• Sameena M.S

This conceptual paper analyses the commercialisation of the menstrual cycle and its resultant socio-political and environmental impacts using a political ecology framework. The modern Neo-Liberal capitalistic economy has changed the prevalent discourse around Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) practices through the construction of sanitary napkins as the only means of living clean, healthy and hygienic lives. As a result, the mounting piles of trash produced from menstrual waste have been posing a severe threat for the urban municipal solid waste management throughout the world. A potential solution to this problem is the use of menstrual cups, an environmentally, economically and physically friendly alternative to sanitary pads. The present study also analyses the ways in which women are made silent victims of these patriarchal and commercial motivations of the MHM industry and the factors that inhibit the use of menstrual cups.

Menstrual Hygiene Management, Neo-Liberal capitalism, Menstrual Cups, Political Ecology

"COMMERCIALISING MENSTRUAL CYCLE: THE POLITICAL ECOLOGY OF MENSTRUAL HYGIENE MANAGEMENT ", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.5, Issue 12, page no.389-394, December-2018, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1812B51.pdf

"COMMERCIALISING MENSTRUAL CYCLE: THE POLITICAL ECOLOGY OF MENSTRUAL HYGIENE MANAGEMENT ", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.5, Issue 12, page no. pp389-394, December-2018, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIR1812B51.pdf