Menstrual cycle in the XXI century. Between the marketplace, ecology and women’s power

Abstract

This article explores meanings related to gender, body care and women’s health, spirituality/religiosity, politics, environment, and women’s empowerment, present in the marketing of “alternative” menstrual products (cloth towels, menstrual cup, books which celebrate menstrual cycle) and workshops and virtual networks about the menstrual cycle in contemporary Argentina. This is a qualitative study based on the analysis of publicity, blogs and Facebook groups of female entrepreneurs who manufacture, sell and/or promote these products, as well as participant observation in workshops and interviews with their organizers. It focuses in the tension between visions which privilege hygiene and perceive menstruation as a bad time for women and those which celebrate the menstrual cycle and consider it a source for women empowerment.