One of the speakers at a University of Leicester (UK) psychology conference seems set to attract controversy with her findings from a study on premenstrual syndrome (PMS) in lesbian and heterosexual relationships. Professor Jane M Ussher, from the University of Western Sydney, Australia, will put forward her views that: "The majority of women experience physical and psychological changes in the premenstrual phase of the cycle, but only some women experience distress associated with these changes, and position them as PMS. My paper argues that this distress and self-diagnosis is associated with practices of self-policing - negative self-judgment, self-silencing, self-sacrifice, over responsibility and self blame."
Her presentation will largely be drawn from her recently published book Managing the Monstrous Feminine: Regulating the Reproductive Body. Intriguingly, her research found that women in lesbian relationships were found to report less distress associated with premenstrual changes. Ussher concluded from this that self-policing - less evident in lesbian couples - could be the major culprit driving PMS in heterosexual women.
Ussher argues that women's experiences of premenstrual distress or anger are connected to the self-policing practices which women are expected to engage in order to fulfill their role as a 'good' wife or mother. She suggests that this is closely associated with notions of idealized femininity, in other words, the positioning of women as emotional nurturers of others, necessitating self-renunciation. But this can trigger a feedback cycle as when women feel more vulnerable, and their repressed frustration or anger comes to the fore, their self-control is ruptured, and they can lash out, or want to withdraw from the caring role. Yet this is followed by increased self-surveillance, leading to guilt, shame, and blaming of the body.
"My paper identifies self-policing practices in relation to the experience and construction of premenstrual depression and anger in lesbian and heterosexual relationships, through a process of challenging PMS as a bio-medical problem, and unraveling the legitimate reasons why many women are distressed," she explained.
To tackle PMS in this context, Ussher said that a psychological intervention for premenstrual symptoms can act to identify and challenge these self-policing practices. It can also allow women to develop more empowering strategies for reducing or preventing premenstrual distress, and to develop an ethic of care for the self, no longer blaming the body for premenstrual anger or depression, rather, looking to life stresses, ways of coping, and relationship issues.
Source: University of Leicester
