Blood Work: Managing Menstruation, Menopause and Gynaecological Health Conditions in the Workplace

Sang, Katherine; Remnant, Jen; Calvard, Thomas; Myhill, Katriona

doi:10.3390/ijerph18041951

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Blood Work: Managing Menstruation, Menopause and Gynaecological Health Conditions in the Workplace

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Edinburgh Business School, Heriot Watt University, Edinburgh EH14 4AS, UK

Business School, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH8 9JS, UK

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Academic Editor: Claire Hardy

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18(4), 1951; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18041951

Received: 27 January 2021 / Revised: 28 January 2021 / Accepted: 11 February 2021 / Published: 17 February 2021

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Reproductive Health and Work)

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Abstract

The menstrual cycle remains neglected in explorations of public health, and entirely remiss in occupational health literature, despite being a problematic source of gendered inequalities at work. This paper proposes the new concept of blood work to explain the relationship between menstruation (and associated gynaecological health conditions) and employment for women and trans/non-binary people. We build on and extend health and organisational literature on managing bodies at work by arguing that those who experience menstruation face additional work or labour in the management of their own bodies through the menstrual cycle. We discuss how this additional labour replicates problematic elements that are identifiable in public health initiatives, in that it is individualised, requiring individual women and trans/non-binary people to navigate unsupportive workplaces. We present findings from an analysis of qualitative survey data that were completed by 627 participants working in higher education, revealing that employees’ blood work comprises distinct difficulties that are related to the management of painful, leaking bodies, access to facilities, stigma, and balancing workload. We suggest developing supportive workplaces and public health policies, which refocus the responsibility for accessible, equal workplaces that accommodate menstruating employees, and those with gynaecological health conditions. View Full-Text

Keywords: blood; body work; gynaecological health; higher education; menstruation

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

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MDPI and ACS Style

Sang, K.; Remnant, J.; Calvard, T.; Myhill, K. Blood Work: Managing Menstruation, Menopause and Gynaecological Health Conditions in the Workplace. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2021, 18, 1951. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18041951

AMA Style

Sang K, Remnant J, Calvard T, Myhill K. Blood Work: Managing Menstruation, Menopause and Gynaecological Health Conditions in the Workplace. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2021; 18(4):1951. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18041951

Chicago/Turabian Style

Sang, Katherine, Jen Remnant, Thomas Calvard, and Katriona Myhill. 2021. "Blood Work: Managing Menstruation, Menopause and Gynaecological Health Conditions in the Workplace" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 18, no. 4: 1951. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18041951

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