Representations of Menstruation in Hollywood Films: Carrie, The Blue Lagoon, Slums of Beverly Hills

ABSTRACT: This study explores mediated representations of a “particular experiences of women”: more precisely, to examine and critique the techniques by which menstruation is reproduced as a social text in a selection of Hollywood fiction films. On the one hand, social taboos have often encouraged a sort of “purposeful ignorance” around the question of menstruation. On the other hand, when menstruation is part of a media script the representations tend to be narrowly defined – offering limiting and often negative ways of thinking about women and women‘s bodies. The films selected for analysis provide an opportunity to evaluate and critique the ways in which Hollywood has portrayed women and menstruation. Through an analysis of these filmic texts it becomes clear that far from encouraging more positive perceptions of women and women‘s bodies, the texts work to mystify, demonize and marginalize women – presenting menstruation as a problem rather than telling stories that integrate menstruation into the social order. The theoretical framework of the thesis is drawn from gender studies and feminist media studies – especially emphasizing the value of textual analysis when engaging the storytelling techniques and practices of the Hollywood film. From the 23 films that engage the question of menstruation three films from three distinct genres (horror, drama and comedy) and produced between 1976 and 2010, are selected and analyzed using textual analysis. Textual analysis is used here as a means that supports a critical evaluation of the filmic texts and not as an end. The central concern here is on how these mediated texts signify. I construct an argument concerning the representation of women in general and menstruation in particular. The three female protagonists in each of the films I will analyze below, Carrie from the film Carrie, Emmeline from The Blue Lagoon and Vivian from Slums of Beverly Hills are three leading female characters who experience their menstruation in the films. I show through my analysis that all depend on men empowerment and that for each of these characters, menstruation is a negative feminine experience that connotes weakness in patriarchal society. In Hollywood films menstruation is frequently displayed as a veiled sadness that is often kept secreted from others. This re-enforces the notion of menstruation as forbidden. Women usually submit to this taboo in their relationships with men and in the public sphere, which further encourages a sense of embarrassment, shame and guilt around the female body. Keywords: Feminist media studies, Textual analysis, Gender representation, Hollywood, Menstruation. …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………