Puberty

• No longer will competitive gymnasts be penalised for accidentally revealing their underwear while performing.
• Prior to this, female gymnasts could have points deducted from their final score for unintentional dress code violations while in action.

Dress code pushbacks

• It’s hardly surprising to hear this, since women’s sport uniforms have traditionally been tailored for men, making some athletes uncomfortable.
• Dress code pushbacks from female athletes led to worldwide outrage in July 2021, when Norway’s beach handball team was fined €1,500 (A$2,407) for wearing shorts instead of regulation bikini bottoms at a European Championship match.
• In 2021, there were also dress code protests by female performers at the European Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Switzerland.

Global sexual abuse of young gymnasts

• A Netflix documentary called “Athlete A” proceeded in June 2020, detailing sexual abuse within USA Gymnastics and the failure of the sport to address this.
• More than 400 submissions by traumatised UK gymnasts were subsequently documented in the 2022 Whyte Review, exposing widespread physical, emotional and sexual abuse by coaches.

Why do dress codes matter?

• This is not just about dress codes, it’s about choice – when female athletes are given uniform choices, they are empowered and given a voice.
• Recent research involving more than 3,000 girls across eight countries confirmed sports uniforms are an important influence on girls’ engagement in physical activity.

Baby steps

• Sex offenders in women’s gymnastics coaching circles, and archaic inappropriate dress codes for female athletes, confirm the patriarchy is alive and well in the institution of sport.
• It’s all connected – girls and women participate in a male-dominated system that has pervasive and enduring gender inequities.

Rachael Jefferson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

• CHICAGO, March 27, 2024 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Prevent Blindness , the nation's leading nonprofit eye health organization, has declared April as Women's Eye Health and Safety Month.
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• When I ask my menstrual health workshop participants – including clinicians – there’s usually a lot of shrugging and shaking of heads.
• If given multiple choice options, most think that periods either “clean the womb” or somehow “help prepare for pregnancy”.
• Yes, the blood part can stain clothing, but there is nothing pathological, contaminating, or dangerous about periods.

So, why do we have periods?

• Periods likely evolved as a kind of preemptive abortion, to protect women from unviable or dangerous pregnancies.
• As a result, we have low rates of conception, high rates of miscarriage, and extremely high rates of maternal mortality in comparison to other mammals.
• The menstrual cycle is critical for facilitation of the initial steps of this raison d’être of the female reproductive system.
• The menstrual cycle is critical for facilitation of the initial steps of this raison d’être of the female reproductive system.

What else don’t we know?

• Perhaps with the fact that the second phase of the cycle from ovulation to menstruation is a series of highly inflammatory processes.
• This was only very briefly mentioned in three out of 16 textbooks.
• We really ought to be taught from puberty how to reduce period pain and blood loss – this is not difficult science.

Why aren’t we taught this stuff?

• My research shows that the exclusive focus on the female sex hormones in menstrual education is informed by societal influences, such as the myth of the hysterical or hormonal female.
• This gender myth is still alive and well, although now we tend to blame the (female sex) hormones.

• Again, there was no scientific reason for this change in focus, although it reflected existing societal beliefs about the inherently irrational behaviour of women.
• Unfortunately, menstrual health literacy has not yet recovered from this shift in physiological models.

So what?

• It also becomes much easier to differentiate premenstrual changes from underlying health conditions, since the latter will not be substantially alleviated by anti-inflammatory interventions alone.
• Teaching the reductive hormonal model of the menstrual cycle unintentionally provides pseudo-scientific evidence for the damaging hormonal or hysterical female gender myth.

Sally King is the founder of Menstrual Matters- the world's first evidence-based info hub on menstrual health and rights www.menstrual-matters.com. Her doctoral research and current research fellowship were funded by the ESRC (Economic and Social Research Council).

• BRONX, N.Y., Feb. 26, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Prominently featured in The Inner Circle, Stephanie E. Gore is acknowledged as a Top Pinnacle Professional for her contributions to the Obstetrics and Gynecology Fields.
• Dr. Gore began her educational journey at The University of Arizona where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree.
• She capped her scholarship by completing an internship and residency at New York Medical College.
• Dr. Gore delivers babies and has a comprehensive gynecologic practice focusing on robotic laparoscopic surgeries and traditional surgical procedures.