Managing menstruation with dignity: Worries, stress and mental health in two water-scarce urban communities in India
An emerging body of literature examines multiple connections between water insecurity and mental health, with particular focus on women’s vulnerabilities. Women can display greatly elevated emotional distress with increased household water insecurity, because it’s them who are primarily responsible...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Taylor & Francis Group
2023-01-01
|
| Series: | Global Public Health |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17441692.2023.2233996 |
| _version_ | 1797678706410389504 |
|---|---|
| author | Neetu Choudhary Cindi SturtzSreetharan Sarah Trainer Alexandra Brewis Amber Wutich Kathryn Clancy Urooba Ahmed Fatima Mohammad Jobayer Hossain |
| author_facet | Neetu Choudhary Cindi SturtzSreetharan Sarah Trainer Alexandra Brewis Amber Wutich Kathryn Clancy Urooba Ahmed Fatima Mohammad Jobayer Hossain |
| author_sort | Neetu Choudhary |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | An emerging body of literature examines multiple connections between water insecurity and mental health, with particular focus on women’s vulnerabilities. Women can display greatly elevated emotional distress with increased household water insecurity, because it’s them who are primarily responsible for managing household water and uniquely interact with wider water environments. Here we test an extension of this proposition, identifying how notions of dignity and other gendered norms related to managing menstruation might complicate and amplify this vulnerability. Our analysis is based on systematic coding for themes in detailed semi-structured interviews conducted with twenty reproductive-age women living in two water insecure communities in New Delhi, India in 2021. The following themes, emerging from our analysis, unfold the pathways through which women’s dignity and mental health is implicated by inadequate water: ideals of womanhood and cleanliness; personal dignity during menstruation; hierarchy of needs and menstruation management amidst water scarcity; loss of dignity and the humiliation; expressed stress, frustration and anger. These pathways are amplified by women’s expected roles as household water managers. This creates a confluence of gendered negative emotions – frustration and anger – which in turn helps to explain the connection of living with water insecurity to women’s relatively worse mental health. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T23:03:47Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-9aebf368ccb6426daa2ad46c67f61f06 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1744-1692 1744-1706 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T23:03:47Z |
| publishDate | 2023-01-01 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Global Public Health |
| spelling | doaj.art-9aebf368ccb6426daa2ad46c67f61f062023-09-21T13:56:58ZengTaylor & Francis GroupGlobal Public Health1744-16921744-17062023-01-0118110.1080/17441692.2023.22339962233996Managing menstruation with dignity: Worries, stress and mental health in two water-scarce urban communities in IndiaNeetu Choudhary0Cindi SturtzSreetharan1Sarah Trainer2Alexandra Brewis3Amber Wutich4Kathryn Clancy5Urooba Ahmed Fatima6Mohammad Jobayer Hossain7Center for Global Health, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USACenter for Global Health, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USACenter for Global Health, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USACenter for Global Health, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USACenter for Global Health, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USADepartment of Anthropology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, USADepartment of Anthropology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Champaign, IL, USACenter for Global Health, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USAAn emerging body of literature examines multiple connections between water insecurity and mental health, with particular focus on women’s vulnerabilities. Women can display greatly elevated emotional distress with increased household water insecurity, because it’s them who are primarily responsible for managing household water and uniquely interact with wider water environments. Here we test an extension of this proposition, identifying how notions of dignity and other gendered norms related to managing menstruation might complicate and amplify this vulnerability. Our analysis is based on systematic coding for themes in detailed semi-structured interviews conducted with twenty reproductive-age women living in two water insecure communities in New Delhi, India in 2021. The following themes, emerging from our analysis, unfold the pathways through which women’s dignity and mental health is implicated by inadequate water: ideals of womanhood and cleanliness; personal dignity during menstruation; hierarchy of needs and menstruation management amidst water scarcity; loss of dignity and the humiliation; expressed stress, frustration and anger. These pathways are amplified by women’s expected roles as household water managers. This creates a confluence of gendered negative emotions – frustration and anger – which in turn helps to explain the connection of living with water insecurity to women’s relatively worse mental health.http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17441692.2023.2233996water insecuritymenstruationmental healthdignityindia |
| spellingShingle | Neetu Choudhary Cindi SturtzSreetharan Sarah Trainer Alexandra Brewis Amber Wutich Kathryn Clancy Urooba Ahmed Fatima Mohammad Jobayer Hossain Managing menstruation with dignity: Worries, stress and mental health in two water-scarce urban communities in India Global Public Health water insecurity menstruation mental health dignity india |
| title | Managing menstruation with dignity: Worries, stress and mental health in two water-scarce urban communities in India |
| title_full | Managing menstruation with dignity: Worries, stress and mental health in two water-scarce urban communities in India |
| title_fullStr | Managing menstruation with dignity: Worries, stress and mental health in two water-scarce urban communities in India |
| title_full_unstemmed | Managing menstruation with dignity: Worries, stress and mental health in two water-scarce urban communities in India |
| title_short | Managing menstruation with dignity: Worries, stress and mental health in two water-scarce urban communities in India |
| title_sort | managing menstruation with dignity worries stress and mental health in two water scarce urban communities in india |
| topic | water insecurity menstruation mental health dignity india |
| url | http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17441692.2023.2233996 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT neetuchoudhary managingmenstruationwithdignityworriesstressandmentalhealthintwowaterscarceurbancommunitiesinindia AT cindisturtzsreetharan managingmenstruationwithdignityworriesstressandmentalhealthintwowaterscarceurbancommunitiesinindia AT sarahtrainer managingmenstruationwithdignityworriesstressandmentalhealthintwowaterscarceurbancommunitiesinindia AT alexandrabrewis managingmenstruationwithdignityworriesstressandmentalhealthintwowaterscarceurbancommunitiesinindia AT amberwutich managingmenstruationwithdignityworriesstressandmentalhealthintwowaterscarceurbancommunitiesinindia AT kathrynclancy managingmenstruationwithdignityworriesstressandmentalhealthintwowaterscarceurbancommunitiesinindia AT uroobaahmedfatima managingmenstruationwithdignityworriesstressandmentalhealthintwowaterscarceurbancommunitiesinindia AT mohammadjobayerhossain managingmenstruationwithdignityworriesstressandmentalhealthintwowaterscarceurbancommunitiesinindia |