"I'm Feeling and I'm Bleeding”: The Unspoken Impact of Menstrual Cycles on Social Workers Through a Trauma-Informed Feminist Lens

Abstract

Guided by a trauma-informed feminist lens, this manuscript explores the often-overlooked impact of menstrual cycles on social workers. Menstruation remains a taboo topic across diverse contexts. The ways in which individuals cope—through personal professionalism—reflect broader societal expectations to minimize or silence normalized pain. This highlights a deeper, sexism-rooted injustice in the workplace, where the physical experiences of women and other gender identities—such as menstruation, pregnancy, pregnancy-related loss or recovery, and menopause—are often dismissed. Such attitudes perpetuate the myth of the “perfectly functional” professional body, shaped by male, able-bodied norms and neoliberal expectations.