Graduation Year
2019
Graduation Month
May
Document Type
Thesis
Faculty Mentor Department
Communication Studies
Faculty Mentor
Phyllis Ngai
Keywords
Menstruation, periods, empower, social change, social media, podcast
Subject Categories
Medicine and Health Sciences | Social and Behavioral Sciences
Abstract
Menstruation is often misrepresented, stigmatized, and ignored. A lack of education and distorted view of periods in society greatly impacts young menstruators as they begin to have periods and can have long-term negative effects on their physical, mental, and emotional well-being. In order to design a project that effectively addressed this global problem, we used the Human Centered Design approach. This process has three steps: Inspiration, Ideation, and Implementation. During the Inspiration phase, we conducted expert interviews with professionals in the field of menstrual health and completed a literature review to further our understanding of the issues facing menstruators. After completing the stage of Inspiration, we decided to develop strategies to educate, empower, and change attitudes towards menstruation. During the Ideation stage, we worked with consultants to develop a website and social media campaign that allowed us to reach our target audience efficiently and effectively. During our Implementation phase, we completed our website and obtained feedback from our partner organizations, experts, and a sample of our target audience, and used this information to improve our website. Next, we published our website and began the social media campaign. After this, we used questionnaires to gather feedback from our target audience as a way to evaluate our progress. We assessed our outcomes by looking at the quantitative indicative from our social media followings and website interactions. We assessed our impact by conducting a content analysis of shared stories and discussions through brand based hashtags and social media posts. Our goal is to empower menstruators, and through them everyone, to take control of their bodies and break the cycle of silence through increasing and normalizing conversation surrounding menstruation.
Honors College Research Project
Yes
GLI Capstone Project
yes
Recommended Citation
Tucker, Kirsten; Ragar, Shaylee; Haynes, Madison; Graham, Lea; and Paul, Monica, "The Flow: Educate. Empower. Change" (2019). Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts. 232.
https://scholarworks.umt.edu/utpp/232
© Copyright 2019 Kirsten Tucker, Shaylee Ragar, Madison Haynes, Lea Graham, and Monica Paul