“We need to talk. Period.” : navigating and managing the menstrual communication taboo

• Main Author: Tan, Jaclyn Yu Jia
• Other Authors: Ivan Panović
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2019
• Subjects: DRNTU::Humanities; DRNTU::Humanities::Linguistics
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/76548
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Periods are considered a taboo in many societies, albeit to varying degrees. In a contemporary society like Singapore, while many Singaporeans no longer adhere to much of the religious and cultural beliefs and practices, the menstrual taboo persists in the form of embarrassment, shame and concealment. Adopting Elizabeth Kissling’s (1996) approach and Norman Fairclough’s (1989) framework, this study explores how Singaporeans navigate and manage the communication taboo surrounding menstruation, and how it interplays with their social contexts. Their discourses were further analysed to gain insights to their underlying perceptions and attitudes towards menstruation that will also explain the reasons behind the taboo. Although the communication taboo seemed mostly absent initially, but it was found lingering in other aspects and manifested in different ways.