Menstrual Activism, Yesterday and Today

Under the incredibly broad umbrella of feminism lies the particular strain of menstrual activism. Defined as the mobilising efforts that challenge menstrual taboos and insist that menstruators lead happy, healthy lives, menstrual activists are to thank for many of the rights and liberties that have been granted to menstruators across the globe, including the abolition of the tampon tax in Canada, the mandated toxic shock syndrome (TSS) warnings on packages, and the worldwide “Menstrual Hygiene Day” aimed at dismantling stigma. More than this, though, menstrual activism can be seen as an embodiment of the broader, enduring effort to liberate the body of social and gender norms. It is the pinnacle of the personal and intimate as the political; of the body as a subject rather than an object. This blog will explore a brief history of menstrual activism and the many forms it exists in.

“Menstrual activism”, as it is known today, developed alongside the Second Wave Feminism of the 1970s and 80s. Following a scandal that led 38 people to die from TSS, activists focused on getting governments and industries to protect consumers. More broadly, it was seen as some of the first attempts to “break the silence” surrounding menstruation and stigma. In the 1980 “Dirty Protest”, for example, women in Northern Ireland that were jailed for their independence protests smeared their menstrual blood on the prison walls. Their revolutionary act became the spark for a series of women’s demands and culminated in a breakthrough policy proposal for increased access to divorce, childcare, free and accessible contraception, and sex education. Acts like these were the first to politicize menstruation, to make menstrual blood itself a revolutionary tool, and set the stage for future activists. However, the movement’s ideas were generally quite limited to gendered, white, and upper-class parameters, with menstruation branded as a bond of “womanhood” and a focus on improving the system rather than questioning it.

It wasn’t long, then, until a more radical form of menstrual activism took shape, alongside Third Wave Feminism and closely tied to punk and environmentalist groups. Radical menstrual activists rejected many of the foundations that Second Wave Feminists had stood on and instead focused on a more inclusive movement that “undid gender” and fought against its existence in a capitalist market. They advocated for alternative, reusable products or even free bleeding, speaking directly to menstruators rather than the industry, and radicalizing both thought and protest action. Zine-making, as a historical, grassroots resistance to corporate values, played a central role in the movement. Zines by the Bloodsisters Project, for example, provided an alternative to mainstream teen magazines and allowed menstruators to find empowerment and community, as well as disseminate information on conventional menstrual care’s dangers to menstruators and the environment.

Figure 1 "Dana Damned Dollies” (The Bloodsisters Project) from Red Alert Zine

Today, menstrual activism has evolved into dynamic, shifting efforts. Activists across the globe focus on context-specific needs, which reflect the global inequalities surrounding menstrual rights. Likewise, the ways menstrual activists take action have remained incredibly diverse. There exists endless forms of resistance against stigma, taboo, and still insufficient rights, which span from explicitly political actions to menstrual art, literature, comedy, and photography. Kiran Gandhi free-bled an entire marathon race, breaking headlines. Cass Clemmer published a coloring book, “The Adventures of Toni the Tampon”, featuring characters based on different forms of menstrual hygiene products. An art show entitled “The Crimson Wave: Art About and With Menstrual Blood” brought in masses in Bangalore, India.

Figure 2 Cass Clemmer/Toni the Tampon

Humour has allowed for joy to become a radical act, a disarming form of resistance. It lets people laugh through their discomfort, used in stand-up shows, podcasts, books, etc. Chella Quint, for example, deconstructs vintage menstrual product ads and offers her product “Stains” as earrings, cufflinks, and broaches.  

Literature has also proved another enduring form of menstrual activism, allowing deeper and more varied explorations of the experience of menstruating. It has been a particularly salient feature in Hispanic literature and has reflected Latin America’s feminist discourses and sociopolitical context. Argentine Reina Roffé’s 1976 “Monte de Venus” was trailblazing in its exploration of the genderqueer experience of menstruation. Chilean Diamela Eltit’s “Mano de Obra” (2002) described the effects of menstruation on a supermarket employee, painted as the ultimate example of the lack of freedom as a working-class citizen under capitalism.

In sum, menstrual activism continues to be a powerful means through which to subvert gender and menstrual biases. The movement continues to be the first to call attention to those still overlooked, including incarcerated, disabled, and homeless menstruators. It is powerful, too, in its diversity of forms, in the way it embraces everything from a rally to a small laughter as an act of resistance.

 Read More:

Bobel, C. and Fahs, B. “The Messy Politics of Menstrual Activism” (2020).

Bobel, C. and Lorber, J. New Blood: Third-Wave Feminism and the Politics of Menstruation (2010).

Scala, F. “Menstrual Activism, Insider-Outsider Alliances and Agenda-Setting: An Analysis of the Campaign to End the ‘Tampon Tax’ in Canada” (2022).

Cañedo, A. “Creative Encounters with Menstruation in Contemporary Latin American and Spanish Women Writing” (2016).