Breaking the cycle: Memorable messages of “grin n’ bear it” and silence in menarche narrative recall

Abstract

To better understand adolescent experiences of menstruation, the CODE Red project was initiated to examine period poverty and menstruation stigma. As part of the project, a survey was posted online through Qualtrics, and the link was posted to social media sites. One hundred and eighty-seven individuals completed the open-ended questionnaire between January and August 2022. The individuals are based in the United States, with most coming from northeastern Indiana. Using an iterative analysis, the data were analyzed using the theory of memorable messages. Three themes emerged supporting memorable messages: the negative cycle of self, talk silence breeds silence, and my mom wasn’t there. The study concludes that grin n’ bear it and silence are the predominant types of memorable messages first-time menstruators’ experience. Moreover, first-time menstruators experience self-silencing and other-silencing. Implications include that silence negatively impacts the mother-daughter relationship and that attention should be paid to the importance of communication before menarche.

Keywords

• Memorable messages
• menarche
• mother-daughter
• silence
• mental health