Menarche and emerging female identity, the messages conveyed in menstrual product advertisements

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the messages conveyed in menstrual product advertisements with specific concern given to the type of information that could be learned about menstruation and the female body by menarcheal girls. Over 200 advertisements from popular women's magazines comprised the data set. Using grounded theory methodology, these contemporary commercial advertisements were analyzed and tentative theory generated. The findings of this study show that the themes conveyed in menstrual product advertisements could function to heighten insecurities in the female adolescent reader. Among the messages conveyed in the advertisements is the assertion that the menstruating state must always be concealed, the suggestion that physical distress is a normal part of menstruation, and the idea that menstruation is unclean and inherently problematic. The findings also revealed that the advertisements are a reflection of the negative societal views of menstruation and, because the advertisements function to heighten insecurities, they also function to perpetuate and maintain the silence and shame whi h surrounds menstruation in our society.