifies it as something that is “beneficial to an entire industry”- that industry being advertising. She doesn’t discount the positive results of the commercialization of menstruation; there is nothing wrong with the embracement of available, reasonably priced, and easy-to use products. However, Kissling argues that  feminine hygiene advertising, in all its attempts to advance and empower, still construct women as the weaker sex.

First of all, these ads mark women as “other”, positioning feminine hygiene products as the necessary to “fix” an embodied condition. The very term “feminine hygiene” insinuates that there is something unhygienic or deviant about menstruation, which requires a (purchasable) solution.

“While this commercialization has been beneficial in some aspects, it forces women to literally buy into their own subjugation” (Roberts, 2008)

And then there’s the pink? WHY the pink? Almost every feminine hygiene brand out there uses pink as the dominant colour scheme which permeates their campaign, and acts as a signifier of their brand. It seems to me that this wide use of the colour most commonly associated with “girls” or “femininity” works to further reinforce the acceptable sphere within which feminine hygiene products are to be consumed- and femaleness itself is to be practiced- that sphere being inherently “feminine”

Was that paragraph a little overwhelming? Such is the effect of the over-saturated and hyper-feminized aesthetic of the feminine hygiene market. *Sigh*

Menstruation + Sport = V. BAD

In order to find out how this negative portrayal of menstruation affects women in sports, Geraldine Moreno-Black and Helen Vallianatos interviewed high-school aged female athletes in the United States. Their findings were that the biggest fear faced by young women in sport is the “public gaze” (2005), that is the risk of any evidence of menstruation being discovered by spectators of sport. This fear most commonly manifests as a fear of “leaking” onto the playing field- a word that in itself implies a deficiency. Essentially, young women are terrified of being “found out” in their condition- a condition that is inherent and unavoidable in their athletic lives.

Another negative aspect of menstruation in sport is its link with pain. In sport in general, pain is normalized. Training, especially at a high level, involves a certain level of “pushing” oneself that may entail a level of pain that is accepted and embraced. However, the difference with menstruation is that the pain is private, in contrast to the highly visible pain that comes from sport-related injury. In fact, female athletes frequently worry about poor performance due to menstruation, and take measures as drastic as self-medication in order to avoid showing weakness (Moreno-Black & Vallianatos, 2005). The interaction of female athletes with menstrual pain is identified by Moreno-Black and Vallianatos as the tendencies to

1. Hide Pain
2. Disrespect Pain
3. Depersonalize Pain (separate self from body)

This tendency to mask menstrual pain in sport exists in stark contrast to the media that surrounds other athletes playing through pain. Sports injuries, and the athletes who play through them are widely covered in the media, and in fact attributed with a certain level of “hero status” for doing so. I’ve yet to see an article that applauded a female athlete for playing despite menstrual pain- more often the kinds of pain associated with menstruation (cramping, nausea, fatigue) are trivialized or left out of the discourse entirely.

Body Image

While we’re being critical about the correlation between feminine hygiene advertising and sport, it is essential to also look at how the ideal female images replicated in these ads affect the women they target. The athletic female body which is demonstrated in these ads is a demonstration of “emphasized femininity”, defined as “representations of strong athletic women in sport which are purposefully staged in unnatural and/or overtly sexual positions” (Szto, 2016). This idealized and glorified representation of femininity alludes to self-discipline, health-consciousness, and responsibility. This is in line with the idea of the “athletic attitude” as defined by Moreno-Black and Vallianatos as synonymous with “control” in athletes (2005). Whether that be control of diet, performance, or the subduing of signs or acknowledgement of menstruation, women are inherently expected to demonstrate self-discipline and control in the governing of the self in order to conform to what has been established as “ideal”. This is demonstrated time and time again in feminine hygiene ads which employ women in unrealistic positions (demonstrating intense flexibility), and colours (white?), effectively discounting the discomfort that accompanies menstruation. The Playtex Sport box below is perhaps one of the most obvious examples of emphasized femininity in feminine hygiene branding, depicting “acceptably” feminine bodies engaging in light activity in a purposeful, and in my opinion very awkward, way. Incidentally, the Playtex sport box has been the same for as long as I can remember, lending legitimacy to the argument that the feminine hygiene marketplace has not actually evolved that much in the past decade. Oh, and, of course it’s pink. 

While reinforcing an ideal, feminine representation of the female athletic body is harmful in theory, it can actually be incredibly harmful to female athletes in a tangible way as well. The female athletic triad, (another joyous set of 3’s in the world of women and sport), consists of amenorrhea (the absence of menstruation), disordered eating, and osteoporosis (when your bones become fragile and brittle due to loss of tissue) (Robert-McComb et al., 1999). Unlike menstruation itself, the female athletic triad is frequently cited, and supported by ample research. Robert-McComb et al. identify that it is

“commonly observed in young female athletes participating in high-intensity sports who compete in a sports culture that strongly emphasizes maintaining a certain ideal body weight and shape for optimal performances” (1999).

The irony here is that feminine hygiene branding emphasizes this “ideal” female athletic body, which in extreme cases leads to sever health risks including the loss of one’s period. For an industry that claims to promote strength in women through sport, it seems that restrictions and limitations are still imposed on what kind of strength is acceptable, and that it is still inherently rooted in femininity and a female athletic body (hence the prevalence of very specific sports in these ads: yoga, tennis, pilates, all of which include very visible bodies, and have feminine connotations attached to them).

What Does This All Mean For Sport Today?

We’ve seen the inherent link with feminine hygiene advertising and sport, that being that sport is the means through which this industry communicates to women. However, as mentioned, all of this is conducted rather privately, and exists as an individual or silently shared experience among women. What then happens when we look at the status of menstruation, and the reproductions of ideologies produced in these ads, on the world stage of sports?

Well, as mentioned, menstruation just really is not something that is widely discussed in current sports media. Whether that is due to an underrepresentation of female journalists (The Sports Editors 2012 Associated Press identified just 9.6% of sports editors to be women (Szto, 2016)), or the fact that most people find it slightly uncomfortable and would rather pretend it doesn’t exist, the reality is that menstruation as it pertains to sport is drastically underrepresented. There is little research done in this field, and that which is conducted is done so in a way that excludes the lived experience of women.

“…almost none of this research includes girls’ or women’s voices expressing their experiences, ideas, and feelings. Rather, a disembodied, detached, and pathologized view of female biology and its relationship to a woman’s athletic participation predominates in the literature by focusing on the menstrual politics practiced in the athletic world.” (2005)

Despite the lack of formal discourse around the topic, the Rio 2016 Olympics provided examples of informal conversation that, for perhaps the first time, worked to shatter the taboo that has been menstruation in professional sports, and to do so on the most visible and global stage. Chinese swimmer Fu Yuanhui addressed her period in an interview as part of the reason for a mediocre performance:

Also in Rio, coverage was centred around American Swimmer Dana Vollmer  for winning two medals 16 months after giving birth (and gaining 50lbs). While not directly to do with menstruation, the discussion around Dana’s win brings another uniquely female experience in sport into the dominant conversation. Also, last year, Britain’s No.1 tennis player, Heather Watson was upset in the first round of the Australian open, and she too in a later interview addressed “girl troubles” as a contributing factor to her early loss. These three examples provide some of the most globally visible instances of menstruation being included in the sport discourse, and it’s important to look at what conversations they lead to.

It is about time that menstruation is made visible in sport, its an inherent and embodied experience faced by every female athlete, and there is no reason for it to be excluded from the conversation. The continued insertion into the dominant sports discourse by athletes like Heather, Dana, and Fu will hopefully lead to a broader willingness to accept and address menstruation in sport as a legitimate issue, deserving of real attention. The first new conversation that seems to have arisen is the need for more research on the actual effects of menstruation in sport.

From articles like this one from The Economist, (which disclaims “uncomfortable topic”) and concludes that in tackling the question of whether menstrual pains effect sport, “there can be no answer.” (Leading to my conclusion that it was written either by a man or an alien, in either case somebody who has never had to endure physical activity with cramps),

Does the menstrual cycle affect athletic performance?

To this one from BBC, which presents menstruation as “the last taboo” and interviews high level female athletes about their experience with menstrual pain, 

Curse or myth – do periods affect performance?

To this one from The Independent, which elucidates that due to sexist stereotypes which involve perceived “dramatization” and “hysteria” of women, men wait an average of 49 minutes before being treated for abdominal pain, while women wait 65 minutes for identical symptoms:

Period pain is officially as bad as a heart attack – so why have doctors ignored it?

To this one (which is just plain fun)

Guys Experiencing the Pain of Periods

Moving Forward

It is evident that conversation is happening, and that there is a real need for research on the subject. Further, research in this field is important, not just for the athletes who already inhabit it, but also for the landscape of sports moving forward. In the United States, women and girls are statistically less active than boys and men. There are lower rates of enrolment for girls, and much higher drop-out rates in sports programs (Moreno-Black & Vallianatos, 2005) Menstruation cannot be solely blamed for this- social constructions of masculinity as “active” and femininity as “passive” work to influence these numbers as well- however it should not be discounted as a possible contributing factor. The association of menstruation with intense shame is something that severely influences female athletes in their formative years, and shapes their relationship with sport. So what do we do?

CHANGE CHANGE CHANGE!

We need change. The gist of this entire post you’ve accompanied me through, is that women are advertised to by feminine hygiene brands through sport, yet this doesn’t translate to the promotion of acceptance and understanding of menstruation within sport. It’s still very much a private affair, sort of a “Hey! Look at this beautiful link between your body processes and strength, confidence and power! (But look at it on your own time, because we don’t want to hear about it outside of your role as a consumer citizen)”. This is changing, though not nearly fast enough. So what’s the solution? There is an obvious need for transformation in the sport “milieu”, as is identified by Moreno-Black and Vallianatos (2005), as well as many other scholars who view menstruation and sport through a critical feminist framework. A key factor required to facilitate this change is the embracement of ideas that move beyond “female body deficiency and unbalanced power relations that characterize sports” by the physical education profession (2005). While educational reform is a big hurdle to tackle, there are small things that the athletic industry as a whole can be doing in order to foster a more accepting, safe, and empowering environment for female athletes. For example, modifying uniforms, or providing variety in sports uniforms can alleviate some of the stress experienced by female athletes worried about the visibility of menstruation to the public gaze. And of course, continuing to address menstruation via highly visible conversations, (something that is made infinitely easier with the reach of social media), will help to push for acknowledgement, discussion,and research, and move towards a sports environment where menstruation is no longer left out of the dominant discourse.

Basically, let’s talk about it, and move towards #EmbracingMenstruating

Thanks for reading!

Or, if you don’t possess this skill, (gentlemen), you’re a badass for making it through 2000+ words about menstruation without being scared off 🙂

I’m Not Done Yet..

And, because we know that try as it might, sport is anything but apolitical, I’ll leave you with a few more kickass examples of menstruation finding its way into the political discourse in recent years. Thank you for reading, and happy perusing!

Periods As Protest: Indiana Women Call Governor To Talk About Menstrual Cycles

The hilarious protest began on Twitter in response to now president-elect signing strict abortion legislation into effect in Indiana, which seriously limited the reproductive rights of women.

Instagram deletes woman’s period photos – but her response is amazing

“Photographer Rupi Kaur has effectively made Instagram, one of the most popular photo-sharing websites in the world, accept that periods are not inappropriate.”

We Spoke to the Woman Performing Abortions on International Waters

“A Dutch organization famous for performing abortions on international waters to defy local laws.”

WATCH: Campaign To Legalize Abortion In Ireland Launches Powerful New Video

“Repeal Project Compares Plight Of Women Seeking Abortions To Suspected Witches In 1600s”

Works Cited/Referenced:

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Kissling, E. A. (2006). Capitalizing on the curse: The business of menstruation. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner. Print.

Robert-Mccomb, J., Carnero, E., & Iglesias-Gutiérrez, E. (2013). Estimating Energy Requirements. American Journal of Health Studies, 15(1), 411-449. doi:10.1007/978-1-4614-8884-2_27

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Moreno-Black, G., & Vallianatos, H. (2005). Young Women’s Experiences of Menstruation and Athletics. Women’s Studies Quarterly, 33(1/2), 50-67. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/40005501

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L.H.M. (2016). Does the menstrual cycle affect athletic performance? The Economist. Retrieved from http://www.economist.com/blogs/gametheory/2016/08/uncomfortable-topic

Drehs, W. (2016). Game Changers: Can Olympian Dana Vollmer do what no other swimmer has done? ESPN. Retrieved from http://www.espn.com/olympics/swimming/story/_/id/16477062/olympic-swimmer-new-mom-dana-vollmer-determined-bring-home-gold-2016-rio-games

Rinkunas, S. (2016). Swimmer Fu Yuanhui Reminds People That Periods Don’t Care That You’re Competing in the Olympics. nymag. Retrieved from http://nymag.com/thecut/2016/08/chinese-swimmer-fu-yuanhui-period-2016-rio-olympics.html

Turk, V. (2016). Why Are Sports Researchers So Scared of Menstruation? Motherboard. Retrieved from http://motherboard.vice.com/read/why-are-sports-researchers-so-scared-of-menstruation

Croft, A. (2015). Menstrual cycle ‘last taboo’ for women in sport. BBC . Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/sport/tennis/30908551

Merrick, J. (2015). The truth about ‘girl things’: Three cheers for Heather Watson’s honesty. Independent. Retrieved from http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/the-truth-about-girl-things-three-cheers-for-heather-watsons-honesty-10000624.html

Fenton, S. (2016). Period pain is officially as bad as a heart attack- so why have doctors ignored it? Independent. Retrieved from http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/period-pain-is-officially-as-bad-as-a-heart-attack-so-why-have-doctors-ignored-it-the-answer-is-a6883831.html?cmpid=facebook-post

Harris, R. (2016). Playtex Sport Aims to Keep Girls in the Game. Marketing Magazine. Retrieved from http://www.marketingmag.ca/brands/playtex-sport-aims-to-keep-girls-in-the-game-182447

Heitner, D. (2015). Sports Industry To Reach $73.5 Billion By 2019. Forbes. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/darrenheitner/2015/10/19/sports-industry-to-reach-73-5-billion-by-2019/#1a0c5aff1585

Spanjer, N. (2016). We Spoke to the Woman Performing Abortions on International Waters. Vice. Retrieved from http://www.vice.com/read/profile-rebecca-gomperts-876?utm_source=vicenewsfb

Addy, C. (2016). Campaign To Legalize Abortion In Ireland Launches Powerful New Video. NCRM. Retrieved from http://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/carlyle_addy/new_campaign_seeks_to_legalize_abortion_in_ireland

Domonoske, C. (2016). Periods As Protest: Indiana Women Call Governor To Talk About Menstrual Cycles. NPR. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/04/08/473518239/periods-as-protest-indiana-women-call-governor-to-talk-about-menstrual-cycles

Sanghani, R. (2015). Instagram deletes woman’s period photos- but her response is amazing. Telegraph UK. Retrieved from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/life/instagram-deletes-womans-period-photos-but-her-response-is-amazing/

Videos:

Always. (2014). Always #LikeAGirl. [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjJQBjWYDTs

Playtex Play On. (2016). PLAYTEX® SPORT® Canada Revamps the Girls’ Locker Room To Help Them PLAY ON™. [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWm2WxSmt4o

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Rinkunas, S. (2016). Swimmer Fu Yuanhui Reminds People That Periods Don’t Care That You’re Competing in the Olympics. [Screenshot] Retrieved from http://nymag.com/thecut/2016/08/chinese-swimmer-fu-yuanhui-period-2016-rio-olympics.html

Gueren, C. (2015). 31 Period Tweets That Will Make You Laugh and Then Cry. [Image File]. Retrieved from https://www.buzzfeed.com/caseygueren/hey-boy-are-you-my-period?sub=4077899_7367372&utm_term=.dabzykqXG#.feX9yxLaN

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