Welcome to the Society for Menstrual Cycle Research

The Society for Menstrual Cycle Research is a nonprofit, interdisciplinary research organization. Our membership includes researchers in the social and health sciences, humanities scholars, health care providers, policy makers, health activists, and students with interests in the role of the menstrual cycle in women’s health and well-being.

We strive to be the source of guidance, expertise, and ethical considerations for researchers, practitioners, policy makers and funding resources interested in the menstrual cycle. The Society holds biennial meetings featuring presentations of the latest research by members. The most recent meeting was held June 4-6, 2009, in Spokane, Washington. The next meeting is scheduled for June 2-4, 2011, in Pittsburgh.

Membership is open to individuals who have an interest in research on the menstrual cycle or related issues, and who support the purposes of the Society. Dues are $50/year, or $90 for two years, and $20/year for students. Benefits of membership include access to the group’s electronic mailing list, quarterly newsletter, and discounted conference fees.

Call for Papers: Menstruation Research

Special Issue: Positioning Periods: Menstruation in a Social Context
Guest Editors: Ingrid Johnston-Robledo and Margaret L. Stubbs

The menstrual cycle is often conceptualized as a unidimensional, biological, and pathological aspect of women’s bodies and health.  Feminist social science scholars recognize that the biological event of menstruation is experienced and perceived within a broader sociocultural context. As such, it is associated with many psychological and social issues such as girls’ and women’s gender identity, sexuality, body image, reproductive lives, and social status. Further, women’s knowledge about, attitudes toward, and experiences with all aspects of menstrual life vary with their social location. Articles in this special issue will explore and position menstruation in this broader sociocultural and political context. Potential topics include the social stigma of menstruation, perceptions of women as a function of their menstrual status, representations of menstruation and menstruating women in popular culture, and women’s social location as it shapes their menstrual experiences. In addition to empirical articles on the menstrual cycle, we are also interested in articles on teaching related to the menstrual cycle as well as theoretical and historical articles.

Please follow the editorial guidelines available on the journal’s website when preparing manuscripts.  Note that there are special guidelines for qualitative research http://www.springer.com/11199. Submissions are due by June 1, 2010 and must be submitted through the Sex Roles online submission system at http://www.editorialmanager.com/sers/. Submitters should indicate that they would like their manuscript to be considered for the special issue on menstruation.  All papers will be peer reviewed. Direct queries to guest editor, Ingrid Johnston-Robledo (SUNY Fredonia; robledij@fredonia.edu)