Comfortably, safely, and without shame: Defining menstrual hygiene management as a public health issue

M. Sommer, J.S. Hirsch, C. Nathanson and R.G. Parker

American Journal of Public Health, 2015, vol. 105, issue 7, 1302-1311

Abstract: In recent years, the menstrual hygiene management challenges facing schoolgirls in low-income-country contexts have gained global attention. We applied Gusfield's sociological analysis of the culture of public problems to better understand how this relatively newly recognized public health challenge rose to the level of global public health awareness and action. We similarly applied the conceptualization by Dorfman et al. of the role of public health messaging in changing corporate practice to explore the conceptual frames and the news frames that are being used to shape the perceptions of menstrual hygiene management as an issue of social justice within the context of public health. Important lessons were revealed for getting other public health problems onto the global-, national-, and locallevel agendas.

Keywords: cultural anthropology; developing country; ethnology; female; feminine hygiene product; human; hygiene; menstruation; politics; public health; safety; social behavior; social justice; standards; supply and distribution, Culture; Developing Countries; Female; Humans; Hygiene; Menstrual Hygiene Products; Menstruation; Politics; Public Health; Safety; Social Justice; Social Responsibility (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.2014.302525_6

DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2014.302525

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