How Menstruation Education is Carried out for Young Girls in Taiwan?

“The girls were taken to a separate classroom for menstruation class. On the way back to the classroom, everyone would hastily stuff their sanitary napkins into their pockets, before others may see it.” 10 years ago, this was how the menstruation health education in my elementary school was.

I was born in 1997, yet even now, I do not dare to carry my sanitary napkins in plain view, or to naturally tell a male friend “I’m having period today.” Why are we so sensitive about menstruation? Does that have anything to do with the education we received? To answer my curiosity, I have asked my friends about their experience of menstruation education in elementary and junior high schools. As a reference, I have also looked up for the studies published between 1990 to 2010. With these, the article digs into the actual situation of menstruation health education in Taiwanese primary and middle schools a decade ago.

Knowledge of Sexual Health and Menstruation Education

According to past studies, teachers and parents are the primary sources of sexual health knowledge for Taiwanese elementary and junior high school students. However, the parent-child interactions around the topic are often restricted by the idea and atmosphere of “don’t talk about sex”, leaving the school an important place for sexual health education. However, the ways schools conducted sexual health education show how it was disregarded.

In Taiwan’s exam-oriented education, health education or P.E. classes receive reduced attention from school authorities. The sexual health sessions about menstruation are often rushed through by the health education teacher, school nurse or homeroom teacher, which made students often forget about those classes right after the session ends. For schools that doesn’t include menstruation education in its plans, outsourcing the session to sanitary product manufacturers by inviting them to give a lecture is also a common practice.

Where are the Boys? The Boys Vanished from Menstruation Health Education

Outsourced to manufacturers or rushed in a health education class, most Taiwanese students reported “girls are instructed to be taught in another classroom.” Such a practice for menstruation health education is very common, and it reflects the experience- and preparation-driven educational mindset. Only biologically female students are considered necessary to learn and prepare due to having menstruations; on the other hand, biologically male students are not required to take those classes due to not having them.

Obviously, there are also school teachers who argue that everyone should learn about menstruation. One of my male friends recalled: “Our teacher told us that we need to understand what the girls are experiencing. Although boys don’t have periods, they still need to know for the sake of their future wife or daughter;” another male friend also commented that the menstruation education he received in a boy’s school put much stress on the “knowledge about calendar-based contraception”.

From the experiences of these two individuals, we can see that menstruation health education is based on a heterosexual-centered framework. Male students are taught in preparation for his “female partner”, rather than receiving common knowledge that everyone ought to know.

Acknowledging the fact that menstruation health education follows a experience-driven mindset further gave rise to my curiosity: Do males have no need for menstruation health education? What result would we get from a menstruation health education that categorize students by sex?

The Period Stigma Enhanced by School Education

When a sanitary napkin trial pack with instruction manual was distributed to students in schools, many female students reported that “most of us hid the napkins in our pockets, hoping that the boys won’t see them” and hid them all the way back to their classrooms.

Such a session plan shows that menstruation health education is considered a “special class just for the girls.” From the aspect of teaching female students how to deal with menstruation, such a method would be considered intuitive and effective. However, a menstruation health education that categorizes students into different groups would deprive male students of their chance to learn about menstruation, while also enhancing the pre-existing sense of shame about menstruation toward females.

The term “period stigma” means the phenomenon when a female faces prejudice, discrimination or even social exclusion. From being shy to talk about menstruation or show related products in public, to using implicit terms to refer to menstruation and sanitary napkins, those are all examples of menstruation being demonized.

As a result of stressing on the difference between biological sexes, male students lack adequate knowledge about menstruation. On the other hand, the “special” and dedicated session for female students would make them feel isolated, which would further worsen the sense of shame for them to talk about menstruation or exposing their sanitary products, and even enhance the social segregation between them and the counterpart.

Menstruation Health Education is for Everyone

The source of the survey above are my friends, who are now university students between 20 and 22 years old. As such, their reports may differ from what is being taught about menstruation in Taiwanese elementary schools currently. However, no matter whether menstruation education have taken a step forward or backward, it is sure that education would have a long-lasting effect, leaving experiences which are hard to forget. The experiences found in the survey reflect how people came to know about menstruation and the shared experience of facing it.

In recent years, with sexual equality and rights becoming valued, people have started to acknowledge the different formations of a family. Non-heteronormative families, like single-parent families and same-sex families, should all have the correct sexual health knowledge since individuals of any sex or gender may become the one to teach the knowledge and experience about menstruation. For this, we should bring change to the current menstruation health education that has long been experience- and preparation-driven, and long been classifying students with their sex.

It is the lack of understanding and opportunities to gain understanding about menstruation that leads to prejudice, stereotypes and difficulties to be empathic to individuals who are experiencing menstruation. While the idea of removing the dishonor against menstruation gains widespread support now, polishing the menstruation health education in schools and families will also be an important improvement to engage in. After menstruation health education becomes a session for everyone, we hope to create a more inclusive society by understanding and freely discussing menstruation with one another.

Other articles in this issue

Unfolding Hidden Gender Bias in Textbooks in Taiwan

Gender discrimination and gender bias are embedded in the texts and illustrations in textbooks all over the world. Let’s see what they are like and how we deal with them in Taiwan.

Call for Implementation of Gender Equality Education in Taiwan

Other than Same-sex Marriage Bill, another gender equality reform is taking place in Taiwan, sparking heated debates on whether the new Curriculum Guidelines should include sexual and LGBT-friendly contents.

Author: Joy Hu

Interested in gender and diplomatic issues. Believing that by connecting the strengths in different fields, we are able to create a more inclusive society.