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Narratives of everyday menstrual justice among trans and nonbinary people in Canada and the USA

Bibliographic Data

ID15099117
AuthorsDanica Facca (0000-0002-3150-4805, Western University), Jodi Hall (0000-0001-5630-5530, Western University), Gail Teachman (0000-0003-1892-5792, Western University), Lorie Donelle (0000-0001-9276-8639, Western University, corresponding author)
Year2026
Pages1-12
Publication date2026-02-13
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueCulture Health & Sexuality (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1369-1058 • E-ISSN: 1464-5351
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13691058.2026.2626360
PMID41689352
OpenAlexW7128902442
LanguageEN
References cited26

While critical research focused on trans and nonbinary people's experiences with menstruation is growing, no prior work has examined how menstrual tracking apps shape experiences of menstruation within trans and nonbinary lives. Drawn from a larger feminist narrative inquiry study, the purpose of this research was to address this gap by examining six narrative accounts of menstrual tracking app use and non-use among trans and nonbinary people in Canada and the USA. These narratives illustrate how trans and nonbinary participants situated practices of engaging with, or refusing to engage with, menstrual tracking apps help mediate and sustain dignity and agency in everyday life contexts, constituting forms of what we term 'everyday' menstrual justice. By foregrounding narratives of both use and non-use, we illustrate how participants navigated the dual principles of menstrual justice - 'freedom to' and 'freedom from' menstruation - by negotiating autonomy, dysphoria management, pain legibility, data privacy, and self-advocacy through digital menstrual technologies. This article advances an expanded understanding of menstrual justice that accounts for the diverse micro-level ways in which individuals across gender identities self-determine how and to what extent menstruation matters in their lives

Agency (philosophy · Ambivalence · Dignity · Menstruation · Narrative · Narrative inquiry · Redress · Shame · Media, Religion, Digital Communication · Menstrual Health and Disorders · Mobile Health and mHealth Applications

  • Design Justice

    Open Access•Sasha Costanza-Chock, Sasha Costanza‐chock•Design Justice•2020

  • Bleeding beyond binaries

    Helen Martin, H D P Martin et al.•Culture Health & Sexuality•2025

  • Queer periods

    Joan C Chrisler, Jennifer A Gorman et al.•Culture Health & Sexuality•2016

  • Improving menstrual equity in the USA

    Open Access•Benjamin Lane, Amaya Perez-Brumer et al.•Culture Health & Sexuality•2022

  • Why we should care about trans people and menstruation

    Open Access•A J Lowik•Nature Human Behaviour•2024

  • Femtech

    Jessica Lee Mathiason•Feminist Studies•2023

  • Femtech in context

    Open Access•Danica Facca, Jodi Hall et al.•Health An Interdisciplinary…•2025

  • Queering Menstruation

    Open Access•Sarah E Frank•Sociological Inquiry•2020

  • Transnormativity

    Open Access•Austin H Johnson•Sociological Inquiry•2016

Highly citedNo

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Ethnos_APP • Open Source Project • MIT License • Frontend v2.0.0 • Privacy and Cookies • API Documentation: api.ethnos.app/docs • API Source Code: GitHub • DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17049435 • Frontend Source Code: GitHub • DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17050053 • cruz.rio.br • Expectantes Misericordiae