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From: "Daphne Greenberg" <ALCDGG@langate.gsu.edu>
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Subject: [NIFL-WOMENLIT:3259] menstruation
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Menstruation is not a topic typically discussed in health literacy classes. I guess this is not surprising, given the taboo it still has in society (I do recognize that we have come along way). Because of this taboo, many of us have questions, shame, misinformation regarding our periods that never get addressed. I wonder whether this may be even more of an issue for some of our learners who dropped out of school before they may have benefitted from sex/health education in school, for those of our learners who could not benefit from written information given by sex/health education teachers, and for those of our learners who grew up with mothers who did not discuss it. Compound this issue with the fact that health literacy classes don't usually address menstruation, and the discomfort many adult literacy teachers have discussing this topic. I have never read or heard anyone talk about menstruation and adult literacy. Maybe we can start here? I am thinking that cyberspace may feel like a safer place to discuss something like this.
Here is what I can share:
1. A teacher relayed to me the following experience: A learner in one of her classes stood up to get a book only to discover blood on her chair. There were two other female learners and one female teacher in the class. She froze with a look of panic on her face while staring at the blood on the chair. The teacher couldn't figure out what was going on, until another learner pointed at the chair with a look of horror on her face. The teacher very calmly said wait a moment, went to the bathroom and brought back a few wet paper towels and without saying anything cleaned the chair. The female learner then started to cry terrified that her pants were ruined. One of the other learners gave her a jacket to cover herself and drove her home (no one had a tampon/pad to give her). It took a lot of coaxing on part of the teacher to convince the learner to return back to class. Nothing was ever mentioned about this event.
Any thoughts about this?
2. The following site was mentioned in the most recent issue of Ms. Magazine: www.mum.org
You may want to check it out and see if any of it would be appropriate for either advanced learners to look at, or for lower level learners to either hear while someone reads it out loud, or to use the pictures to spur discussion, vocabulary growth, and writing prompts. I found some of my reactions very telling-at times I was grossed out and even offended. I caught myself feeling these things and wondered why I have these knee jerk reactions about natural monthly events for most women. Why for example don't I have those feelings when an artist or photographer captures someone bleeding from the elbow, but menstrual blood feels different. Should it?
3. Finally, I did a search on National LINCS and found the following description of a book for learners. I am wondering if anyone knows anything about this book. Would you recommend it?
Title: I call it the curse! A book about periods
Series/Serial:
Title: The New Start Reading Series
Publication Information:
Year: 1988
Language: ENGLISH
Term(s): Menstruation
Abstract/Summary: This 5x7 inch, 35-page, student-written story with extensive photos and lots of white space is about a women's group. One day the group talks about menstruation and menopause, covering both personal beliefs, embarrassments, anatomy, and physiology. The story was written for women with limited literacy skills.
Notes: Readers
Daphne Greenberg
Assistant Professor
Educational Psych. & Special Ed.
Georgia State University
P.O. Box 3679
Atlanta, Georgia 30302-3979
phone: 404-651-0127
fax:404-651-4901
dgreenberg@gsu.edu
Daphne Greenberg
Associate Director
Center for the Study of Adult Literacy
Georgia State University
P.O. Box 3977
Atlanta, Georgia 30302-3977
phone: 404-651-0127
fax:404-651-4901
dgreenberg@gsu.edu
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