Role of Media in Menstrual Healthcare Rakesh Aditi Student, Symbiosis Centre for Management Studies, Pune, Maharashtra Online published on 29 December, 2017. Abstract Introduction/Background Menstruation is a less talked about topic. Most girls prefer to hide it. Men, even after knowing about it feel uncomfortable to discuss it. Even for people located in urban areas and belonging to the upper-middle class of the society, menstruation is still a taboo. Females take this hard time, which occurs every month for around 5–7 days, feeling uncomfortable, lacking confidence and unhygienic. Still, they cannot share it with anyone due to the taboo that is widely spread in the society. Purpose This study focuses on the influence of media on the awareness of menstrual hygiene on girls of age group 17–23 and does a comparative analysis with females of age 10–14. Through the data, the analysis will be done to understand the personal experience of girls in terms of their knowledge, awareness, and level of comfort with a focus on the influence of media on these factors. Research Design/Methodology/Approach/Materials & methods/Experimental The research methodology used in the research was qualitative primary data collection through structured open-ended and close-ended interviews. The responses given by the interviewees were used to draw analysis from the data. The interviewee was college students (females) of age group 17–23. And to gain a better view and compare the conditions today with those prevailing with 17–23 years girls, female students of age 10–14 years were also interviewed. Novelty/Originality Most of the existing literature present on this issue has been centered on women residing in rural areas. Studies which have been done on urban women and their awareness of menstrual hygiene have not focused on media channels or have simply noted the lack in their awareness levels. Neither have they explained any specific measures whuch can be used to bring about a positive change in the ideology of the people. Top Keywords Menstrual, Hygiene, Awareness, Middle class, Higher-middle class. Top |