Whose voice? Whose experiences? Women's qualitative accounts of general and private discussion of premenstrual...

Little is known about the disparity between public perceptions of premenstrual syndrome (PMS) and how women perceive PMS. In this interview study the perceptions 17 healthy women have about the discussion on PMS are described. Qualitative and quantitative content analysis of the interviews resulted in three main categories: (i) Turning women's experiences against them, (ii) PMS as a silent part of everyday life and (3) Symptoms and experiences reported: public instability, private discomfort. These categories contain statements from the participants ascertaining that men talk negatively about PMS, the media portray PMS negatively, other women's premenstrual experiences are more negative than their own experiences and they do not need to discuss their experiences although they find it important to increase positive public discussion. The conclusions are that (i) the public voice on PMS is based on negative male stereotypical views about PMS and that women participate in constructing and sustaining that view through their own descriptions of other women; (ii) through media and health education, women and men should be made aware of whose voice rules in public discussion; (iii) to educate and change the public discourse on PMS is a challenge that the caring professions must take.