Menstrual Culture: Personal Ritual and Performance

This paper explores how art-making and feminist theory intersect within my research to establish a space of resistance to traditional cultural narratives which tend to menstruation as a gendered taboo subject. My research draws on autoethnographic artistic practice to explore the social performance of menstruation, and how the rituals of menstruation can reinforce certain performances of gender in everyday life. From the dual perspectives of practice-led arts research and cultural studies, I reflect upon some of the tensions present in my artwork as I engage with its art historical, social and theoretical contexts.