P1: FLT
Archives of Sexual Behavior pp744-aseb-460159 February 3, 2003 13:14 Style file version July 26, 1999
Archives of Sexual Behavior, Vol. 32, No. 2, April 2003, pp. 155–163 (
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2003)
The Relationship Between Attitudes Towards Menstruation
and Sexual Attitudes, Desires, and Behavior in Women
John K. Rempel, Ph.D.
1,3
and Barbara Baumgartner, M.S.W.
2
Received August 22, 2001; revisions received June 13, 2002, and October 7, 2002; accepted October 7, 2002
We studied 114 romantically involved women to examine empirically the psychological connections
between menstruation and sexuality. As menstruation is a distinctive sign of both reproductive poten-
tial and sexual maturity, we hypothesized that the attitudes women have towards menstruation will
correlate with their sexual attitudes, desires, and behavior. As predicted, a comfort with personal sex-
uality was associated with a comfort with menstruation as a normal, publicly acceptable event. This
association remained after controlling for liberal attitudes and disgust sensitivity. In addition, women
who had engaged in sexual relations with their current partner during menses were significantly more
comfortable with menstruation, more aroused by romantic and unconventional sexual activities, and
less sensitive to disgust.
KEY WORDS: sexuality; sexual desire; menstruation; disgust; values.
INTRODUCTION
Menstruation is an event that occurs simultaneously
within a broader process of sexual development and mat-
uration. Consequently, the reactions and attitudes a young
woman has towards her development as a sexually ma-
turing individual may be intricately interwoven with the
reactions and attitudes she has towards menstruation (Lee,
1994). In this article, we present the results of a study
designed to test empirically the possible connections be-
tween menstruation and sexual attitudes, desires, and be-
havior. We focus on two aspects of menstruation in our
work: attitudes towards menstruation and the incidence
of sexual activity during menstruation. We also focus on
two aspects of sexuality:personal feelings of comfort with
sexuality in general and arousal responses to a range of
specific sexual situations and practices.
1
Department of Psychology, St. Jerome’s University, Waterloo, Ontario,
Canada.
2
Department of Social Work, Wilfred Laurier University, Waterloo,
Ontario, Canada.
3
To whom correspondence should be addressed at Department of Psy-
chology, St. Jerome’s University, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. N2L 3G3;
e-mail: jrempel@ uwaterloo.ca.
Sexuality and Menstrual Attitudes
Both sexuality and menstruation are related to the
same bodily region—the genitals. Thus, they are likely to
be psychologically linked merely by virtue of their asso-
ciation with the same physiological structures. However,
the bond may run deeper. Menstruation is a distinctive
sign of both reproductive potential and sexual maturity.
Both sexuality and menstruation are connected with the
presence (or absence) of fertility and childbirth. For ex-
ample, in a study asking pre- and postmenarcheal girls to
draw pictures of women, Koff, Rierdan, and Silverstone
(1978) found that those girls who had experienced menar-
che drew more sexually differentiated bodies. It was con-
cluded that menstruation is a pivotal event for reorga-
nization of the adolescent girl’s body image and sexual
identity.
As a result of the association between menstruation
and sexual identity,those women who develop negativeat-
titudes and reactions to themselves as sexual beings or to
their bodies as sexual instruments may also develop corre-
spondingly negative reactions to menstruation. For exam-
ple, women who have learned that sexuality is a source of
embarrassment and shame may have similar reactions to-
wards menstruation. Similarly, if women have been taught
to associate menstruation with dirtiness or impurity, they
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2003 Plenum Publishing Corporation