Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

A Modified Menstrual Attitudes Scale: Heteronormative Attitudes, Sexism, and Attitudes Toward Menstruation in Male and Female Adults

A Modified Menstrual Attitudes Scale: Heteronormative Attitudes, Sexism, and Attitudes Toward... Social shame and stigma surround menstruation, which may compromise women’s health and rights in various contexts. Men’s attitudes are particularly important because men often hold positions of power that influence women’s experience. This study examined factors associated with menstrual attitudes, including heteronormative attitudes, sexism, and family influences. A cross-sectional Qualtrics panel survey (n = 802; aged 18–44; 50.8% female) was performed. We tested a revised menstrual attitudes scale based on items drawn from previously validated measures. Data were analyzed using a structural equation modeling framework. Factor analysis identified and confirmed a 5-factor model for menstrual attitudes. Men endorsed more negative attitudes toward menstruation than women; however, this difference was largely explained by factors other than gender in the structural equation model. After controlling for family and demographic characteristics, attitudes toward openness and secrecy surrounding menstruation were most strongly associated with gender role expectations and hostile sexism. Benevolent sexism was associated with finding menstruation debilitating, denying menstrual symptoms, and endorsing avoidance of activities during menstruation. Heteronormative and sexist attitudes were associated with more negative menstrual attitudes, while increased menstrual knowledge was associated with more positive menstrual attitudes. The difference in menstrual attitudes between males and females was explained largely by heteronormative attitudes and sexism. This suggests that attitudes toward menstruation are closely linked to social ideals about men and women. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Archives of Sexual Behavior Springer Journals

A Modified Menstrual Attitudes Scale: Heteronormative Attitudes, Sexism, and Attitudes Toward Menstruation in Male and Female Adults

Download PDF
13 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/springer-journals/a-modified-menstrual-attitudes-scale-heteronormative-attitudes-sexism-KPgvw93PEy
Publisher
Springer Journals
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2023. Springer Nature or its licensor (e.g. a society or other partner) holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.
ISSN
0004-0002
eISSN
1573-2800
DOI
10.1007/s10508-023-02565-y
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Social shame and stigma surround menstruation, which may compromise women’s health and rights in various contexts. Men’s attitudes are particularly important because men often hold positions of power that influence women’s experience. This study examined factors associated with menstrual attitudes, including heteronormative attitudes, sexism, and family influences. A cross-sectional Qualtrics panel survey (n = 802; aged 18–44; 50.8% female) was performed. We tested a revised menstrual attitudes scale based on items drawn from previously validated measures. Data were analyzed using a structural equation modeling framework. Factor analysis identified and confirmed a 5-factor model for menstrual attitudes. Men endorsed more negative attitudes toward menstruation than women; however, this difference was largely explained by factors other than gender in the structural equation model. After controlling for family and demographic characteristics, attitudes toward openness and secrecy surrounding menstruation were most strongly associated with gender role expectations and hostile sexism. Benevolent sexism was associated with finding menstruation debilitating, denying menstrual symptoms, and endorsing avoidance of activities during menstruation. Heteronormative and sexist attitudes were associated with more negative menstrual attitudes, while increased menstrual knowledge was associated with more positive menstrual attitudes. The difference in menstrual attitudes between males and females was explained largely by heteronormative attitudes and sexism. This suggests that attitudes toward menstruation are closely linked to social ideals about men and women.

Journal

Archives of Sexual Behavior – Springer Journals

Published: May 1, 2023

Keywords: Menstruation; Sexism; Hostility; Attitudes; Shame

References

  • Knowledge and practice of self-hygiene during menstruation among female adolescent students in Buraidah city
    Al Mutairi, H; Jahan, S
  • More than just a punctuation mark: How boys and young men learn about menstruation
    Allen, KR; Kaestle, CE; Goldberg, AE
  • Young western women's experiences of menarche and menstruation
    Beausang, CC; Razor, AG
  • The Menstrual Attitudes Questionnaire
    Brooks-Gunn, J; Ruble, DN
  • Men's and women's attitudes and beliefs about the menstrual cycle
    Brooks-Gunn, J; Ruble, DN
  • Objectification theory: An introduction
    Calogero, RM; Tantleff-Dunn, S; Thompson, JK; Calogero, RM; Tantleff-Dunn, S; Thompson, JK
  • Pubescent male students’ attitudes towards menstruation in Taiwan: Implications for reproductive health education and school nursing practice
    Chang, YT; Hayter, M; Lin, ML
  • Hormone hostages: The cultural legacy of PMS as a legal defense
    Chrisler, JC; Collins, LH; Dunlap, MR; Chrisler, JC
  • PMS as a culture-bound syndrome
    Chrisler, JC; Chrisler, JC; Golden, C; Rozee, PD
  • 2007 Presidential address: Fear of losing control: Power, perfectionism, and the psychology of women
    Chrisler, JC
  • Queer periods: Attitudes toward and experiences with menstruation in the masculine of centre and transgender community
    Chrisler, JC; Gorman, JA; Manion, J; Murgo, M; Barney, A; Adams-Clark, A; Newton, JR; McGrath, M
  • Ambivalent sexism and attitudes toward women in different stages of reproductive life: A semantic, cross-cultural approach
    Chrisler, JC; Gorman, JA; Marván, ML; Johnston-Robledo, I
  • Using statistical procedures to identify differentially functioning test items
    Clauser, BE; Mazor, KM
  • Gender and power: Society, the person and sexual politics
    Connell, RW
  • Recollections of menarche: Communication between mothers and daughters regarding menstruation
    Costos, D; Ackerman, R; Paradis, L
  • The unconstitutional tampon tax
    Crawford, BJ; Waldman, EG
  • Attitudes to menstruation in seventeenth-century England
    Crawford, P
  • Perceptions and practices regarding menstruation: a comparative study in urban and rural adolescent girls
    Deo, DS; Ghattargi, CH
  • Dynamic stereotypes of power: Perceived change and stability in gender hierarchies
    Diekman, AB; Goodfriend, W; Goodwin, S
  • Survey of heteronormative attitudes and tolerance toward gender non-conformity in Mountain West undergraduate students
    Duncan, SG; Aguilar, G; Jensen, CG; Magnusson, BM
  • Gender stereotypes
    Ellemers, N
  • “You will find out when the time is right”: Boys, men, and menstruation
    Erchull, MJ; Bobel, C
  • Education and advertising: A content analysis of commercially produced booklets about menstruation
    Erchull, MJ; Chrisler, JC; Gorman, JA; Johnston-Robledo, I
  • Gender differences in parents’ communication with their adolescent children about sexual risk and sex-positive topics
    Evans, R; Widman, L; Kamke, K; Stewart, JL
  • The role of hostile and benevolent sexism in women's and men's perceptions of the menstruating woman
    Forbes, GB; Adams-Curtis, LE; White, KB; Holmgren, KM
  • Queering menstruation: Trans and non-binary identity and body politics
    Frank, SE
  • Hostile and benevolent sexism: Measuring ambivalent sexist attitudes toward women
    Glick, P; Fiske, ST
  • Interpersonal dominance-warmth dimensions of hostile and benevolent sexism: Insights from the self and friends
    Goh, JX; Tignor, SM
  • Adolescents' perceptions of social status: Development and evaluation of a new indicator
    Goodman, E; Adler, NE; Kawachi, I; Frazier, AL; Huang, B; Colditz, GA
  • Development of the Heteronormative Attitudes and Beliefs Scale
    Habarth, J
  • Experiences and constructions of menarche and menstruation among migrant and refugee women
    Hawkey, AJ; Ussher, JM; Perz, J; Metusela, C
  • Differential item performance and the Mantel-Haenszel procedure
    Holland, PW; Thayer, DT
  • “Kiss your period good-bye”: Menstrual suppression in the popular press
    Johnston-Robledo, I; Barnack, J; Wares, S
  • The menstrual mark: Menstruation as social stigma
    Johnston-Robledo, I; Chrisler, JC
  • Heteronormativity in action: Reproducing the heterosexual nuclear family in after-hours medical calls
    Kitzinger, C
  • Improving menstrual equity in the USA: Perspectives from trans and non-binary people assigned female at birth and health care providers
    Lane, B; Perez-Brumer, A; Parker, R; Sprong, A; Sommer, M
  • “Just because I don't bleed, doesn't mean I don't go through it”: Expanding knowledge on trans and non-binary menstruators
    Lowik, AJ
  • Applications of structural equation modeling in psychological research
    MacCallum, RC; Austin, JT
  • Beliefs about and attitudes toward menstruation among young and middle-aged Mexicans
    Marván, ML; Cortés-Iniestra, S; González, R
  • Menstrual shame: Exploring the role of ‘menstrual moaning’
    McHugh, MC; Bobel, C
  • Menstrual knowledge, sociocultural restrictions, and barriers to menstrual hygiene management in Ghana: Evidence from a multi-method survey among adolescent schoolgirls and schoolboys
    Mohammed, S; Larsen-Reindorf, RE
  • Experiences with benevolent sexism: Scale development and associations with women’s well-being
    Oswald, DL; Baalbaki, M; Kirkman, M
  • Men and menstruation: A qualitative exploration of beliefs, attitudes, and experiences
    Peranovic, T; Bentley, B
  • Parent-teen communication about sexual topics
    Raffaelli, M; Bogenschneider, K; Flood, MF
  • “Feminine protection”: The effects of menstruation on attitudes towards women
    Roberts, TA; Goldenberg, JL; Power, C; Pyszczynski, T
  • The traffic in women: Notes on the "political economy" of sex
    Rubin, G; Reiter, RR
  • Degendering menstruation: Making trans menstruators matter
    Rydström, K; Bobel, C
  • The Experiences with Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (EASI)
    Salomon, K; Bosson, JK; El-Hout, M; Kiebel, E; Kuchynka, SL; Shepard, SL
  • Recovering the feminine other: Masculinity, femininity, and gender hegemony
    Schippers, M
  • Promoting the menstrual health of adolescent girls in China
    Su, JJ; Lindell, D
  • Menstrual hygiene management—knowledge, attitudes, and practices among female college students in Bhutan
    Tshomo, T; Gurung, MS; Shah, S; Gil-Cuesta, J; Maes, P; Wangdi, R; Tobden, J
  • The effects of family type, family relationships and parental role models on delinquency and alcohol use among Flemish adolescents
    Vanassche, S; Sodermans, AK; Matthijs, K; Swicegood, G
  • A cross-sectional study of the beliefs and attitudes towards menstruation of Chinese undergraduate males and females in Hong Kong
    Wong, WC; Li, MK; Chan, WYV; Choi, YY; Fong, CHS; Lam, KWK; Sham, WC; So, PP; Wong, K; Yeung, KH
  • Perceived parental behaviour of juvenile delinquent boys in prison: A case in Ethiopia
    Wubishet, HL; van Leuween, K