From Menarche to Menopause: Understanding Multigenerational Reproductive Health Milestones

Kimberly Field-Springer1, Deleasa Randall-Griffiths2, Carol Reece3

  • 1a Department of Communication , Berry College.

Health Communication
|April 13, 2017
PubMed

Our study aims at understanding multigenerational communication among grandmothers, mothers, and daughters experiencing reproductive health transitions from menarche to menopause. Thirty women, 10 triads of grandmothers, mothers, and daughters, participated in narrative interviews to recount their menarche and menopause experiences. Analysis was read using a multilayered approach to interpret discourse positioned from self, reflexive others, and those stories informed by societal meanings. Four dialectical themes informed by generational discursive shifts in talk included (1) covert versus overt talk, (2) recollection of versus indifference to menarche, (3) bound to versus freedom from menstruation, and (4) controlling versus managing bodily changes. The theoretical significance of this piece indicates a slight, transformative change in how messages about menarche and menstruation are communicated or passed down from one generation to the next.

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