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SUNY Series: Praxis: Theory in Action
Out for Blood: Essays on Menstruation and Resistance
Winner of the 2017 Distinguished Publication Award presented by the Association for Women in Psychology
Transporting the reader to worlds in which Komodo dragons prey on menstruating women, artists prowl the streets of Spain in blood-stained pants, and the myths of women bleeding in synchrony with each other are drawn and redrawn, these eleven essays on menstruation and resistance evoke thought-provoking tensions between silence and confrontation, shame and rebellion, and compliance and disobedience. Fusing together gender and feminist theory, critical body studies, political activism, and menstrual anarchy, Breanne Fahs illuminates the troubling omissions of menstrual coming-of-age narratives in the museum, the outdated terminology of "feminine hygiene," and the moral panics about blood that erupts from in and outside of our bathrooms, classrooms, and cell phones. Borrowing from a multitude of voices--single moms, trans teenagers, zine makers, menstrual artists, college students, tour guides, French philosophers, and culture jammers--Fahs forcefully argues for a new culture of menstruation, one where the joys, rhythms, and controversies of menstrual cycles collides with the defiant, shameless, and bold new possibilities of menstrual resistance.
Transporting the reader to worlds in which Komodo dragons prey on menstruating women, artists prowl the streets of Spain in blood-stained pants, and the myths of women bleeding in synchrony with each other are drawn and redrawn, these eleven essays on menstruation and resistance evoke thought-provoking tensions between silence and confrontation, shame and rebellion, and compliance and disobedience. Fusing together gender and feminist theory, critical body studies, political activism, and menstrual anarchy, Breanne Fahs illuminates the troubling omissions of menstrual coming-of-age narratives in the museum, the outdated terminology of "feminine hygiene," and the moral panics about blood that erupts from in and outside of our bathrooms, classrooms, and cell phones. Borrowing from a multitude of voices--single moms, trans teenagers, zine makers, menstrual artists, college students, tour guides, French philosophers, and culture jammers--Fahs forcefully argues for a new culture of menstruation, one where the joys, rhythms, and controversies of menstrual cycles collides with the defiant, shameless, and bold new possibilities of menstrual resistance.
148 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2016
3 people are currently reading
166 people want to read
About the author
Breanne Fahs
11 books34 followersBreanne Fahs is Professor of Women and Gender Studies at Arizona State University. She is the author of Performing Sex, Valerie Solanas, Out for Blood, and Firebrand Feminism, and co-editor of The Moral Panics of Sexuality, and Transforming Contagion. She is the Founder and Director of the Feminist Research on Gender and Sexuality Group at Arizona State University, and also works as a Clinical Psychologist.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
July 4, 2021
Recommended for anyone interested in any type of social justice activism, particularly in supporting the rights of women, non-binary, and trans people.
It’s incredible to me that there are still feminists and anti-capitalists who don’t see value in menstrual activism. My brain cannot wrap itself around dismissing menstrual justice as unimportant to gender and economic equality. Fahs is clear on the connections between menstrual activism and wider feminist and anti-capitalist movement(s).
I found the sections on the author’s investigation of attitudes toward menstruation as a means to help cis women and trans men via psychotherapy to be unexpectedly interesting (as this was not a reason I decided to read the book).
On a personal note, it makes me sad that so many menstruators have such a negative experience with menstruation. I enjoy menstruating (for the most part). I look forward to it. The reasons I view menstruation positively are too complex for a quick book review, but a simple version is that I was raised to see menstruation as positive —or, at worst, as a natural, healthy, normal part of life for many humans that can involve both good and bad aspects.
I think this book will add to the progress made by menstrual activists in resisting and removing cultural constraints around menstruation and menstruating bodies so that people who menstruate can decide for themselves what menstruation means to them and how to navigate it.
It’s incredible to me that there are still feminists and anti-capitalists who don’t see value in menstrual activism. My brain cannot wrap itself around dismissing menstrual justice as unimportant to gender and economic equality. Fahs is clear on the connections between menstrual activism and wider feminist and anti-capitalist movement(s).
I found the sections on the author’s investigation of attitudes toward menstruation as a means to help cis women and trans men via psychotherapy to be unexpectedly interesting (as this was not a reason I decided to read the book).
On a personal note, it makes me sad that so many menstruators have such a negative experience with menstruation. I enjoy menstruating (for the most part). I look forward to it. The reasons I view menstruation positively are too complex for a quick book review, but a simple version is that I was raised to see menstruation as positive —or, at worst, as a natural, healthy, normal part of life for many humans that can involve both good and bad aspects.
I think this book will add to the progress made by menstrual activists in resisting and removing cultural constraints around menstruation and menstruating bodies so that people who menstruate can decide for themselves what menstruation means to them and how to navigate it.
Displaying 1 of 1 review