Online a new article for the Journal of the British Society for Phenomenology by Sarah Pawlett Jackson (University of London).
Sarah Pawlett Jackson – “Menstrual Temporality: Cyclic Bodies in a Linear World”
JBSP (Received 15 Feb 2023, Accepted 19 Apr 2024, Published online: 03 May 2024).
Abstract: In this paper I will explore a phenomenology of the menstrual cycle, focusing on the cycle’s rhythm as a form of lived temporality. Drawing on the work of Henri Lefebvre and Thomas Fuchs I will outline a key connection between embodiment and rhythmic temporality more generally, before applying this analysis to the rhythm of the menstrual cycle specifically. I will consider the phenomenology of the experience of cycling through the phases of pre-ovulation, ovulation, pre-menstruation and menstruation as a pattern, or specifically an embodied rhythm that constitutes a form of lived temporality. I will consider a way that the subject may potentially be alienated from this rhythm as a result of a dominant cultural narrative of “linear time”. I will argue further that this dissonance between the menstrual body and the contemporary world tends to be compounded by a lack of “menstrual literacy” in education and culture.
Full article: https://doi.org/10.1080/00071773.2024.2347257
Sarah Pawlett Jackson, University of London, London, UK
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