Chris Bobel | University of Massachusetts, Boston (original) (raw)
Papers by Chris Bobel
Human Architecture Journal of the Sociology of Self Knowledge, Jun 22, 2006
The Managed Body, 2018
The Spectacle of the "Third World Girl" and the Politics of Rescue We had been exchanging emails ... more The Spectacle of the "Third World Girl" and the Politics of Rescue We had been exchanging emails over the course of several weeks. This one, offered in the spirit of helping me see what MHM looks like through a particular-in this case, Indian-lens, dropped my jaw: How would it be if I felt sorry for Americans because they don't clean their bottoms with water (which is how we do it in India) and make it my mission to make them let go of tissues and turn to water? Then I'll start a Social Enterprise to manufacture and sell hand held water faucets for bathrooms in American homes, and undertake awareness campaigns to teach American children the need to use water for cleaning their bottom. And to increase my sales I'll start belittling those who use tissues. 1
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this p... more The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
Human Architecture Journal of the Sociology of Self Knowledge, Jun 22, 2006
Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters, 2020
Family and Work in Everyday Ethnography, 2013
Estuda-se o engendramento de uma arte tipicamente japonesa após o contato com a China, através do... more Estuda-se o engendramento de uma arte tipicamente japonesa após o contato com a China, através do estudo da pintura da família Tosa, suas tópicas sazonais e as tópicas poéticas a ela associadas. Compreende-se yamato-e, pintura japonesa, como arte em oposição a kara-e, a arte do continente (China). O caráter ornamental, a orga nização de famílias de pintura, sua transmissão de conhecimentos e a presença simultânea de palavra, caligrafia e pintura que associa literatura e arte são analisados em termos de uma tradição longeva na história da arte no Japão.
Feminist Formations, 2021
Women's Reproductive Health, 2020
Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters, 2021
The term "menstrual health" has seen increased use across advocacy, programming, policy, and rese... more The term "menstrual health" has seen increased use across advocacy, programming, policy, and research, but has lacked a consistent, self-contained definition. As a rapidly growing field of research and practice a comprehensive definition is needed to (1) ensure menstrual health is prioritised as a unified objective in global health, development, national policy, and funding frameworks, (2) elucidate the breadth of menstrual health, even where different needs may be prioritised in different sectors, and (3) facilitate a shared vocabulary through which stakeholders can communicate across silos to share learning. To achieve these aims, we present a definition of menstrual health developed by the Terminology Action Group of the Global Menstrual Collective. We describe the definition development process, drawing on existing research and terminology, related definitions of health, and consultation with a broad set of stakeholders. Further, we provide elaboration, based on current evidence, to support interpretation of the definition.
New England Journal of Public Policy a Journal of the John W Mccormack Institute of Public Affairs University of Massachusetts at Boston, 2007
The Palgrave Handbook of Critical Menstruation Studies, 2020
In this chapter, Bobel and Fahs first describe a brief history of menstrual activism alongside it... more In this chapter, Bobel and Fahs first describe a brief history of menstrual activism alongside its more recent iterations in both policy and radical social activism. They review the collective call to reduce stigma and shame around menstruation as part of the enduring project of loosening the social control of women’s bodies. The authors then turn to an analysis of menstrual humor, menstrual art, and menstrual activism today, respectively. This is followed by an examination of the hazards and possibilities of doing menstrual activist work, including politics of menstrual language and the trivializations and hostilities that can plague this work. Finally, Bobel and Fahs offer a politically charged outline for the future of menstrual activism.
How is Third Wave feminism defined? What are the implications for self-labeling as a feminist and... more How is Third Wave feminism defined? What are the implications for self-labeling as a feminist and the evolution of the “I’m not a feminist, but. . . .”group? While much controversy surrounds the etiology and even the veryexistence of a “Third Wave” of feminism, this nascent movement is a signifi-cant aspect of the current dialogue on contemporary feminism. Therefore, itis important to examine the history and the meaning of the identity of ThirdWave. In an attempt to elucidate contemporary feminism, four key ThirdWave collections of personal narratives were chosen and analyzed forcurrent definitions of feminism. The anthologies used for this researchcontain the voices of numerous activists from 1995 to 2006 and represent adiverse range of individuals. A thematic analysis produced four themes:inclusion, multiplicity, contradiction, and everyday feminism. An analysis ofthe interconnections of these themes brought forth the question of whether amovement that is genuinely attuned to incl...
This chapter provides a detailed picture of the “who, what, where and when” of the MHM movement t... more This chapter provides a detailed picture of the “who, what, where and when” of the MHM movement to date. I begin by tracing evolving definitions of MHM and then shift to a landscape analysis that reveals 130+ organizations and social businesses in 38 countries of the Global South. Foci include provision of products, menstrual and puberty education, and to a lesser degree, policy and infrastructure development. Next, I provide a short critical history of MHM's emergence from the WASH (water, sanitation, and hygiene) development sector beginning quietly and on the margins in the late twentieth century and picking up steam in the mid-late 2000s. The chapter concludes with a brief discussion contrasting MHM in the Global South with menstrual activism in the Global North—two interrelated activist agendas running on parallel tracks.
Interdisciplinary Approaches to Human Rights
Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society
The Palgrave Handbook of Critical Menstruation Studies
The field of critical menstruation studies is burgeoning. And so this Handbook arrives just in ti... more The field of critical menstruation studies is burgeoning. And so this Handbook arrives just in time to capture a robust and carefully curated view of where we are now and where we might go next. But it is 2020, and menstruation is as old as humanity itself. Why is this the first handbook to bring together this body of knowledge? To state the obvious, menstruation and more broadly, the menstrual cycle are often dismissed and derided. The same goes for menopause, at the further end of the reproductive life span.
Human Architecture Journal of the Sociology of Self Knowledge, Jun 22, 2006
The Managed Body, 2018
The Spectacle of the "Third World Girl" and the Politics of Rescue We had been exchanging emails ... more The Spectacle of the "Third World Girl" and the Politics of Rescue We had been exchanging emails over the course of several weeks. This one, offered in the spirit of helping me see what MHM looks like through a particular-in this case, Indian-lens, dropped my jaw: How would it be if I felt sorry for Americans because they don't clean their bottoms with water (which is how we do it in India) and make it my mission to make them let go of tissues and turn to water? Then I'll start a Social Enterprise to manufacture and sell hand held water faucets for bathrooms in American homes, and undertake awareness campaigns to teach American children the need to use water for cleaning their bottom. And to increase my sales I'll start belittling those who use tissues. 1
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this p... more The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
Human Architecture Journal of the Sociology of Self Knowledge, Jun 22, 2006
Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters, 2020
Family and Work in Everyday Ethnography, 2013
Estuda-se o engendramento de uma arte tipicamente japonesa após o contato com a China, através do... more Estuda-se o engendramento de uma arte tipicamente japonesa após o contato com a China, através do estudo da pintura da família Tosa, suas tópicas sazonais e as tópicas poéticas a ela associadas. Compreende-se yamato-e, pintura japonesa, como arte em oposição a kara-e, a arte do continente (China). O caráter ornamental, a orga nização de famílias de pintura, sua transmissão de conhecimentos e a presença simultânea de palavra, caligrafia e pintura que associa literatura e arte são analisados em termos de uma tradição longeva na história da arte no Japão.
Feminist Formations, 2021
Women's Reproductive Health, 2020
Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters, 2021
The term "menstrual health" has seen increased use across advocacy, programming, policy, and rese... more The term "menstrual health" has seen increased use across advocacy, programming, policy, and research, but has lacked a consistent, self-contained definition. As a rapidly growing field of research and practice a comprehensive definition is needed to (1) ensure menstrual health is prioritised as a unified objective in global health, development, national policy, and funding frameworks, (2) elucidate the breadth of menstrual health, even where different needs may be prioritised in different sectors, and (3) facilitate a shared vocabulary through which stakeholders can communicate across silos to share learning. To achieve these aims, we present a definition of menstrual health developed by the Terminology Action Group of the Global Menstrual Collective. We describe the definition development process, drawing on existing research and terminology, related definitions of health, and consultation with a broad set of stakeholders. Further, we provide elaboration, based on current evidence, to support interpretation of the definition.
New England Journal of Public Policy a Journal of the John W Mccormack Institute of Public Affairs University of Massachusetts at Boston, 2007
The Palgrave Handbook of Critical Menstruation Studies, 2020
In this chapter, Bobel and Fahs first describe a brief history of menstrual activism alongside it... more In this chapter, Bobel and Fahs first describe a brief history of menstrual activism alongside its more recent iterations in both policy and radical social activism. They review the collective call to reduce stigma and shame around menstruation as part of the enduring project of loosening the social control of women’s bodies. The authors then turn to an analysis of menstrual humor, menstrual art, and menstrual activism today, respectively. This is followed by an examination of the hazards and possibilities of doing menstrual activist work, including politics of menstrual language and the trivializations and hostilities that can plague this work. Finally, Bobel and Fahs offer a politically charged outline for the future of menstrual activism.
How is Third Wave feminism defined? What are the implications for self-labeling as a feminist and... more How is Third Wave feminism defined? What are the implications for self-labeling as a feminist and the evolution of the “I’m not a feminist, but. . . .”group? While much controversy surrounds the etiology and even the veryexistence of a “Third Wave” of feminism, this nascent movement is a signifi-cant aspect of the current dialogue on contemporary feminism. Therefore, itis important to examine the history and the meaning of the identity of ThirdWave. In an attempt to elucidate contemporary feminism, four key ThirdWave collections of personal narratives were chosen and analyzed forcurrent definitions of feminism. The anthologies used for this researchcontain the voices of numerous activists from 1995 to 2006 and represent adiverse range of individuals. A thematic analysis produced four themes:inclusion, multiplicity, contradiction, and everyday feminism. An analysis ofthe interconnections of these themes brought forth the question of whether amovement that is genuinely attuned to incl...
This chapter provides a detailed picture of the “who, what, where and when” of the MHM movement t... more This chapter provides a detailed picture of the “who, what, where and when” of the MHM movement to date. I begin by tracing evolving definitions of MHM and then shift to a landscape analysis that reveals 130+ organizations and social businesses in 38 countries of the Global South. Foci include provision of products, menstrual and puberty education, and to a lesser degree, policy and infrastructure development. Next, I provide a short critical history of MHM's emergence from the WASH (water, sanitation, and hygiene) development sector beginning quietly and on the margins in the late twentieth century and picking up steam in the mid-late 2000s. The chapter concludes with a brief discussion contrasting MHM in the Global South with menstrual activism in the Global North—two interrelated activist agendas running on parallel tracks.
Interdisciplinary Approaches to Human Rights
Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society
The Palgrave Handbook of Critical Menstruation Studies
The field of critical menstruation studies is burgeoning. And so this Handbook arrives just in ti... more The field of critical menstruation studies is burgeoning. And so this Handbook arrives just in time to capture a robust and carefully curated view of where we are now and where we might go next. But it is 2020, and menstruation is as old as humanity itself. Why is this the first handbook to bring together this body of knowledge? To state the obvious, menstruation and more broadly, the menstrual cycle are often dismissed and derided. The same goes for menopause, at the further end of the reproductive life span.