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PMS as a Gendered Illness Linked to the Construction and Relational Experience of Hetero-Femininity

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Abstract

The majority of research conducted to date on premenstrual distress has focused on heterosexual women. Drawing on research with lesbian and heterosexual self-defined PMS (premenstrual syndrome) sufferers and their partners, we argue that this negates the role played by hetero-patriarchal constructions of both femininity and premenstrual change in the lived experience of premenstrual distress. Negative constructions of PMS and over-responsibility within the home, commonly found in heterosexual relationships, exacerbate distress and result in women being pathologised premenstrually. Conversely, support and understanding offered by partners, more common in lesbian relationships, reduces guilt and self-pathologisation, allowing women to engage in coping strategies premenstrually, such as taking time out to be alone, or engage self-care. These patterns of relational negotiation of women’s premenstrual change can be contextualised within broader cultural representations of hetero-normativity, which provide the context for gendered roles and coping.

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Acknowledgements

This study was funded by a Discovery grant from the Australian Research Council, DP0558831 ‘An examination of the development, experience and construction of premenstrual symptoms’. Thanks are offered to Emily May, Margaret Boulos, Julie Mooney-Somers, Lee Shepard, Helen Vidler and Michelle Rhyder-Obid for research support and assistance.

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  1. Health Services and Outcomes Research Group, School of Psychology, University of Western Sydney, Locked Bag1797, Penrith South DC, Sydney, NSW, 2751, Australia

    Jane M. Ussher & Janette Perz

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  1. Jane M. Ussher
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  2. Janette Perz
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Correspondence to Jane M. Ussher.

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Ussher, J.M., Perz, J. PMS as a Gendered Illness Linked to the Construction and Relational Experience of Hetero-Femininity. Sex Roles 68, 132–150 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-011-9977-5

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