CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2024
| Author | Kofoed-Ottesen, Anna Terese |
|---|---|
| Title | "It is Red. It is Good. It Gives New Energy." Representations of Menstruation, Women's Bodies and Health in Danish Media and the Redstockings Movement, 1970-1985 |
| Summary | In this thesis, situated within the field of Gender History and Critical Menstruation Studies, I explore the history of Danish menstrual activism, as well as the changes in representations and discourses around menstruation, women’s bodies, and health from 1970 to 1985, focusing specifically on Danish newspapers and the Danish Redstockings movement, a leftist and influential group within the Danish Women’s Liberation movement. I argue that the Redstockings put women’s bodily autonomy on the public agenda, by countering the menstrual stigma and medicalization of women and giving women greater knowledge about their bodies and health. By exploring a wide selection of Danish newspapers and internal and external Redstockings publications, I trace how menstruation entered the Danish newspapers outside the doctors columns and the impact the Redstockings had. I argue that they did so by insisting that ‘the private’ was political and that the medicalization of women and menstrual and health issues was related to societal structures participating in women’s oppression. While the Redstockings’ feminist and leftist ideology shaped their activism, they often lacked class-based analysis of menstruation, women’s bodies, and health. Ultimately, I show that despite the Redstockings’ attempt to highlight how representations and issues of menstruation, women’s bodies, and health were related to structural issues, the 1980s saw a greater move toward viewing menstruation, women’s bodies, and health as individual issues rather than collective (societal) issues. As the history of menstrual activism in Denmark has not been examined before, this thesis highlights a new aspect of the Redstockings movement and contributes to the historical research of women’s movements and menstrual activism. |
| Supervisor | Loney, Hannah; de Haan, Francisca |
| Department | Gender Studies MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2024/kofoed-ottesen_anna.pdf |
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