ABSTRACT. ‘Sometimes, you know I’m on the way because you experience cramps, bloating and mood changes. Other times, I surprise you by making a wilful mark on your pyjamas or sheets. Without a need to support an embryo, estrogen and progesterone shed the uterus lining, enabling my arrival. You collect me every few hours and discreetly discard me because Western thought suggests that I’m a problem. I am (not). Your(s), Period.’ The authors question this thought by addressing the complexities of menstruation, a monthly discharge of tissue and blood occurring in billions of humans and nonhumans alike through period talks. As a form of interplay between consciousness and the body, the self and the Other, they introduce a dialogic methodology about menstruation. This approach transcends a mere discussion of bodily processes by becoming a material exploration that tests boundaries, evoking a sense of (not) belonging and dissonance simultaneously. Under the posthuman, they approach this topic together and as an Other, engaging in an exchange across bodily, gender and cultural dimensions to tend to the gap in Western thought concerning menstruation’s place and its implications for more-than-human belonging in public and educational spheres.

Keywords: period talks; menstruation; blood; creative methodology; (not) belonging

How to cite: Ward, A., & Fang, H. (2024). Period talks. Knowledge Cultures, 12(1), 127-146. https://doi.org/10.22381/kc12120248

Received September 13, 2023 • Received in revised form January 15, 2024
Accepted February 23, 2024 • Available online April 1, 2024