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

这项研究探讨了赞比亚妇女经血和月经身体的社会文化价值。由于缺乏当代人类学数据，旨在消除有害的社会文化价值观和规范的发展干预措施目前受到阻碍。这种跨学科的研究桥接女权主义理论，社会人类学和国际发展，旨在填补这一空白，把适当的重点放在探索文化规范周围的月经，以及这些如何有助于性别不平等和对妇女的生活经验的影响。考虑当地的社会文化环境是发展界错过的一步，跳过了围绕月经卫生管理（MHM）的实用的、捐助者驱动的干预措施，这些干预措施可能对当地情况不敏感，可能造成社会和文化紧张的问题（由于财政拮据，无法获得卫生产品和适当的卫生设施）随着月经成为发达国家和发展中国家许多女孩旷课的原因，发展界理所当然地认识到这一点。讲卫生运动工作者正在适当地倡导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，围绕月经的社会和文化规范的更广泛的讨论在学术界和政策界都很少发生。关于月经的现有发展文献集中在月经卫生管理（MHM）和信息不足，但需要更多地关注围绕月经的耻辱和社会规范的政治上不那么令人愉快的讨论，本研究将寻求这样做。鉴于文化的快速变化（由于移民，现代化和全球化等因素）以及围绕月经的发展干预措施的增加，全球缺乏关于月经主题的当代人类学研究是非常有问题的。对经期妇女的身体和血液赋予特定背景的价值观不仅对性别不平等问题产生强烈影响，而且对发展中国家如何接受发展干预措施也产生强烈影响。因此，在这项研究中将使用女权主义人类学分析的透镜，因为它强调识别和具体承认性别权力动态以及行动;发展社区可以建立的质量。一项关键的研究成果是为与发展有关的干预措施提供一个坚实的基础，这些干预措施对当地的需要敏感，弥合学术界与发展实践者之间的差距。研究问题1。在当代背景下，赞比亚妇女的经血和生殖器具有什么价值？2.这些价值观/规范/禁忌是如何延续的，由谁延续？3.如何影响：A。女性在女性身体中的生活经验B。他们的教育（例如上学/毕业）4.围绕月经的发展干预措施如何充分反映当地需求？

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?