Document 2051260

 Watt: Her Moody Time of the Month
1 Her Moody Time of the Month: Teaching, Learning, and Living the Body of Menstruation
Jennifer Watt: PhD Student in the “Education for Transformative Teaching, Learning, and
Leadership” Cohort
During the session break before I presented this paper, I spent a couple of moments
setting a few items on the tables in front of where each person might be sitting. As traditional for
an academic talk, I distributed handouts from the PowerPoint slides I presented. I decided that
since I would be talking about menstruation I really should provide some chocolate, so I had a
few wrapped chocolate Easter eggs for each person. And then, in front of each person I placed
either a feminine hygiene pad or tampon. When it was my turn to speak, I began by drawing
attention to “the goodies” I had left on the desks, suggesting to the audience that they would be
“probably able to identify my contributions quite easily.” The feminine hygiene product was a
reminder that “for women, menstruating is ordinary. Women menstruate on average, just under
one week per month; thus, approximately one-quarter of all fertile women are menstruating at
any given moment” (Fingerson, 2006, pp. 15-16). Menstruation is ordinary—so why did talking
about menstruation and providing artifacts that represent menstruation in an academic context
feel so strange and even slightly rebellious?
Talking About the Taboo
I had three objectives when I placed the pads and tampons prominently in the physical
space of the Faculty of Education Graduate Symposium. My first reason speaking so openly
about the products was simply to name the elephant that would be present in the room as I shared
my research. Menstruation is not the easiest subject to talk about—quite frankly, even as adults,
it is a little bit squirmy to talk about periods so openly—especially in a formal, mixed-gender,
and academic setting. In the public realm, there remains a relative hush about this regular
Watt: Her Moody Time of the Month
2 embodied experience. Kissling (2006) argues, “How a society deals with menstruation may
reveal a great deal about how the society deals with women” (p. 2). Fingerson (2006) suggests
that our society ignores rather than deals with menstruation:
It is odd that such an integral and routine event in women’s lives, which has
significant implications for women’s health and well-being over the life
course, not to mention the salience it holds in adolescence, has generally been
ignored in social research. (p. 4)
I am a menstruating woman, mother, and researcher. Stories about menstruation from the private
and the public realm matter to me both personally and politically. So I named the elephant by
gifting my audience with a feminine hygiene product and I continue to name the elephant by
writing about the experience in this paper.
My second objective was to allow the pad or tampon to act as a mediator, symbol, or
pivotal artifact (Holland et al, 1998, Rogoff, 2003, Vygotsky, 1978) to move us from what the
object is used for to what it might represent to individuals living in and through our cultures or
figured worlds (Holland et al, 1998). Feminine hygiene pads and tampons are not neutral—they
have sets of meaning and significance that come from personal experience and social
expectations. In school settings, we have unwritten but carefully observed rules that these objects
will remain hidden and concealed. Just as I challenged my audience to look at the physicallypresent mediating symbols in a different light as they listened to some of the research
surrounding menstruation in the educational context, I similarly urge the readers of this paper to
reconceptualize these products and symbols.
My third objective was a preliminary, albeit timid, attempt to bring action to my research.
Kissling (2006) states, “The so-called feminine hygiene industry—at less than 100 years old, a
Watt: Her Moody Time of the Month
3 relatively recent development in the history of menstruation—annually exceeds $2 billion in US
sales (MarketReaseach.com, 2001)” (p. 1). The feminine hygiene industry has been both
aggressive and innovative in its approaches to marketing their products. One of the earliest and
most successful pitches came through education. The “femcare” industry began to distribute
“instructional materials,” which gradually shifted menstruation from “its role in fertility” to
“primarily a hygiene issue” (p. 11). The marketing worked: the industry is profitable and, as
Kissling writes, “marketers and manufacturers have discovered that brand loyalty . . . is strong
and that a customer attracted in adolescence is likely to remain a customer for the next 35 years”
(p. 111). The femcare industry’s influence continues to be felt in education, as I discus later.
When we consider that there are currently many countries in the world where girls miss
school every month because they do not have the means to access products, it becomes difficult
to deny that the feminine hygiene industry has increased accessibility to education (Kissling,
2006, Nalebuff, 2009). However, the convenience of disposable products negatively impacts the
physical environment and Kissling reports that “more than 170, 000 tampon applicators can be
found along US coasts in just a single year” (p. 85). Rosenthal (2003) encourages the reduction
of “period trash” through two means: “reducing back-end garbage and improving front-end
cleanliness, which involves reducing the amount of chemicals used in the initial manufacture of
menstrual products” (p. 38). At the Symposium, I chose to hand out “green” products that are
available at health food stores—my first small step at menstrual activism.
However, upon further reflection, I realized it was not just giving the products that was a
step of activism. Giving the talk in a public forum and writing this paper are also political acts of
agency. Bringing menstruation out of its usual shame-filled and concealing silence and
presenting it is a legitimate topic for educational dialogue and research is an active and needed
Watt: Her Moody Time of the Month
4 step. For the remainder of this paper, I describe the process I worked through to conduct this
literature search and offer some of the context for menstrual research in education. Next, I
explore one of the most striking themes I see emerging from the literature and I conclude by
considering the implications and “next needed steps” for further research.
The Literature Review: Not Drawing Back Curtains, But Creating a Picture
I have a complicated relationship with the literature review—it is sort of a love-hate
relationship, yet it is more complex and compelling than that simple dichotomy. As a graduate
student, I have conducted quite a few scholarly reviews of the literature. I struggle each time I
approach a literature review, because I question how to position myself and make sense of the
vast amounts of knowing that exist in any given field. I find that often readers and writers
approach a literature review attempting metaphorically to “see a picture” of a defined topic or
issue. Yet, I am consciously aware that I am not drawing back curtains to reveal a realistic or
objective view that exists beyond a window, but that I am subjectively creating that picture
through choices I make in all stages of the research process. As a writer, I explicitly or implicitly
limit and create the research picture and the reader or listener works with me to co-construct how
meanings are interpreted.
Dr. Fiona Green, a mentor from the University of Winnipeg who is guiding me through
this current project, suggested that articulating how we approach research and writing is
incredibly important for all scholars, but especially those of us new in academics. It is in this
articulation that we begin to understand how we work and explore why we have come up with
our current findings. I do not claim that my process is exemplary and in fact I share so openly
because I am still seeking ways to improve.
Watt: Her Moody Time of the Month
5 Methods
Here is what I did: I began by hitting the databases and with the key term “menstruation”
as a starting point for my search. ERIC is a database that is often suggested as a starting point for
literature reviews for educational researchers. I thought menstruation would likely have to be
narrowed many times, but only 51 refereed journal articles appeared when I used the term. From
this fairly manageable number of articles, I began printing the online accessible articles to get a
sense of the field. I sorted through my big stack of papers by reading abstracts and trying to
group articles that I felt were somewhat alike in topic. Using my sorting piles as headings, I used
the computer to compile notes on each article. I recorded bibliographic information and how the
study was conducted, and then sorted significant or provocative quotes into “theme” headings for
easier cross-article comparison.
I have limited my search thus far to four data bases: ERIC for its known educational
focus, CBCA for Canadian content, Anthrosource for a wider cultural view of the topic, and
Child Development and Adolescent Studies for the focus on research of puberty. I also
broadened my search beyond the articles that appear on the databases by locating books and
articles from the bibliographies of other articles.
From the piles of articles that I sorted as I searched the databases, I began to determine
several broad categories in which menstrual research is being conducted in the educational
context:
Category of Menstrual
Research in Education
Impact or Timing of Puberty
Health and Wellness
Attitudes and Self-Concept
Representative Articles or Authors
Barsom et al., 2008; Coleman & Coleman, 2002; Haq, 1984;
Short & Rosenthal, 2008
Barsom et al., 2008; Cauffman & Steinberg, 1996; Fontana &
Rees, 1982; Hillard, 2008; Lee, 2002; Pomerieau, 1996
Lee, 2009; Roberts, 2004; Tang, Yeung, & Lee, 2004; Van
Boven & Ashworth, 2007; Yeung, Tang, & Lee, 2005
Watt: Her Moody Time of the Month
Disability Studies
Relationships
Sociocultural Influences
6 Chou et al., 2008; Mason & Cunningham, 2008; Rodgers,
Lispcombe & Santer, 2004; Rodgers & Lipscombe, 2005
Dilorio et al., 1996; Koch, 2006; Lee, 2008; Marvan, Morales,
Cortes-Iniestra, 2006
Fingerson, 2006, 2005; Kissling, 2006, 1996; Rogoff, 2003;
Stubbs, 2008
The research in these areas demonstrates and influences who gets taught (and who teaches), what
is taught about menstruation, when it should be taught, and why it is important to conduct that
teaching sensitively for the particular sociocultural contexts of learners.
Menstruation as a “Text of Culture”
In the first term of my doctoral studies I conducted a broader examination of
menstruation in feminist literature, focusing on the complex social, political, and cultural
environments in which women negotiate the meaning of embodied experiences. I began to
understand how, as Lee (1998) states:
Menstruation is a biological act fraught with cultural implications, helping to produce the
body and women as cultural entities. The body is a “text” of culture; it is a symbolic form
upon which the norms and practices of society are inscribed. (pp. 82-83)
If menstruation can be understood as a biological activity that helps produce women and girl’s
bodies as cultural entities or texts in which much of our society’s practices become inscribed, it
seems important to me to explore how and what our formal educational systems teaches about
this socioculturally embedded and embodied act. School settings are social institutions where
men and women, boys and girls interact during menstruation and where they explicitly and
implicitly learn what menstruation is biologically and what it means personally, socially, and
culturally. What is taught or not taught, researched or not researched about menstruation may
reveal a great deal about what, how, and why experiences get told in our education systems.
Watt: Her Moody Time of the Month
7 Menstruation as it is Taught in Schools
As I further focused on “Menstruation as it is Taught in Schools,” I delighted in research
that was rich in a variety of approaches and perspectives. Analysis of experiences teaching
menstruation in Mexico (Marvan, M.L., & Bejarano, J., 2005), New Zealand (Diorio, J.A., &
Munro, J.A., 2000) and to immigrants from Somalia learning in Ontario (Omer-Hashi, K., &
Silver, J., 1994) showed both the curricular context and the mixed perspectives of the teachers
and learners. The role of nurses in teaching menstruation was the focus of another article
(Swenson, I.E., & Foster, B., 1995). Educational booklets provided by the Femcare industry for
nearly 80 years were analyzed for what and how they teach girls about menstruation (Erchull,
M.J., Chrisler, J.C., Gorman, J.A., & Johnston-Robledo, I., 2002). Fingerson (2006, 2005) and
Kissling (2006, 1996) explore the overriding themes of shame and embarrassment that most
adolescents feel about menstruation. They discuss the role of advertisements, curriculum, and
relationships with others in perpetuating the disempowerment or agency that is possible in
menstruation. Mainella’s (2001) article, “A Systems Approach to Sexuality Education,” offers
an alternative vision of how menstruation could be taught.
Beyond the Biological: Teaching “Lived” Experiences
From almost all of the articles I identify a collective cry for teaching to extend beyond the
biological aspects of menstruation to acknowledge the “lived” experiences of women and girls.
Currently, most of the research describes school teaching to focus on the scientific and
reproductive aspects of menstruation. Diorio and Munro (2000) analyze New Zealand curriculum
and suggest, “School materials present menstruation . . . as a topic in developmental physiology
and reproductive biology, and implying that it is a technical matter to be understood purely in
terms of objective science” (p. 350). Marvan & Bejarano (2005) describe menstrual education in
Watt: Her Moody Time of the Month
8 their culture: “All students in Mexico have the same book of Natural Sciences (Biology), and the
menstrual cycle is explained in a chapter entitled “Women are Different Than Men,” which
focuses exclusively on the biological perspective” (p. 86). If and where menstruation is taught in
schools (and it is still not a world-wide phenomenon), it is very often taught by explaining how
phases of hormones create the cycle of fertility. Often there are charts, graphs, and explanations
using clinical language to ease the embarrassment of talking about such an intimate and hidden
topic. Diagrams are presented, but sometimes these visuals show anatomical parts dangling in
space, a problem noted by Erchull et al. (2002) in their analysis of feminine hygiene educational
booklets:
The diagrams of the female reproductive organs that are separate from any bodily
reference present a particular problem, as it is impossible for a girl to imagine the scale of
her reproductive system if she is not given a body outline to help her understand where
the organs are located. (pp. 469-470)
So, we teach the science of menstruation but we try to keep the body, the girl or woman herself,
out of the picture.
When the human body is presented in biological language and diagrams, it becomes
abstracted from the integrated embodiment that an individual experiences. The woman or girl
can distance the scientific information as if it is experienced by an “Other” body rather than lived
by the self. Marvan and Bejarano (2005), the authors of the Mexican study, state:
This tendency to focus only on the biological and hygienic aspects of menstruation
creates a disconnection between knowledge and a girls’ own body experiences. Girls
must relate the abstract information they receive about physiology to themselves and their
Watt: Her Moody Time of the Month
9 body . . . biological knowledge needs to be combined with the psychosocial aspects of
menses. (p. 88)
By combining biology with the emotions, thoughts, and social constructions of menstruation, and
possibly providing narratives of the lived experiences of real women, girls can connect to the
knowledge and to their own embodied experiences.
Kissling (1996) writes, “Menstrual education is typically regarded by instructors as an
intellectual activity; experiential and emotional aspects of menarche and menstruation are absent
from curricula” (p. 500). One of Kissling’s research studies, in part, involved interviewing
adolescent girls about their preparation for their menstrual experiences. She explains that her
interviews clearly indicated that the “experiential and emotional aspects of menstruation are
often what girls are most eager to learn about” (p. 500). The young women in Kissling’s study
wanted to know the specifics of menstruation: what would the first blood look like, how much
could they expect, how often would they need to change their pad or tampon, where exactly did
the pad go in the panties, how to dispose the products, and how much pain and discomfort would
they be likely to experience. This is not the usual focus for curriculum, but Kissling suggests that
“when these issues are ignored and girls are left to discover it on their own, it can increase their
feelings of shame and disgust for their periods” (p. 500). By not teaching the lived experience of
menstruation, our omissions instead teach shame, silence, and disgust.
Is shame and disgust about menstruation, and in turn about the female body, really what we want
to teach girls and women, boys and men?
As a final example of the call from the literature to teach beyond biology, Diorio and
Munro (2000), from the New Zealand study argue:
Watt: Her Moody Time of the Month
10 If educators wish to care effectively for developing girls, they need to transform their
presentation from a “factual” account of a reproductive function to a perspective, which
includes the experiential, emotional, and sexual aspects of menstruation as it is lived by
women. (p. 362)
When I read this quotation I was struck by the word care—teaching beyond the biological is not
just about offering more knowledge, it is about caring for the girls we teach. The question then
arises: How do we make this transformation to teaching the lived experience? I am intrigued by
this question because I believe this is an area that urgently needs collective consideration.
Offering an Alternative: A Systems Approach
I felt hope-filled when I read the article “Sexual education: A systems approach.” This
article written by OISE scholar Lisa Mainella (2001) calls for a new approach to sexuality
education in Canada. Although Mainella includes menstruation as one example of a topic
covered by curricula, her description encompasses the larger approach to sexuality education.
She states that topics such as menstruation “are often examined through a narrow biological
lens,” and suggests “The ‘systems thinking’ perspective . . . offers an alternative to the
mainstream. . . This approach has the potential to transform the way educators think about and
teach sexual health within the classroom” (2001, Para. 4). She elaborates: “To teach sex
education using a systems thinking approach means to pay close attention to the dynamic process
which links the individual to the social, economic, and political factors in his/her life” (Para. 6).
Mainella (2001) outlines five principles behind the systems thinking approach. The first
principle looks at the collective versus the individual. She states: “A systems thinking model
supports sexual health education as a collective responsibility” (Mainella, 2001, Para. 8). The
second principle acknowledges the reciprocity of influence. To understand “the self within
Watt: Her Moody Time of the Month
11 society and the connections that maintain and influence our system will provide us with valuable
information on ourselves” (Para. 9). Principle three calls for building reflective and critical
thinking skills to “assist in empowering students within their process of decision making” (Para.
10). Principle four demands reality-based representation because, “sexual health education can
no longer be taught without using the specifics of the lives of students” (Para. 11). And the fifth
and final principle Mainella presents is the need for collaboration and partnerships: “Education
must focus on each student in relation to other students, the family, the teacher, and the
community” (Para. 12). I believe this article provides a holistic framework for re-thinking
menstrual education to bring it beyond the biological in order to address the lived experience in
our complex social and cultural worlds.
Loud and Proud: Asking the “What Next” Questions
Now I ask, what is next for me? What do I do with this literature search? Inspired by the
studies that carefully analyzed and explored the curricula and resources available in their
contexts, I would like to do a similar review of Manitoba Curriculum and the resources that are
used in the delivery of menstrual education here. I would like to further explore how a “Systems
Approach” could be applied to the development of menstrual education programs and resources.
I feel drawn to the work I have read about home and school connections. I find myself asking
what can we learn from mothers? How can we encourage community partnerships? I also
continue to ask the questions of critical pedagogy—how is power at work within all of this? How
do institutions and systems of power affect how we experience menstruation in schools and in
our personal lives? How are the positions of gender, age, class, and culture influencing the lived
experiences of menstruation in educational contexts of teaching, learning, and research? I want
Watt: Her Moody Time of the Month
12 to use these questions to guide me as I eventually move towards my dissertation work that will
explore teachers’ perspectives and narratives about menstruation.
I conclude with a thought from Kissling (2006) that provides perspective on what I am
trying to be part of and inspires me to keep reading, writing, and talking about the squirmy stuff:
“Of course, being loud and proud about menstruation will not solve all of women’s problems,
nor will it end war and injustice. It will, however, advance gender equality by helping to reduce
the secrecy, shame, and stigma associated with menstruation” (p. 125). I certainly hope both the
presentation and this written reification will contribute to help reduce some of the secrecy,
shame, and stigma associated with this topic within our research community. As readers continue
to encounter feminine hygiene products or advertisements or when they listen to or tell stories of
menstruation, I encourage them to think critically about how menstruation is talked about or
silenced in our lives and societies. How can a critical lens and active voice lend to greater gender
equality for women and girls in the embodied experiences of their lives?
Watt: Her Moody Time of the Month
13 References
Barsom, S. H., Dillaway, H. E., Koch, P. B., Ostowski, M. L., & Masfield, P. K. (2008). The
menstrual cycle and adolescent health. Annals of New York Academy of Science. 52-57.
Doi: 10.1196/annals.1429.001.
Cauffman, E., & Steinberg, L. (1996). Interactive effects of menarcheal status and dating and
dieting and disordered eating among adolescent girls. Developmental Psychology, 32(4).
631-635.
Chou, Y., Zxy-Yann, J. L., Wang, F. T. Y., Lan, C., & Lin, L. (2008). Meanings and
experiences of menstruation: Perceptions of institutionalized women with an
intellectual disability. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 21.
575-584. Doi: 10.1111/j.1468-3148.2008.00430.x.Lee.
Coleman, L., & Coleman, J. (2002). The measurement of puberty: A review. Journal of
Adolescence, 25. 535-550. Doi: 10.1006/jando.2002.0494.
Diorio, J. A., & Munro, J. A. (2000). Doing harm in the name of protection: Menstruation
as a topic for sex education. Gender and Education, 12(3), 347-365.
Dilorio, C., Hodkenberiy-Eaton, M., Maibach, E., Rivero, T., & Miller, K. (1996). The content
of African American mothers’ discussions with their adolescents about sex. Journal of
Family Nursing, 2. 365-382.
Erchull, M. J., Chrisler, J. C., Gorman, J. A., & Johnston-Robledo, I. (2002). Education and
advertising: A content analysis of commercially produced booklets about menstruation.
The Journal of Early Adolescence, 22(4). 455-474. Doi: 10.1177/027243102237192.
Fingerson, L. (2006). Girls in power: Gender, body, and menstruation in adolescence.
Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.
Watt: Her Moody Time of the Month
14 Fingerson, L. (2005). Agency and the body in adolescent menstrual talk. Childhood, 12(91).
91–110. Doi:10.1177/0907568205049894.
Fontana, D. & Rees, V. (1982). Primary dysmenorrheal, educational performance, and
cognitive and affective variables in adolescent school girls. British Journal of
Educational Psychology, 52(2). 199-205.
Haq, M. N. (1984). Age at menarche and the related issue: A pilot study on urban school girls.
Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 13(6). 559-567.
Hillard, P. J. A. (2008). Menstruation in adolescents: What’s normal, what’s not. Annals of
New York Academy of Science. 29-35. Doi: 10.1196/annals.1429.022.
Holland, D., Lachicotte Jr., W., Skinner, D., & Cain, C. (1998). Identity and agency in
cultural worlds. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Kissling, E. A. (2006). Capitalizing on the curse: The business of menstruation. Boulder, CO:
Lynne Rienne.
Kissling, E. A. (1996). Bleeding out loud: Communication about menstruation. Feminism
Psychology, 6(4). 481-504. Doi:10.1177/0959353596064002.
Koch, P. B. (2006). Women’s bodies as a “puzzle” for college men. American Journal of
Sexuality Education, 1(3), 51-72. Doi:10.13000/J455v01n03_04.
Lee, J. (2009). Bodies at menarche: Stories of shame, concealment, and sexual maturation.
Sex Roles, 60. 615-627. Doi: 10.1007/s11199-008-9569-1.
Lee, J. (2008). “A Kotex and a smile”: Mothers and daughters at menarche. Journal of Family
Issues, 29(10). 1325-1347. Doi: 10.1177/0192513X08316117.
Lee, J. (1998). Menarche and the (hetero)sexualization of the female body. In R. Weitz
(Ed.), The politics of women’s bodies: Sexuality, appearance, and behavior (pp. 82-99).
Watt: Her Moody Time of the Month
15 New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
Lee, S. (2002). Health and sickness: The meaning of menstruation and premenstrual
syndrome in women’s lives. Sex Roles, 46(1-2). 25-35.
Mainella, L. (2001). Sexual education: A systems approach. Orbit, 31(4). Retreived from:
http://proquest.umi.com.proxy1.lib.umanitoba.ca/pqdeweb?index
Marvan, M. L., & Bejarano, J. (2005). Premenarcheal Mexican girls’ and their teachers’
perceptions of preparation students receive about menstruation at school. Journal of
School Health, 75(3), 69-86.
Marvan, M. L., Morales, C., & Cortes-Iniestra, S. (2006). Emotional reactions to menarche
among Mexican women of different generations. Sex Roles, 54. 323-330. Doi:
10.1007/s11199-006-9002-6.
Mason, L., & Cunningham, C. (2008). An exploration of issues around menstruation for women
with Down Syndrome and their carers. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual
Disabilites, 21. 257-267. Doi: 10.1111/j.1468-3148.2007.00406.x.
Nalebuff, R. K. (2009). My little red book. New York, NY: Twelve.
Omer-Hashi, K., & Silver, J. (1994). No words can express: Two voices on female
genital mutilation. Canadian Woman Studies, 14(3). Retrieved from
http://proquest.umi.com.proxy1.lib.umanitoba.ca/pdqweb
Pomerleau, C. S. (1996). Smoking and nicotine replacement treatment issues specific to
women. American Journal of Health Behavior, 20(5). 291-299.
Roberts, T. (2004). Female trouble: The menstrual self-evaluation scale and women’s selfobjectification. Women’s Quarterly, 28. 22-26.
Watt: Her Moody Time of the Month
16 Rodgers, J., Lipscombe, J., & Santer, M. (2006). Menstrual problems experienced by women
with learning disabilities. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 19.
364-373. Doi: 10.1111/j.1468-3148.2005.00298.x.
Rodgers, J., & Lipscombe, J. (2005). The nature and extent of help given to women with
disabilities to manage menstruation. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual
Disabilities, 30(1). 45-52. Doi: 10.1080/136682505000033094.
Rogoff, B. (2003). The cultural nature of human development. New York, NY: Oxford
University Press.
Rosenthal, M. S. (2003). Gynecological health: A comprehensive sourcebook for Canadian
women. Toronto, ON: Viking Canada.
Short, M. B., & Rosenthal, S. L. (2008). Psychosocial development and puberty. Annals of
New York Academy of Science, 1135. 36-42. Doi: 10.1196/annals.1429.011.
Stubbs, M. L. (2008). Cultural perceptions and practices around menarche and adolescent
menstruation in the United States. Annals of New York Academy of Science, 1135.
58-66. Doi: 10.1196/annals.1429.008.
Swenson, I. E., & Foster, B. (1995). Menstruation, menarche, and sexuality in the public school
curriculum: School nurses’ perceptions. Adolescence, 30(119). Retrieved from
http://web.ebscohost.com.proxy2lib.umanitoba.ca/ehost.
Tang, C. S., Yeung, D. Y. L, & Lee, A. M. (2004). A comparison of premarcheal expectations
and postmenarcheal experiences in Chinese early adolescents. The Journal of Early
Adolescence, 24. 180-195. Doi: 10.1177/0272431603262669.
Van Boven, L., & Ashworth, L. (2007). Looking forward, looking back: Anticipation is more
evocative than retrospection. Journal of Experimental Psychology, 136(2). 289-300.
Watt: Her Moody Time of the Month
Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological
processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Yeung, D. Y. L, Tang, C. S., & Lee, A. (2005). Psychosocial and cultural factors influencing
expectations of menarche: A study on Chinese premenarchael teenage girls. Journal
of Adolescent Research, 20. 118-135. Doi:10.1177/0743558404271134.
17