Executive Summary

This briefing paper discusses how to include historical perspectives to assess the potential success for current and future menstruation legislation. The case of Scotland provides an instructive example of law-making about free period products and period poverty. While commercial products are perceived as a solution, historical research suggests that cultural attitudes, lingering stigma, and regional differences affect opportunities for passing laws. To predict the likelihood that proposed menstrual product legislation might be adopted in other locations, historical factors related to attitudes about menstruation, including stigma, must be considered and understood to effect lasting change.

From our qualitative research on the history and culture of the Period Products (Free Provision) (Scotland) Act 2021 (henceforth the Period Products Act) in Scotland, we show that menstrual activism and policy, while rooted in longer histories, has significantly increased in recent decades. This has led to growing government interest and action on the issue, often rapidly and without extensive research. Although it represents novel legal changes and landmark alterations to the ways in which people access products, the law has not automatically dismantled menstrual stigma as suggested by many politicians, primarily because of its product-centred solution. Activists, educators, and social enterprises play an important role because they are concerned with the core value of ending menstrual stigma.

Audience

The findings are useful to different groups and stakeholders who are considering how a similar law might be replicated in other places. This briefing is directed toward: (1) social enterprises and NGOs; (2) corporations and manufacturers of products; (3) local and national governments; (4) activists; (5) academic researchers; and (6) journalists and media content producers. The worksheet in the Appendix serves as a guide and tool by which to consider historical and local variables, revealing strengths and weaknesses that may foster or impair subsequent institutional change.

Key Success Factors in Scotland

We have identified the following historical conditions as contributing to the success of the Period Products Act in Scotland. Policy-makers and activists might want to ask themselves if similar circumstances exist in their geographical and political area. A consideration of and answers to such questions may enhance initiatives against period poverty and predict areas of greater or lesser resistance. See the Appendix for a worksheet to gauge local attitudes in regard to these historical co-factors, and the list of publications for further reading.

  • Menstrual products: Are menstrual products and technologies already part of an economic and a distribution system? In Scotland, distribution networks were already established for menstrual products: both anti-poverty networks for free distribution (food banks, charities) and commercial outlets (shops, online). There is growing consumer interest in switching to reusable products. We assume from these examples that initiatives in other countries or areas will be more likely to succeed if similar networks and interests in products are already in place.

  • Nation-building: Does menstruation contribute to the narrative of a nation and its perceived special status? A contributing factor to the Period Products Act was that it allowed Scotland to pride itself on being ‘first’ internationally, and more forward-thinking than its dominant neighbour, England. Similar initiatives elsewhere may be more likely to succeed if they can contribute positively to the narrative of that nation or area.

  • Hygienic imperative: Do people care about menstrual concealment to the extent that only menstrual products transform the body to being acceptable? Openly bleeding in public would not be acceptable in Scotland. The Period Products Act was successful in part because period products are almost universally considered an essential necessity for menstruators.

  • Stigma: Is shame or embarrassment about menstruation waning? Menstrual stigma, while still prevalent, was already waning in Scotland, with menstruation being publicly mentioned in mainstream and social media, and in topics such as health, sport and menopause. While combating stigma was a major aim of the Period Products Act, the provision of products has not eliminated it. We expect similar menstrual policies to be more likely to succeed if they can build on existing movements to alleviate stigma.

  • Personal identity: Do menstrual products enhance a menstruator’s values and self-perceptions? The Act allows Scots to think of themselves as: (1) environmentally friendly by including provision of reusable products, and this choice allows people to see themselves as forward-thinking and contributes to their self-esteem; (2) open to greater gender equality, by alleviating a financial and organisational burden primarily affecting women; and (3) supportive of transgender rights, by acknowledging that not all menstruators identify as female. Menstrual initiatives are likely to succeed elsewhere if they can also positively add to the personal identity of citizens.

  • Women’s rights and feminism: Is there a strong grassroots effort for social justice concerning women’s rights and gender equity? Grassroots groups campaigning for women’s equality were vocal in bringing the issue of period poverty to the attention of policy-makers. Menstrual initiatives are more likely to have success elsewhere if they are supported by feminist groups as well as politicians.

  • Visual, media and cultural representations: Are menstruation and menstrual products already (positively) represented in daily discourse? While menstruation is usually invisible, depictions of menstruation in advertising, art and media were already increasing in Scotland before and during the campaign against period poverty. Representations of menstruation in a particular geographical area can give vital clues about how menstruation is perceived there, which provides a starting point for policies and campaigns in that region.

  • Legislative advocate: Which representatives or officials support the mechanism of legislation? Monica Lennon, Member of the Scottish Parliament, proved to be a champion of the bill. While the community of grassworks organizations are absolutely critical to the Act’s success, so were the tireless efforts of Lennon.

Historic Trends and Debates in the UK

This short overview provides grounding to the history of period products and their public meaning from 1900 to the present. Understanding the relationship of menstrual experience to menstrual products, the ways in which this has been inflected through menstrual stigma, and how this has changed over the years, is important when strategising for menstrual product legislation.

A. 1900–present: Commercialisation of menstruation

Producing single-use disposable menstrual products became viable in the UK during the 1920s. The coalescence of industrial production, material resources, germ theory, bathing and indoor plumbing, as well as the increased medicalisation of women’s health, provided fertile ground for menstrual products. Menstrual products were first sold as luxury items due to their expense. They were later promoted as a means to enhance labour efficiency. By the mid-century, the use of tampons and pads signified modern efficiency and ‘feminine hygiene’. While ‘feminine hygiene’ is no longer exclusively associated with women, the imperative to be hygienic by using commercial products has remained.

B. 1970s: Menstrual activism vs taboo

The rise of the women’s liberation and equal rights movements in the 1970s prompted the Equal Pay Act and Sex Discrimination Act in the UK. Simultaneously, the Women’s Health Movement questioned the paternalism of many male physicians, and the medicalisation of health during the course of a woman’s life. The book Our Bodies, Ourselves (1970) was read in UK feminist circles and challenged the idea that menstruation was disease-producing and required medical intervention. The logic of menstrual shame, the health advocates argued, only served to discriminate against women while conveniently elevating men, who did not menstruate. In this way, menstruation has historically been intimately connected to the notion of gender essentialism and gender binary thinking, with contemporary activists and menstruators questioning this link and advocating for menstrual rights.

C. 1980s: Blue liquid and toxic shock syndrome

While menstrual products were advertised in newspapers, magazines, and through menstrual education campaigns, there was a large degree of innuendo and indirect language about products’ true purpose, with images of nature and flowers predominating. The visual representation of menstrual blood as blue liquid in advertisements contributed to this deception. However, due to toxic shock syndrome (1980) and its deadly consequences for women, there was unprecedented debate in the media about menstrual technologies, and that health warnings about tampons broke some stigma about the discussion of menstruation in public. During this decade, censorship in advertising also eased in the Anglo-American context.

D. 2010s: Rise of new activism and social media

In the 2010s, the rise of a new wave of menstrual activism resulted in large changes in policy, advertising, and discourse. The activism was spurred on by a diverse range of issues, including the economics of menstruation (tampon tax, period poverty), environmentalism (plastics, waste), and equality (stigma, shame, access to healthcare). In the UK, this included individual advocates like Amika George, and campaigns online like #EndPeriodPoverty. Activists in Scotland included Women for Independence, a coalition of diverse NGOS, and individuals that sought to break menstrual stigma. At the same time, economic downturns and austerity measures in the UK led to renewed focus on poverty, including period poverty. Activists’ efforts in the late 2000s and early 2010s had historic roots in the 1970s, but managed to break into more mainstream and public spaces. Social and corporate pressure contributed to ease censorship and a new wave of menstrual advertising soon followed, spearheaded by the red (rather than blue) liquid campaigns by Swedish multinational corporation Essity (Bodyform brand in the UK). Such activism and advertising galvanized media and public attention, leading to a renewed moment of menstrual discourse that was increasingly difficult for governments to ignore.

E. 2010s: Government involvement due to equality, economic and environmentalist measures

The late 2000s and early 2010s marked a notable increase in governmental interest in menstrual issues. Kenya was particularly early in this regard, with free provision of products to schoolchildren. Scotland and the UK both became concerned with period products in the early 2010s, with individual Members of Scottish Parliament (MSPs) and Members of Parliament (MPs) being involved in public discourse via social and traditional media, parliamentary debates, opinion pieces, and engagement with activist groups. In the UK, the End Period Poverty Taskforce was established in 2019, partnering with multinational corporations. In Scotland, parliamentary debates happened at the same time. In the late 2010s, more countries and areas debated similar measures around the world, including New York State, Mexico City, Norway, Sweden, and New Zealand, with more being added almost every year.

Conclusions

The 2010s and 2020s legislative efforts regarding menstrual products, combined with corporate and activist pressure, have contributed to a global debate about menstruation and equality. The Scottish Act was widely seen to be pioneering and important in this regard, and clearly galvanized efforts elsewhere. The 2020s will likely see more legislation around menstrual issues in some countries, such as menstrual and menopause policies, period poverty initiatives and environmental acts. At this time of quick and large-scale changes, research has lagged behind both the law and practice. We now need a better understanding of the complexities of menstrual myths, stigma, historic events, and regional specificity to inform legislation. Our work is an effort both to evaluate and to support the menstrual legislative efforts that have been successfully won thus far. We note that this is a landmark moment in menstrual history, and that the future will be determined by the laws and acts put into place today.

Appendix

The worksheet below provides a means to think through the local receptivity to menstrual product legislation. Column 2 offers assessment questions for consideration, conversation, and discussion for stakeholders interested in potential legislation. How successfully a locale or nation has addressed these qualitative and historical questions can be evaluated in the following columns. Positive answers indicate fertile ground for implementation. Negative answers demonstrate more work likely needs to be done in preparation for such an act. The responses to each question will indicate specific areas that may need attention, and taken collectively show an overall pattern of receptivity to menstrual product legislation.

Components Questions for future policy makers Is it successfully implemented? Is it developing? Is it emerging? Does it exist at any level?
Menstrual products In what ways are menstrual products & technologies already part of an economic and distribution system? Fully incorporated Adequately incorporated Limited Deficient
Nation-building How does menstruation contribute to the narrative of a nation and its perceived special status? Highly integrated Moderately integrated Marginally integrated Poorly integrated
Hygienic imperative To what extent do people care about menstrual concealment to the extent that only menstrual products transform the body to acceptable? Minimally Somewhat To a great extent Critically important
Stigma & Passing Is shame or embarrassment about menstruation waning? Advanced Progressing Still a goal Not at all
Personal Identity In what ways do menstrual products enhance a menstruator’s values & self-perceptions? Commendably Satisfactorily Marginally Initial Stages
Women’s Rights & Feminism Is there a strong grass-roots effort for social justice concerning women’s rights and gender equity? Substantial Adequate Somewhat Lacking
Visual, media and cultural representations In what respects are menstruation and menstrual products already (positively) represented in daily discourse? Expertly Competently Progressing Scant
Legislative Advocate Which representatives or officials support the mechanism of legislation? Champion Supporter Observer Opponent

About this research paper

This paper is based on ‘Ending Period Poverty in Scotland: A Historical and International Perspective’ funded by the Royal Society of Edinburgh’s Arts and Humanities Research Network Award from 2020 to 2022 (grant number 64992), and administratively based at the University of St Andrews with Principal Investigator Bettina Bildhauer and Co-Investigators Sharra Vostral and Camilla Mørk Røstvik. The project brought together scholars from various disciplines and countries to research the role of the Scottish debate around Period Poverty, and the subsequent Act. Our research was published in 2022 as a Special Collection in the Open Library of Humanities, titled The Politics and History of Menstruation: Contextualising the Scottish Campaign to End Period Poverty.

Acknowledgements

The editors want to thank the project team for all their hard work; thank you to our collection authors Pavel Vasiliyev, Noelle Spencer, Catherine Spencer, Lara Owen, Alexandra Konovalova, Bee Hughes, Saniya Lee Ghanoui, Gayle Davis and Jessica Campbell, researcher Andrea Ens, and our advisers Hilary Critchley and Rachel Vette. Special thanks to Lara Owen, Bee Hughes, and Jessica Campbell for project administration and to Lara Owen for copyediting. Thank you to the Royal Society of Edinburgh for funding this project. Thank you to Open Library of Humanities and the team for all their support. Thank you to Bee Hughes and Bibo Keeley for artwork rights. Our sincere thanks to the archives and collections that made the work possible: Edinburgh Surgeons Hall, National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh University Library, Cyrenians charity, Glasgow Women’s Library, Hunterian Library, University of Glasgow Library, and University of St Andrews Library and Special Collections.

Competing Interests

The authors of this briefing paper are also the editors of the Special Collection.

Recommended Further Reading by Theme

Critical Menstrual Studies

Bobel, Chris, Inga T Winkler, Breanne Fahs, Katie Ann Hasson, Elizabeth Arveda Kissling, and Tomi-Ann Roberts, eds. Palgrave Handbook of Critical Menstruation Studies. London: Palgrave, 2020. DOI:  http://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-0614-7

Bildhauer, Bettina, Sharra Vostral and Camilla Mørk Røstvik, eds. Open Library of Humanities, Special Collection: The Politics and History of Menstruation: Contextualising the Scottish Campaign to End Period Poverty, Vol. 7–8, 2021–2022. https://olh.openlibhums.org/collections/505/

Menstrual products

Kissling, Elizabeth Arveda. Capitalizing on the Curse: The Business of Menstruation. Boulder: Rienner, 2006. DOI:  http://doi.org/10.1515/9781588269225

Mamo, Laura and Jennifer Fosket. ‘Scripting the Body: Pharmaceuticals and the (Re)Making of Menstruation’. Signs, Vol 34, No 4 (2009): 925–949. DOI:  http://doi.org/10.1086/597191

Owen, Lara. ‘Stigma, Sustainability, and Capitals: A Case Study on the Menstrual Cup’. Gender, Work and Organization, Vol 29 (2022): 1095–1112. DOI:  http://doi.org/10.1111/gwao.12808

Røstvik, Camilla Mørk. Cash Flow: The Businesses of Menstruation. London: UCL Press, 2022. DOI:  http://doi.org/10.14324/111.9781787355385

Røstvik, Camilla Mørk. ‘“Do Not Flush!” The Environmental History, Biohazards and Norms Contained in the UK Sanitary Bin Industry Since 1960’. Environment and History, Vol 27, No 4 (2021), 549–579. DOI:  http://doi.org/10.3197/096734019X15740974883807

Røstvik, Camilla Mørk. ‘Tampon Technology in Britain: Unilever’s Project Hyacinth and the “7-Day War Campaign,” 1968–80’. Technology and Culture, Vol 63, No 1 (2022): 61–86. DOI:  http://doi.org/10.1353/tech.2022.0002

Røstvik, Camilla Mørk. ‘Safer, Greener, Cheaper: Mooncup ® and the Development of Menstrual Cup Technology’. International Committee for the History of Technology Journal (ICON) Special Issue: The Body and Technology, Vol 26, No 2 (2021).

van Eijk, Anna Maria, Garazi Zulaika, Madeline Lenchner, Linda Mason, Muthusamy Sivakami, Elizabeth Nyothach, Holger Unger, Kayla Laserson and Penelope A. Phillips-Howard. ‘Menstrual Cup Use, Leakage, Acceptability, Safety, and Availability: A Systematic Review and Metaanalysis’. Lancet, Vol 4, No 8 (2019): E376–393. DOI:  http://doi.org/10.1016/S2468-2667(19)30111-2

Vostral, Sharra L. ‘Of Mice and (Wo)Men: Tampons, Menstruation, and Testing’. In Bobel, Chris, Inga T Winkler, Breanne Fahs, Katie Ann Hasson, Elizabeth Arveda Kissling and Tomi-Ann Roberts, eds. Palgrave Handbook of Critical Menstruation Studies. London: Palgrave, 2020: 673–86. DOI:  http://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-0614-7_50

Vostral, Sharra L. ‘Rely and Toxic Shock Syndrome: A Technological Health Crisis’. Yale Journal of Biological Medicine, Vol 84, No 4 (2011): 447–459.

Vostral, Sharra L. Toxic Shock: A Social History. New York: New York University Press, 2018.

Vostral, Sharra L. ‘Toxic Shock Syndrome, Tampons and Laboratory Standard-Setting’. Canadian Medical Association Journal, Vol 189, No 20 (2017): e726–728. DOI:  http://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.161479

Vostral, Sharra L. Under Wraps: A History of Menstrual Hygiene Technology. Lanham: Lexington, 2010.

Vostral, Sharra L. ‘Periods and the Menstrualscape: Menstrual Products and Menstrual Manifestations in Scotland, 1870–2020’. Open Library of Humanities, Vol 8, No 2 (forthcoming 2022).

Nation building

Bildhauer, Bettina. ‘Uniting the Nation through Transcending Menstrual Blood: The Period Products Act in Historical Perspective’. Open Library of Humanities, Vol 7, No 2 (2021). DOI:  http://doi.org/10.16995/olh.6339

Bobel, Chris. The Managed Body: Developing Girls and Menstrual Health in the Global South. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2019. DOI:  http://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-89414-0

Coetzee, Carli. Written Under the Skin: Blood and Intergenerational Memory in South Africa. Woodbridge: Boydell and Brewer, 2019. DOI:  http://doi.org/10.1017/9781787444263

Freidenfelds, Lara. The Modern Period: Menstruation in Twentieth-Century America. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press, 2009.

McClive, Cathy. Menstruation and Procreation in Early Modern France. New York: Routledge, 2015. DOI:  http://doi.org/10.4324/9781315594996

Read, Sara. Menstruation and the Female Body in Early Modern England. Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2013. DOI:  http://doi.org/10.1057/9781137355034

Strange, Julie-Marie. Issues of Blood: The Politics of Menstruation. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 1990.

Vasiiyev, Pavel and Alexandra Konovalova, ‘How Mooncup Came to Moscow: Changing Menstrual Habits in Late 20th- and Early 21st-Century Russia’. Open Library of Humanities, Vol 8, No 2 (forthcoming 2022).

Hygienic imperative

Brumber, Joan Jacob. The Body Project: An Intimate History of American Girls. New York: Vintage, 1997.

Mandziuk, Roseanne M. ‘Ending Women’s Greatest Hygienic Mistake: Modernity and the Mortification of Menstruation in Kotex Advertising, 1921–1926’. Women’s Studies Quarterly, Vol 38, No 3/4 (2010): 42–62. DOI:  http://doi.org/10.1353/wsq.2010.0015

Lee, Janet. ‘Menarche and the (Hetero)Sexualization of the Female Body’. Gender & Society, Vol 8, No 3 (1994): 343–362. DOI:  http://doi.org/10.1177/089124394008003004

Persdotter, Josefin. Menstrual Dirt: An Exploration of Contemporary Menstrual Hygiene Practices in Sweden. Arkiv, 2022. DOI:  http://doi.org/10.13068/9789179243685

Strange, Julie-Marie. ‘The Assault on Ignorance: Teaching Menstrual Etiquette in England, c. 1920s to 1960s’. Social History of Medicine, Vol 14, No 2 (2001): 247–65. DOI:  http://doi.org/10.1093/shm/14.2.247

Vaughn, Rachel. ‘Compost and Menstrual Blood: Women Waste Pickers and the Work of Waste Futurity’. Catalyst: Feminism, Theory, Technoscience, Vol 6, No 1 (2020): 1–28. DOI:  http://doi.org/10.28968/cftt.v6i1.32379

Stigma, pollution and taboo

Bildhauer, Bettina. Medieval Blood. Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 2006.

Houppert, Karen. The Curse: Confronting the Last Unmentionable Taboo: Menstruation. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2000.

Johnston-Robledo, Ingrid and Chrisler, Joan C. ‘The Menstrual Mark: Menstruation as Social Stigma’. Sex Roles, Vol 68 (2011): 9–18. DOI:  http://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-011-0052-z

Owen, Lara. ‘Researching the Researchers: The Impact of Menstrual Stigma on the Study of Menstruation’. Open Library of Humanities, Vol 8, No 1 (2022). DOI:  http://doi.org/10.16995/olh.6338

Ussher, Jane M. Managing the Monstrous Feminine: Regulating the Reproductive Body. London: Routledge, 2006. DOI:  http://doi.org/10.4324/9780203328422

Personal identity

Chrisler, Joan C, Jennifer A Gorman, Jen Manion, Michael Murgo, Angela Barney, Alexis Adams-Clark, Jessica R Newton and Meaghan McGrath. ‘Queer Periods: Attitudes Toward and Experiences with Menstruation in the Masculine of Centre and Transgender Community’. Culture, Health & Sexuality, Vol 18, No 11 (2016): 1238–1250. DOI:  http://doi.org/10.1080/13691058.2016.1182645

Frank, Sarah E. ‘Queering Menstruation: Trans and Non-Binary Identity and Body Politics’. Sociological Inquiry, Vol 90 (2020): 371–404. DOI:  http://doi.org/10.1111/soin.12355

Linton, David. Men and Menstruation: A Social Transaction. Berne: Lang, 2019. DOI:  http://doi.org/10.3726/b12018

Campbell, Jessica and Gayle Davis. ‘“A Crisis of Transition”: Menstruation and the Psychiatrisation of the Female Lifecycle in 19th-Century Edinburgh’. Open Library of Humanities, Vol 8, No 1 (2022). DOI:  http://doi.org/10.16995/olh.6350

Women’s rights and feminism

Bobel, Chris. New Blood: Third Wave Feminism and the Politics of Menstruation. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2010.

Fahs, Breanne. Out for Blood: Essays on Menstruation and Resistance. New York: SUNY Press, 2016.

Kline, Wendy. Bodies of Knowledge: Sexuality, Reproduction, and Women’s Health in the Second Wave. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2010. DOI:  http://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226443072.001.0001

Quint, Chella. Be Period Positive: Reframe Your Thinking and Reshape the Future of Menstruation. London: DK Penguin Random House, 2021.

Visual, media and cultural representation

Critchley, Hilary et al. ‘Menstruation: Science and Society’. American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, Vol 223, No 5 (2020): 624–64. DOI:  http://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajog.2020.06.004

Delaney, Janice, Emily Toth and Mary Jane Lupton. The Curse: A Cultural History of Menstruation. Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 1988.

Green-Cole, Ruth. Widening the Cycle: A Menstrual Cycle & Reproductive Justice Art Show. San Francisco, CA: Blurb, 2015.

Ghanoui, Saniya. ‘Responsible Body: Menstrual Education Films and Sex Education in the United States and Scotland, 1970s–1980s’. Open Library of Humanities, Vol 8, No 2 (forthcoming 2022). DOI:  http://doi.org/10.16995/olh.6349

Hughes, Bee. ‘Challenging Menstrual Norms in Online Medical Advice: Deconstructing Stigma around Entangled Art Practice’. Feminist Encounters, Vol 2, No 2 (2018): 1–15. DOI:  http://doi.org/10.20897/femenc/3883

Lander, Louise. Images of Bleeding: Menstruation as Ideology. New York: Orlando Press, 1988.

McKay, Fiona. ‘Scotland and Period Poverty: A case study of activists’ media and political agenda setting’. In James Morrison, Jen Birks and Mike Berry (eds.). Routledge Companion to Political Journalism. London: Routledge, 2021. DOI:  http://doi.org/10.4324/9780429284571-38

Rosewarne, Lauren. Periods in Pop Culture: Menstruation in Film and Television. Lanham, MD: Lexington, 2012.

Røstvik, Camilla Mørk. ‘Blood Works, Judy Chicago and Menstrual Art since 1970’. Oxford Art Journal, Vol 42, No 3 (2019): 335–353. DOI:  http://doi.org/10.1093/oxartj/kcz021

Røstvik, Camilla Mørk. ‘Mother Nature as Brand Strategy: Gender and Creativity in Tampax Advertising 2007–2009’. Enterprise & Society, Vol 21, No 2 (June 2020): 413–452. DOI:  http://doi.org/10.1017/eso.2019.36

Røstvik, Camilla, Bee Hughes and Catherine Spencer. ‘The Red Gown: Reflections on the In/Visibility of Menstruation in Scotland’. Open Library of Humanities, Vol 8 No 1 (2022). DOI:  http://doi.org/10.16995/olh.6340

Shail, Andrew and Gillian Howie, eds. Menstruation: A Cultural History. Basingstoke: Palgrave, 2005.

Shuttle, Penelope and Peter Redgrove. The Wise Wound: Menstruation and Everywoman. London: Boyars, 2005.

Tonelli, Daniela and Clarice Rios. ‘(In)visible Blood: Menstrual Performances and Body Art’. Vibrant: Virtual Brazilian Anthropology, Vol 14, No 1 (2017). DOI:  http://doi.org/10.1590/1809-43412017v14n1p124

Legislation

Crawford, Bridget J and Emily Gold Waldman. Menstruation Matters. Challenging the Law’s Silence on Periods. New York: NYU, 2022.

Wasserfall, Rahel, ed. Women and Water: Menstruation in Jewish Life and Law. Waltham: Brandeis University Press, 1999. DOI:  http://doi.org/10.26812/9780874519594

Weiss-Wolf, Jennifer. Periods Gone Public: Taking a Stand for Menstrual Equity. New York: Arcade, 2017.