In this qualitative, phenomenological study I employed
oral history methodology, grounded in a life-span
developmental and feminist approach, to explore the
developmental importance of menarche in twenty older women's
"bodily histories." Menarche is an important developmental
event in the female life course because it represents a major
point of confluence where the various streams of what it means
to be female coalesce. Menarche is not only a biophysical
phenomenon originating from inside a girl's body, but is a
psychosocial transition as well. Further, menarche is a biopsycho-social event which is shaped by sociocultural and
historical discourses and may have life-span developmental
implications.
Qualitative analyses of the bodily histories revealed
that the older women remembered their first menstrual periods
very clearly. The women spoke of menarche as an abrupt and
disruptive event symbolic of adult fertility and sexuality and
surrounded by silence. They associated menarche with the
imposition of menstrual taboos and rules of adult femininity
which restricted their behaviors. Many of the themes that
emerged from the women's memories of menarche were also
present in their narratives about subsequent menstrual and
menopausal experiences. There was a continuation throughout
their menstrual careers of the restrictions on their behaviors
as a result of menstrual bleeding; the silence and confusion
associated with processes of the female body; and the
sexualization of their fertile bodies. Further, there was
evidence of a continuity well into later-life of the
medicalization of their bodies, as well as their use of
language suggestive of a separation between their bodies and
their selves.
The generalizability of these findings is limited; the
study sample was small, homogenous, and self-selected, and the
bodily histories were collected retrospectively. Implications
of these findings and directions for research, theorizing, and
action are discussed. / Graduation date: 1996
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/34647 |
| Date | 16 January 1996 |
| Creators | Sasser-Coen, Jennifer |
| Contributors | Pratt, Clara C. |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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