The body is central to women’s construction of premenstrual change as premenstrual syndrome (PMS), and to experiences of premenstrual distress. Embodied change, such as bloating or breast tenderness, can act as a marker of PMS. Within biomedical models, PMS is located within the body. Women’s dissatisfaction with their bodies is also reported to be higher in the premenstrual phase of the cycle. What is absent from this analysis is the meaning and experience of embodied change, in the context of broader constructions of femininity and embodiment. In this paper, we adopt a feminist material-discursive theoretical framework to examine the role of premenstrual embodiment in women’s premenstrual distress, drawing on open-ended survey responses and interviews with 83 women who self-diagnose as “PMS sufferers”. We theorize premenstrual body hatred as subjectification, wherein women take up cultural discourse associated with idealized femininity and the stigmatization of the fat body, resulting in self-objectification, distress and dehumanization. However, women can resist negative cultural constructions of premenstrual embodiment. We describe the impact of psychological therapy which increases awareness of emotional and embodied change, resulting in greater acceptance of the premenstrual body and self-care, serving to reduce premenstrual distress and self-objectification.

中文翻译：

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“我觉得自己又胖又丑又讨厌自己”：通过经前具体化的负面结构进行自我客体化

身体对于女性将经前变化构建为经前期综合征 (PMS) 以及对经前困扰的体验至关重要。具体的变化，如腹胀或乳房胀痛，可以作为 PMS 的标志。在生物医学模型中，PMS 位于体内。据报道，在月经周期的经前期，女性对自己身体的不满也更高。在更广泛的女性气质和体现的构建背景下，这种分析没有体现具体变化的意义和经验。在本文中，我们采用女性主义的材料-话语理论框架，利用开放式调查回复和对 83 名自我诊断为“PMS 患者”的女性的访谈，研究经前体现在女性经前困扰中的作用。我们将经前身体仇恨理论化为主观化，其中女性接受与理想化的女性气质和肥胖身体的污名化相关的文化话语，导致自我客观化、痛苦和非人化。然而，女性可以抵制经前化身的负面文化建构。我们描述了心理治疗的影响，它提高了对情绪和具体变化的认识，导致对经前身体和自我保健的更多接受，有助于减少经前痛苦和自我客观化。