New blood : third-wave feminism and the politics of menstruation

New Blood offers a fresh interdisciplinary look at feminism-in-flux. For over three decades, menstrual activists have questioned the safety and necessity of feminine care products while contesting menstruation as a deeply entrenched taboo. Chris Bobel shows how a little-known yet enduring force in the feminist health, environmental, and consumer rights movements lays bare tensions between second- and third-wave feminisms and reveals a complicated story of continuity and change within the women's movement.Through her critical ethnographic lens, Bobel focuses on debates central to feminist thought (including the utility of the category "e;gender"e;) and challenges to building an inclusive feminist movement. Filled with personal narratives, playful visuals, and original humor, New Blood reveals middle-aged progressives communing in Red Tents, urban punks and artists "e;culture jamming"e; commercial menstrual products in their zines and sketch comedy, queer anarchists practicing DIY health care, African American health educators espousing "e;holistic womb health,"e; and hopeful mothers refusing to pass on the shame to their pubescent daughters. With verve and conviction, Bobel illuminates today's feminism-on-the-ground--indisputably vibrant, contentious, and ever-dynamic.