INTRODUCTIONImagine a world where an individual is victimised

INTRODUCTION

Imagine a world where an individual is victimised and discriminated against for experiencing a natural bodily function. Now imagine that occurs for close to half the world's population (Pratt, S. 2019). As a young Australian female, it does not take much more than simply being born and trying to live a dictated life to be described and objectified due to the menstrual cycle that will soon occur to every woman's body in her lifetime. The process of menstruation is something that will be used against a female at some point in her life; yes, people use this against us.

It does not take much more than simply expressing your feelings for a typical small-minded individual to tell you 'that time of the month?', 'Do you need a tampon?' After generations of stories of discrimination and unfair treatment, it is time that this topic is ethically addressed. This discrimination and taboo surrounding menstruation will form the basis of this Personal Interest Project (PIP).

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Throughout my recent transition into adolescence I have begun to question the true intent of the media, the education system and the beliefs of those in our micro-level society. By the conclusion of my Personal Interest Project, I hope to determine the agents that have ultimately contributed to the heinous treatment of women worldwide in today's society regarding menstruation. By undertaking this PIP, I hope to highlight the urgent need in order for change to take another step closer to true gender equality and to eliminate the misleading stigma around menstruation and women in general.

Through this research, I hope to educate myself and others about this topic to create a greater need and desire for change. The process of menstruation has been riddled with disempowering connotations for as long as women have lived.

In order to support my investigation both qualitative and quantitative research will be used to collect information that will form the basis of my PIP. Through the use of a questionnaire and interviews, I will be able to understand and closely analyse the beliefs of those who identify with certain characteristics; these can include culture, religion, age and many other interesting factors where patterns may be seen. By exploring the personal experiences and beliefs of those around me, I will be able to shed light on what may be a larger issue regarding women's rights altogether.

My PIP will integrate many cross-cultural components to gain an extensive understanding of differing views regarding my topic. This includes involving people of different religions and cultures, different generations and ages, and of course, the sexes. By undergoing this process, it will enable me to better understand and hopefully accept the views and ideas of others. Despite my smaller realm of experience, I hope to ultimately expand my knowledge and become resilient to conflicting views that may arise. I hope to enhance my investigative skills while also bettering my sociocultural literacy and understanding.

By the time I conclude my Personal Interest Project (PIP), I hope to gain substantial knowledge and understanding of the stigma around menstruation and how that ultimately perpetuates misogynistic attitudes.

LOG

The commencement of my PIP journey involved an overwhelming amount of vagueness and complete uncertainty. After years of hearing my older peers rant about the PIP, hearing my teachers influence us to prepare for the all big and intimidating PIP, it was finally in my grasp. It took a lot of thought and consideration to come to terms with just one topic; however, I had hundreds of initial ideas running through my head, an assessment that enabled me to express my creativity and deepest beliefs was here; this would be make or break. After constant mind maps and endless conversations with my teachers, I ultimately decided to nurture a PIP that discussed the stigma and taboo surrounding menstruation and how this perpetuates negative attitudes towards women. This was heavily influenced by my passion for intersectional feminism which I have learnt over time, has a strong correlation for the rights of all women to live freely and bleed freely, if you will.

Despite my determination to work hard and "smash out" the PIP, that was ultimately unrealistic. As far as I was concerned, I knew the PIP would be hard work, however, due to my guilty habits it was constantly in the back of my mind and fell victim to my procrastination. To my knowledge, the PIP was just like having a child, nine months in the womb being nurtured and constantly preparing for the final product. Throughout the nine months of working on the PIP (trials and tribulations galore), there were certain obstacles that I had to work around.

Throughout the PIP, I attempted to gain a cross-cultural component that involved discussing extensive and personal experiences being exposed from individuals, some of which hadn't ever been discussed before. It was difficult to know what questions could be triggering for some and what questions could be triggering for others. Contrarily, I chose to avoid this idea of involving in-depth information as I felt as though it would be a challenge to ethically and morally address embodied complexities. Despite all of the stressful situations and dead ends I found myself encountering, I felt motivated and passionate to deliver justice for women internationally who are exposed to these hateful attitudes that ultimately express society's underlying misogynistic ideology.

Subsequently, being a female from a westernized society has fuelled my cultural awareness towards the stigma surrounding menstruation. This is due to my extensive access to technology, education, and the media. However, being a female has, of course, exposed me first hand to these hateful attitudes, which has ultimately motivated me to educate others who are simply just not as open-minded as me. This, in conjunction with my frustration regarding the dismissal and normalisation of "period jokes", and the treatment of women in developing countries, ultimately led me to combine these issues into one hypothesis: How does the taboo nature of menstruation perpetuate misogynistic attitudes towards women? This would enable me to discuss a broad variety of societal issues that are arising internationally.

Once the research on this area of study began, I was overwhelmed and confused about where to look first, as there was an abundant amount of information available at my fingertips. After months sorting through different websites, and attempting to decide on the intricate details of my PIP such as my chapters and how to execute them. Many insecurities were faced regarding the originality of this topic and I became determined to uniquely unlock new areas of the topic.

AIM

Throughout this Personal Interest Project, I hope to achieve a substantial understanding of not only my topic of the stigma around menstruation and how that perpetuates misogynistic attitudes, but I also hope to gain knowledge of my cross-cultural components. Through this PIP, I hope to spread awareness and education to others about the harsh reality women must face and to have this PIP serve as a warning to those who are adopting these behaviours and as a comfort to those who have to witness these attitudes. Throughout this PIP, I hope to incorporate my Personal Experience to assist the reader in gaining a cross-cultural component on a more specific level of intimacy. The main reason that I chose this topic, however, is because I am very passionate and can greatly relate to it. Once you have been targeted and exposed to negative attitudes towards women in society and slowing learn that you have more rights than you originally thought, you begin to start fighting for your right to be treated with respect. My ultimate aim is to continue educating others so that, one day, it's not normal to be sexually assaulted or harassed in society.

CHAPTER ONE:

The underlying perceptions of menstruation across culture.

By undertaking the method of personal reflection I have concluded that the beliefs and attitudes regarding menstruation can force women to put their lives on hold, as well as ultimately restrict women's and girl's ability to be able to engage in education, employment and a true sense of identity and empowerment. Throughout this chapter a brief analysis and presentation of evidence involving the hypothesis and underlying beliefs which will involve a cross-cultural component to conclude by the end of the chapter. A small focus group discussion involving four men and women living in Australia who are made up of different ages and cultural backgrounds. Throughout the discussion, I had the opportunity to listen and learn from a range of attitudes and beliefs regarding the treatment on menstruation and women in general. To gain the deepest and truest cross-cultural, individuals are taken from three different generations who are all from an Indian/Fijian background and have all lived in a developing country for five years or more. A quote extracted from the recording of the focus group perfectly aligns with how culture influences an individual's beliefs regarding menstruation, "The way I was brought up was to hide and shudder away at the expense of men· I was homeless by the time I was 15 because my brothers and father refused to live with me after I had an accident on my period. Eventually I met my husband and when we moved here, it is different. We are free and allowed to be women." "My father used to say I brought bad luck to the house when I was there during my cycle; we used to have to hide in these dirty huts. We lived in a very rural area where restrictive practices were common. I couldn't attend church, school or work."

From this extract, we can see a reflection of a statistic that was analysed as a part of the secondary research conducted. "Around the world, girls are less likely to graduate from secondary school than boys. In fact, according to UNESCO worldwide, 131 million girls are out of school and 100 million of those are girls of high school age. And while there are many reasons for this, periods play a major role." (Global Citizen P, Rueckert.) Menstruation should be understood