Exploring Australian Deaf women’s narratives of menstruation: a study of sign language and spoken English interviews — ASN Events

Exploring Australian Deaf women’s narratives of menstruation: a study of sign language and spoken English interviews (#67)

Bianca Blackmore 1 , Danielle Ferndale 2 , Britta Wigginton 1
  1. School of Public Health, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
  2. Deafness and Mental Health, Metro South Health, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Menstruation is a significant component of women’s lives and within this, education plays an important role in supporting women’s health and wellbeing. In light of the importance of education with respect to menstruation, we consider the Deaf community, who do not have equal access to education, to explore their experiences of menstruation and how they are influenced by community, culture, and education. To investigate a currently unexplored area of research, we conducted semi-structured, in-depth conversation styled interviews with five Deaf women from the ages of 18-26 in Brisbane, Australia. The first author was uniquely placed to lead this research as a young woman who is also a child of Deaf adults. Our methods and narrative analysis were led by a Deaf, feminist methodological approach and fostered a safe discursive environment for participants to narrate their experiences of menstruation. In this presentation, the outcomes of this research will be explored, as well as implications for future research. 

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