Browsing by Author "Pietersen, Bronwen Ilke"

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    Exploring the factors influencing the beliefs about and attitudes toward menstruation of a group of South African female University students
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2018-03) Pietersen, Bronwen Ilke; Van Wyk, Sherine Bronvin; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Science. Dept. of Psychology.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Menstruation is a natural phenomenon that most women experience. Despite being a sign of sexual development and maturation, in many contexts menstruation is socially constructed and stigmatised as a taboo. Although some cultures celebrate menstruation as a rite of passage, many cultures tend to hold negative attitudes towards and stigmatise menstruation. Consequently, menstrual stigma often compels women to conceal their menstrual status and women tend to internalise the outsider’s perspective about their bodies. This self-objectification, characterised by body surveillance and body shame, could have adverse physiological and psychological consequences for young women, such as appearance and safety anxiety, reduced concentration on mental and physical tasks, lowered self-esteem, and negative attitudes towards menstruation. The primary aim of this study was to explore whether female university students’ attitudes towards menstruation differed in terms of age and religion. The secondary aim was to explore whether female university students’ evaluation of self and their bodies differed in terms of age. Further, this study also explored a number of possible biological, psychological and social factors, as predictors of attitudes towards menstruation. This study was guided by the biopsychosocial model, feminist and objectification theory to understand the complexity of women’s attitudes towards menstruation and the contextual factors influencing these attitudes. In this quantitative study, I used convenience sampling to recruit the 1517 female participants, aged 18 to 36 years. I employed a cross-sectional, on-line survey, using The Beliefs about and Attitudes toward Menstruation questionnaire, two subscales from the Objectified Body Consciousness Scale (Body Surveillance and Body Shame) and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, to collect the data. Analysis of the data revealed that (1) compared to early adult women (24 to 36 years), emerging adult women (18 to 23 years) were more likely to believe that menstruation should be kept a secret and had proscriptions and prescriptions regarding menstruation, (2) emerging adult women were more likely than early adult women to engage in body surveillance and body shame; (3) there were significant religious differences regarding secrecy and, proscriptions and prescriptions about menstruation between these groups; and (4) various biological, psychological and social factors predicted the women’s attitudes towards menstruation. However, age differences were not significant for self-esteem between these groups. The findings suggest that emerging and early adult women differ in their attitudes towards menstruation and tend to engage in self-objectification. Multi-sectoral, psycho-education interventions should be implemented to address the taboos, secrecy and shame surrounding menstruation and women’s bodies.