Factors associated with media portrayal of menstruation and its effects on menstruating school girls in Coimbatore, Tamilnadu, India

Abstract

Menstruation is the periodic loss of the uterine lining that occurs naturally in female’s who have attained puberty. Menstruation attached with it many taboos and restrictions. Mass media and other social institutions play a significant role in creating perceptions about menstruation in the society. It is necessary to understand the impact media created through its portrayal of menstruation among menstruating girls in particular and society at large. This study intends to identify factors associated with media portrayal of menstruation and its effects on menstruating schoolgirls in Coimbatore Tamilnadu. A cross sectional study was conducted. A structured questionnaire was administered to 100 menstruating school girls in Coimbatore, Tamilnadu. The items were put to KMO test with the value of 0.69 and Cronbach test with the value of 0.74 using IBM SPSS and the construct was grouped into two factors namely Media portrayal of menstruation and effects of media portrayal on menstruating school girls with 6 items and 4 items respectively. This study is a part of ICMR funded project titled “Strategic Communication for Menstruation Health, Hygiene Management among school Girlsin Tamilnadu”.