Lara Owen Newsletter Feb 2025

The picture is a reminder of summer for those of us at the tail end of a long Northern European winter that’s been particularly grey, chilly, and wet. Something to look forward to. Today I’m sending you a very belated Happy New Year. I’ve been rather quiet in terms of communications so far this year. As befitted the season I spent some time in peak midwinter hibernating, mulling, resting and creating, but I seemed to need more of that than usual. Following Imbolc (Feb 2) I’ve been more active with giving some talks, doing consulting work and answering queries, and preparing to start teaching Contemporary Menstrual Studies again in late March. The downtime was important though, especially following the US election and the rumours of what was to come, which has only got more insane since the new administration (if we can call it that) took office. So first off, some thoughts on gender politics and our current predicaments, and then some news on what I’ve been up to recently and what’s coming up in 2025.

Gen Z and gender politics

Earlier this month here in the UK, Alex Mahon, Chief Executive at Channel 4 television, gave a speech about the channel’s recent research on Gen Z (those currently aged 13-27). The speech highlighted how disaffected and unhappy this group tends to be relative to earlier generations, and found that gender division appears to be more pronounced. The research identified key Gen Z groups, and this schema makes for a useful breakdown for anyone interested in the culture and politics of menstruation. (Although I think one could make a case that 4, 5 and 6 are actually one group — see what you think.) Here is the list and you can find the full text of the speech here.

The Channel 4 list of primary Gen Z factions

Girl Power feminists: young women who are happy, optimistic and not politicised.
Fight for Rights activists: also empowered and happy but feel the UK is fundamentally an unfair place to live and want to push for justice for those they feel are losing out.
The Blank Slates: disengaged boys and men.
The Boys Can’t be Boys group: both male and female, who believe that traditional masculinity and values are under threat.
The Dice Are Loaded group: again male and female, who are unhappy, who don’t feel in control and believe economic and political systems are stacked against them.
The Zero-Sum Thinkers: young men and women who believe that for one group in society to succeed, another has to lose out.

From looking at social media we can see that categories 1 and 2 represent some of the young women involved in reshaping menstrual norms. Category 1 could be loosely seen to align with mainstream (neoliberal) feminism which is often apolitical and interested in choice and convenience as markers of freedom, some of whom will be open to switching to reusable products but not necessarily for sustainability reasons. Category 2 speaks to those young women who are more radical, disaffected with capitalism, concerned about the environment, and making big changes relative to earlier generations such as eschewing the Pill and becoming menstrual coaches at relatively young ages.

The study gives us some useful categories to consider when designing menstrual education and talking to girls and parents at menarche. In terms of gender relations, there are things happening in schools and on social media that for those of us who are older and/or went to same sex schools may be unfamiliar, and have a violence and threat level that we may have been less likely to have seen at that same age. But at any time, to fail to engage boys and young men in the conversation on menstruation and menarche is to also fail girls and young women, and we need to grapple with this in a contemporary context that often stokes division and doesn’t make it easy.

Gender politics in an unstable world

We seem to be at a rather surreal moment in gender politics, with so much churn it’s sometimes hard to get a grip on what is really going on. Despite the growing presence of strongman politics, in terms of the menstrual field some pro-women/menstruator changes appear to be becoming standard, in some parts of the world at least. Menstruation and menopause are slowly but surely being brought into workplace policies and organization in countries worldwide; and bathrooms in most educational institutions and many businesses here in the UK offer free menstrual products in a manner that has rapidly become normalised and without fanfare.

This is not to say that the current backlash against inclusivity won’t affect the field of menstruation going forward. Political changes, particularly in the US government, mean that women and girls around the world face increasing uncertainty in their reproductive rights; women’s healthcare is being cut back or made non-existent in many low income parts of the world dependent upon US aid that has been summarily withdrawn; the right to abortion is either no longer existent or difficult to obtain in the US, with possible knock-on effects elsewhere; those identified as female at birth who grow up to feel more male or gender-nonconforming are vulnerable to new levels of prejudice and with less protection. It’s clear that minorities are under attack, and that masculinist ideas about who has value and the right to power are currently resurgent in some quarters.

The state of the world is part of why I’ve not been very communicative here or on social media for several months. I’ve been processing my discomfort and getting my ducks in a row. This is what I have come to see: Women’s rights are being and will be threatened. We have to gather ourselves, be strong, where possible be collective and unify, and move forward with our work. We can still trust that there will be space in this world for positive attention to menstrual rights and everything associated with that. But, attempts will be made, even more than we might have anticipated, to subvert the progress made so far and to use AI and other technologies to constrain women’s experience in order to exercise control.

The enclosure of women’s bodies I wrote about in Reorganizing Menstruation is being reconstituted in new ways, and we need to watch out for that and counter it whenever we can. We still have some huge knowledge gaps that allow misogyny, however well-disguised, into the menstrual space. We need a lot more and better research. Of course, I want to see many aspects of menstruation getting that research, but I am particularly aware of the need for research on the role of rest and relaxation (and conversely of stress, over-activity and insufficient sleep) in long-term menstrual health. We have a good deal of anecdotal evidence on this, but as yet nothing even close to a scientific study. And, related to this, we need more focus on the significance of the monthly hormonal cycle in women versus the daily testosterone cycle in men that currently governs our work patterns.

Despite the threats of global instability and increased patriarchalism, I sense a quickening in our collective efforts, some kind of solidifying and accretion of ground. I wonder if you share this? There is now too much menstrual research for me to keep up with it all, whereas I used to be pretty sure I had read everything there was to read. It’s a great thing to be able to say that to do so now would be more than a full-time job. I get notifications that my own work has been cited weekly and sometimes daily. So there’s a lot happening, and we have much to be optimistic about despite the front pages of the news. For myself, I am cracking on, and aiming to find some balance in being awake to what’s happening in the wider world while not being too distracted by all the noise.

Contemporary Menstrual Studies Master’s Research

Last year’s cohort of CMS have now graduated (congratulations to all!), having done some excellent research projects and with a very low incomplete rate in this year’s cohort. Students write a research paper of around 8,000 words and have individual feedback from me during the process. The impact of writing a research paper is profound. Creating new knowledge and writing it up gives a deep sense of achievement and also really helps you understand what goes into the processes involved in doing research, and also helps you to read and assess research papers.

The self-chosen topics covered in the final research papers for 2024 were:

An autoethnography on the effect of PMDD on sense of self
An autoethnography on developing a positive relationship with the menstrual cycle
An autoethnography on developing a ‘menstrualist’ identity.
An autoethnography on the impact of method of menstrual blood management on sense of self and lived experience over two decades
An autoethnography on PMS as a catalyst for expanding consciousness
A visual art project on disability and menstruation in India
An interview-based study on menstrual stigma and silence in 1990s Australia
An interview-based investigation into factors shaping the menstrual experiences of Sudanese menstruators
An interview-based project on menstruation and psychotherapy
An interview-based and autoethnographic comparison of the experience of menstruating in Indonesia and in Germany
An interview-based study on attitudes to menstrual flexibility policies in today’s neoliberal corporate U.K.
An interview-based study on self-objectification and menstrual health in Latin America
A narrative literature review on ‘menstruality’ and regenerative sustainability
A survey-based pilot study on the impact of menstrual cycle awareness on menstrual challenges and wellbeing
A mixed methods research project on the perceived needs and impact of teaching on menstruation in secondary education (English-speaking school in China)

CMS classes in 2025

This year’s classes start up again next month. Registrations for Year One are coming in from various countries, with several places still available. I’ve extended the scholarship window for people living in low-to-middle income countries to February 25 so there is still just time to submit your application. For everyone else you can read a detailed description of the course here, and register here.

The new second year of the course opens on March 24 and is very close to full. This course is open to people who graduated from Year One in 2022, 2023 or 2024. Almost everyone who graduated in 2024 is keeping going with their studies and has signed up for this first offering of Year Two, which is affirming for me as a teacher, and for our field more broadly. There is one space left if you’ve been sitting on the fence on this, so do jump in.

This year CMS seminars are again offered twice each week to take account of group size and time zone issues.
Year One meets on Sundays at 7pm and Wednesdays at 10 am.
Year Two meets on Mondays at 7 pm and Tuesdays at 10 am.
Times given are for the UK, so please adjust for your time zone.

Global outreach

In January I did a Zoom event in which I was interviewed by the phenomenal Radha Paudel in Nepal, answering questions on Reorganizing Menstruation, (first chapter available free online here) for the Global South Coalition for Dignified Menstruation; I discussed the methods chapter (Chapter 5) in the book on a Zoom call with menstrual academics across Europe; and I consulted on menstruation and menopause in the workplace for the International Standards Organization and for a Scandinavian start-up innovating workplace health-tech. l also recently gave an interview on hormones and work rhythms to a Norwegian scientific online magazine.

As a snapshot of what tends to happen in a week with different parts of the world, last week I gave a session to the international Red School Hive on the interface between menstrual cycle awareness and the social mainstream; worked on a commissioned book chapter I’m collaborating on with a student from CMS 2023 and that’s based on her course research; and discussed consulting on workplace practices and policies for a global institution.

Looking forward, on April 17 I’ll be teaching via Zoom as part of Samantha Neal’s Altered program in Australia (registration opens up for that next week, see Sam’s Insta @samanthaneal_).

And in September, for the first time in years, I’ll be teaching an in-person workshop, which I’m really looking forward to. This will be a residential retreat on trauma and the menstrual cycle that I’m co-teaching with Dr Nancy Bancroft, a trauma psychologist. We have found a wonderful venue — a beautiful country house in a wooded unspoilt valley in deepest Herefordshire. Dates are September 12-15 and registration is coming soon at laraowen.com.

Menstruation conferences in 2025

There are two major conferences this year. The Society for Menstrual Cycle Research is having their biennial conference in Washington DC in mid July. The UK based Menstruation Research Network is having its annual conference in London at the end of May. I will be at the MRN in London, but probably not at SMCR in Washington. Do follow the links to check them both out.

I hope your work and lives are going well. It would be great to see you somewhere this year, either online or in person. In the first two weeks of March I’m taking some time out for an Ayurvedic cleanse and retreat in a warm place. I’ll be back at my desk on March 18. Meanwhile, if you have any questions about signing up for Year One or Year Two, contact Grace Hempshall (who took the course in 2022, the first year it was offered, and will be taking Year Two this year).

Love to all,

Lara