Menstruation in the Media Conference: Digital Day

In collaboration with the Menstruation Research Network, this event at the University of Sheffield will focus on media narratives about menstruation and related topics. It will bring together researchers in the fields of journalism and media studies, individual advocates, and representatives from NGOs.

On our digital day, there will be 12 papers presented by speakers from all over the world, including Uganda, Nepal, Australia, the US, and Sweden. It includes a variety of media such as journalism, social media, cinema and art.

The conference is free to attend, and the zoom link will be emailed to you shortly before the conference.

Please find the provisional programme below:

Introduction by Organisers: 10.15 (BST)

Maria Tomlinson (University of Sheffield) and Lottie Rhodes (University of Newcastle) welcome speakers and delegates.

Panel A: 10.30-12.00 (Chair: Maria Tomlinson, University of Sheffield)

Bridgette Glover (University of New England, Australia) "Reframing Menarche: Challenging stigma in portrayals of menstruation and menarche on screen"

Mitali Das (Communications Expert, Bangladesh) and Siobhan Warrington (University of Newcastle, UK) "No room for pain when countering shame: examining the limitations of media narratives of menstruation in Bangladesh"

Radha Paudel and Samiksha Koirala (Global South Coalition for Dignified Menstruation) "International News Media Representations of Menstrual Restrictions/Taboos in Nepal"

Prerna Singh (TISS, Hyderabad, India) and Anuhya Korrapati (Christ University, Bengaluru, India) "Omission of Menstruation in Female-Centric Bollywood Movies"

Panel B: 13:00-14.30 (Chair: Lottie Rhodes, University of Newcastle)

Chipo Bangira (Akina Mama wa Afrika, Uganda) and Patricia Humura (Irise Institute, East Africa) "Reclamation of power by centering young women’s orality in the pursuit of menstrual health knowledge: The possibilities and limits of digital menstrual activism in Zimbabwe and Uganda."

Magdalena Petersson McIntyre (University of Gothenburg, Sweden) "Is it really bloody serious? A visual analysis of the Swedish Army’s campaign for free menstrual products"

Sara De Benedictis (Brunel University, London, UK), Rebecca Krisel (CUNY Graduate Center, US) and Kaitlyn Mendes (University of Western Ontario, Canada) "Tracking The ‘Tampon Tax’"

Mireia Pérez Sabadell (Pompeu Fabra University) "Advertising and Menstruation: Presence and representation in Libresse/Bodyform advertisements on YouTube between 2015 and 2020"

Panel C: 15.00-16.30 (Chair: Sara De Benedictis, Brunel University)

Kelly Diaz (University of Pennsylvania, US) and Val Servino (Emory Rollins School of Public Health) "Audience Reactions to The L Word: Generation Q’s 'Period Sex Scene'"

Eileen Mary Holowka (Concordia University, Canada) "Posting about Endometriosis"

Bridget J. Crawford (Pace University, US) and Emily Gold Waldman (Pace University, US)"Inverting Shame to Achieve Policy Change: Examples from Social Media Campaigns in the United States"

Camilla Mørk Røstvik (Aberdeen, Scotland) "Miss Tampon Liberty: Jay Critchley and the Environmenstrual Movement 1970-2020"

Event Venue

Online