The Socio-Cultural Values Placed on the Menstrual Blood and Menstruating Bodies of Zambian Women and the Implications for their Lived Experiences.

这项研究探索了赞比亚妇女月经血和经期身体的社会文化价值。寻求解决有害的社会文化价值观和规范的发展干预措施目前因缺乏当代人类学数据而受到阻碍。这项跨学科的研究连接了女权主义理论、社会人类学和国际发展，试图填补这一空白，适当地强调探索围绕月经的文化规范，以及这些规范如何导致性别不平等和对女性生活经历的影响。考虑当地的社会文化环境是发展界错过的一个步骤，跳过了围绕月经卫生管理的实际、捐助者驱动的干预措施，这些措施很可能对当地情况不敏感，有可能造成围绕时期贫困(由于资金限制而无法获得卫生产品和适当的卫生设施)的社会和文化压力问题，因为在发达国家和发展中国家，月经都是许多女孩旷课的一个原因，理所当然地得到了发展界的承认。卫生保健从业者正在适当地维护少女的尊严和隐私权，重点是提供更好的月经管理材料和适当的卫生设施。然而，在学术界和政策界，围绕月经的更广泛的社会和文化规范的讨论要少得多。现有的关于月经的发展文献集中在月经卫生管理(MHM)和信息不足上，但需要更多地关注本研究将寻求做的关于月经污名和社会规范的政治上不那么受欢迎的讨论。鉴于快速的文化变化(移民、现代化和全球化等因素的结果)以及围绕月经的发展干预措施的增加，当代人类学对月经主题的全球研究匮乏是非常有问题的。对经期妇女的身体和血液施加特定背景的价值观不仅对围绕性别不平等的问题有重大影响，而且对发展中国家如何接受发展干预措施也有重大影响。因此，这项研究将使用女权主义人类学的分析视角，因为它强调对性别权力动态和行动的识别和具体承认；这是发展社区可以建立的一种质量。一项关键的研究成果是为对当地需求敏感的月经相关干预措施提供了坚实的基础，弥合了学术界和发展从业者之间的差距。研究问题1.在当代背景下，赞比亚妇女的月经血和经期身体被赋予了什么价值观？2.这些价值观/规范/禁忌是如何延续的，由谁来维持？3.这些影响是如何产生的：a.妇女生活在女性身体上的经历b.她们的教育(例如上学/完成学业)4.围绕月经的发展干预措施如何充分反映当地的需要？

This research explores the socio-cultural values placed on the menstrual blood and menstruating bodies of women in Zambia. Development interventions that seek to address harmful socio-cultural values and norms are currently hindered by a lack of contemporary anthropological data. This interdisciplinary research bridging feminist theory, social anthropology, and international development seeks to fill this gap, placing the appropriate emphasis on exploring cultural norms surrounding menstruation and how these contribute to gender inequalities and impact on the lived experiences of women. Consideration of local socio-cultural environments is a step that the development community has missed, skipping ahead to practical, donor-driven interventions surrounding menstrual hygiene management (MHM) that are likely to be insensitive to local contexts, potentially causing social and cultural strain Issues surrounding period poverty (a lack of access to sanitary products and adequate sanitation facilities due to financial constraints) are rightly gaining recognition in the development community as menstruation emerges as a cause of school absenteeism for many girls in both developed and developing countries. WASH practitioners are appropriately championing the rights of adolescent girls to dignity and privacy by focusing on the provision of better access to menstrual management materials and adequate sanitation facilities. However, broader discussion of social and cultural norms surrounding menstruation occurs much less frequently in both academic and policy circles. The existing development literature on menstruation focuses on menstrual hygiene management (MHM) and information deficiencies but more attention needs to be paid to less politically palatable discussions of stigma and social norms surrounding menstruation which this research will seek to do. In light of rapid cultural change (as a result of factors such as migration, modernisation, and globalisation) and an increase in development interventions surrounding menstruation, the global paucity of contemporary anthropological studies on the topic of menstruation is extremely problematic. Context-specific values placed on the bodies and blood of menstruating women have strong implications not only on issues surrounding gender inequality but also on how development interventions are received in developing countries. As such, a feminist anthropological analytic lens will be used in this research as it places emphasis on both the identification and specific acknowledgement of gendered power dynamics as well as action; a quality the development community can build upon. A key research outcome is to provide a strong foundation for menstruation-related interventions which are sensitive to local needs, bridging the gap between academia and development practitioners. Research Questions 1. What values are assigned to the menstrual blood and menstruating bodies of Zambian women in the contemporary context? 2. How are these values/norms/taboos perpetuated and by whom? 3. How do these impact: a. Women's lived experiences of inhabiting female bodies b. Their education (e.g. school attendance/completion) 4. How can development interventions surrounding menstruation adequately reflect local needs?