Smear It on Your Face, Rub It on Your Body, It 226; s Time to….pdfVIP

Smear It on Your Face, Rub It on Your Body, It’s Time to Start a Menstrual Party! Shannon Docherty Critical Theory and Social Justice, Occidental College, 2010 Abstract: This article explores current attitudes about menstruation and the resulting menarchy movement. Menarchy, or menstrual anarchy, is a response to negative attitudes about menstrua- tion. Menarchists critique the femcare industry, pharmaceutical companies, and advertisements that produce and reinforce ideas that menstruation should be concealed and hidden. Feminist theorists reference a long history of equating menstruation with failed reproduction and reduc- ing menstruation to a curse. The commodification of menstruation and women’s bodies com- bined with bioethical implications of menstrual suppression have created a sense of urgency in the menarchist movement. Menarchists, influenced by Third Wave feminism and the Do-It- Yourself-inspired punk counterculture, are coming out of the menstrual closet. As activists and artists, they are creating alternative menstrual products and critiquing mainstream discourses about menstruation. This article exposes part of the expanding menarchist archive that is ac- cumulating on the Internet. Menarchists are critiquing and improving menstrual management while simultaneously reconceptualizing menstruation. By embracing the abject quality of men- strual blood, menstruators are transforming their own attitudes toward their monthly cycle and radicalizing menstruation. Keywords: menarchy, femcare industry, menstrual blood, feminism, menstruation, abject Smear It on Your Face, Rub It on Your Body, It’s Time to Start a Menstrual Party! Shannon Docherty Cycle I: Menstruation, Commodification, and Bioethical Interventions In 1970, Germaine Greer dared women to taste their menstrual blood. In The Female Eunuch, Greer posed this provocative challenge: “If you think you are emancipated, you might consider the idea of tasting your menstrual blo