Abstract
Literature on women’s reproductive health experiences after spinal cord injuries (SCI) documents a temporary period of amenorrhea
after women’s injuries. However, research is lacking on how women with SCI feel about amenorrhea or menstruation. That is,
we do not know the meanings that women with permanent, physical disability ascribe to their experiences of simultaneously
“normal” and “abnormal” reproductive processes. Prioritizing a feminist disability perspective and using interview data from
a snowball sample of 20 women with SCI in Detroit, Michigan, in the United States, we outline how interviewees are ambivalent
(yet also slightly negative) towards menstruation and amenorrhea within the context of their disability, and may be both different
from and similar to able-bodied women in their attitudes and experiences as a result.
after women’s injuries. However, research is lacking on how women with SCI feel about amenorrhea or menstruation. That is,
we do not know the meanings that women with permanent, physical disability ascribe to their experiences of simultaneously
“normal” and “abnormal” reproductive processes. Prioritizing a feminist disability perspective and using interview data from
a snowball sample of 20 women with SCI in Detroit, Michigan, in the United States, we outline how interviewees are ambivalent
(yet also slightly negative) towards menstruation and amenorrhea within the context of their disability, and may be both different
from and similar to able-bodied women in their attitudes and experiences as a result.
- Content Type Journal Article
- Category Original Article
- Pages 1-14
- DOI 10.1007/s11199-011-0092-4
- Authors
- Heather Dillaway, Department of Sociology, Wayne State University, 656 W. Kirby, 2228 Faculty Administration Building, Detroit, MI 48202, USA
- Katherine Cross, Department of Oncology, School of Medicine, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA
- Catherine Lysack, Institute of Gerontology and Department of Occupational Therapy, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA
- Janice Schwartz, College of Osteopathic Medicine, Michigan State University, Detroit, MI, USA
- Journal Sex Roles
- Online ISSN 1573-2762
- Print ISSN 0360-0025