Constructions of Femininity and Experiences of Menstrual Distress

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this article is to explore the relationship between constructions of feminine gender identity and experiences of menstrual distress. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used to assess the relationship between femininity and PMS. Statistically significant correlations were found between T-scores for femininity on the Bem Sex Role Inventory (Bem, 1978) and total distress scores on the Menstrual Distress Questionnaire (Moos, 1991). Analysis of the qualitative data suggests that women engage in intense premenstrual bodily surveillance, and the data support Ussher, Hunter, and Browne's (2000) findings that the ‘PMS self’ becomes lived as an identity position in contrast to a ‘real’ or ‘non-PMS self.’ The authors conclude that our bio-psychiatric discourse about PMS functions to legitimize traditional constructions of femininity and that future research should conceptualize menstrual distress as both lived experience and social construction.

KEYWORDS:

• Femininity
• menstruation
• premenstrual syndrome
• postmodernism
• social constructionism