The Managed Body

Developing Girls and Menstrual Health in the Global South

By: Chris Bobel

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Paperback | 21 December 2018

At a Glance

Paperback
376 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
21.01 x 14.81 x 1.98

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The Managed Body productively complicates 'menstrual hygiene management' (MHM)-a growing social movement to support menstruating girls in the Global South. Bobel offers an invested critique of the complicated discourses of MHM including its conceptual and practical links with the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) development sector, human rights and 'the girling of development.' Drawing on analysis of in-depth interviews, participant observations and the digital materials of NGOs and social businesses, Bobel shows how MHM frames problems and solutions to capture attention and direct resources to this highly-tabooed topic. She asserts that MHM organizations often inadvertently rely upon weak evidence and spectacularized representations to make the claim of a 'hygienic crisis' that authorizes rescue. And, she argues, the largely product-based solutions that follow fail to challenge the social construction of the menstrual body as dirty and in need of concealment. While cast as fundamental to preserving girls' dignity, MHM prioritizes 'technological fixes' that teach girls to discipline their developing bodies vis a vis consumer culture, a move that actually accommodates more than it resists the core problem of menstrual stigma.

Industry Reviews

"The author effortlessly links postcolonial feminist thinking to MHM, which is commendable for a book that hails from the global north." (Aysha Farhana Chakkampully, Gender and Research, Vol. 22 (2), 2021)

"The Managed Body would be a valuable addition to courses on gender and health, embodiment, critical development studies, medical anthropology, and reproductive health and rights. This book's accessible style also makes it appropriate for a much wider audience, and The Managed Body belongs on the reading lists of development professionals, feminist activists and anyone else interested in gender, health, and development." (Leigh Senderowicz, Gender & Society, Vol. 20 (10), 2020)
"This book will not only appeal to those interested in the topic but also to those who research race, globalization, transnationalism, rhetoric, feminism, public health, gender, activism, or economics." (Berkley Conner, Affilia, December 6, 2019)
"The book is a timely, important and provides a fascinating read about contemporary feminism, activism and capitalism." (Camilla M¸rk R¸stvik, Social History of Medicine, Vol. 32 (4), November, 2019)

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