The Role of Menstrual Talk : Narratives of Young Tanzanian Women with Disabilities

Abstract

In recent decades, menstruation has received growing public, political and academic attention. Yet menstrual experiences continue to be shaped by stigma and restrictive social norms. While research has increasingly examined menstrual stigma and menstrual health, considerably less attention has been paid to menstrual discourse itself and to how its consequences are understood by young women with disabilities, particularly in the context of the Global South.

The purpose of this thesis is to explore how young women with disabilities perceive and interpret the outcomes of menstrual discourse for their wellbeing, social positioning and agency. The study is guided by the following research question: How do young women with disabilities construct the consequences of normalising and stigmatising menstrual talk?

The study adopted a qualitative approach and utilised the method of empathy-based stories (MEBS). Participants were invited to produce narratives based on contrasting frame stories in which menstruation was presented either as a normal and natural process or as shameful, dirty and disgusting. The data utilised in this study consisted of altogether 60 narratives produced by 63 Tanzanian girls and young women with disabilities. The data were analysed using thematic content analysis.

The analysis identified five interconnected themes concerning self-perception and emotional experience, social belonging and exclusion, participation and agency, menstrual responsibility, and resistance to dominant menstrual narratives. Across these themes, participants consistently constructed normalising menstrual talk as fostering confidence, belonging, agency and participation, whereas stigmatising menstrual talk was associated with shame, self-monitoring, social withdrawal and restricted opportunities for participation. The findings suggest that the perceived consequences of menstrual talk extend beyond menstruation itself, shaping how young women with disabilities understand themselves, their relationships and their place within the society.

The study contributes to the growing literature on menstrual stigma by shifting attention from menstrual management to menstrual discourse. Consistent with social constructionist perspectives, the findings indicate that menstrual talk does not merely reflect experiences of menstruation but actively shapes the meanings attached to menstruation, disability and gendered identity. In doing so, menstrual discourse functions as a mechanism through which social belonging, agency and wellbeing are enabled, constrained and negotiated. The results further support theoretical understandings of stigma as a socially produced and internalised process, while highlighting how menstrual stigma may intersect with disability-related marginalisation. By centring the perspectives of young women with disabilities in Tanzania, the study provides new insight into the discursive construction of menstrual wellbeing and demonstrates how everyday discourse can both reproduce and challenge social inequalities.