Work

Empowerment, destigmatization and sustainability: the co-construction of reusable menstrual technologies in the context of menstrual activism in Argentina

Year: 2019

Type: article

Abstract: In this essay, I use the domestication framework to explore the integration process in which reusable menstrual management technologies become part of the everyday life of users. Drawing on interviews, focus group discussions and observation in online and offline sites in Argentina, this study sheds light on how technologies and users co-construct each other in the context of an emerging menstrual activism. By listening to the stories of the participants of this study, I show the potential of women’s agency in transforming technology. New and not foreseen uses and meanings were assigned to the reusable menstrual technologies, however, this happens while the identities of users are also transformed in the process of domestication, illustrating how the identity of being a menstruating woman and technologies are co-shaping each other.

Source: Gender Technology and Development

DOI: 10.1080/09718524.2019.1643522

Author: Jacqueline Gaybor

Institutions: International Institute of Social Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam

Language: English

Topic: Menstrual Health and Disorders

Subfield: Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDGs: Gender equality, Responsible consumption and production, Reduced inequalities

Open Access status: hybrid

Funders: Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam, Erasmus+