“You Will Find Out When the Time Is Right”: Boys, Men, and Menstruation

Abstract

This chapter reviews the scant amount of research that exists about the relationship that boys and men-who are not menstruators-have with menstruation. In looking at this relationship, Erchull sheds light on how boys and men learn about menstruation, what they actually know about it, and what beliefs and attitudes they hold about both menstruation and menstruators. The author pays special attention to fathers and the role they can play in educating their children about menstruation. Erchull concludes that, while there are still many questions and much to be learned, the knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes that boys and men hold about menstruation influence them in their interactions with menstruators.