A case for critical literacy analysis of the advertising texts of menstruation: responding to missed opportunities

When Agnew found the same, largely negative, dominant discourses of menstruation present in classroom lessons that researchers have been identifying for over 30 years, she sought different approaches to menstruation education. In this article the authors highlight the power of the media to (re)construct dominant discourses of menstruation and the potential for teachers to use the texts of the media to make explicit constructions of menstruation. We present two excerpts from New Zealand research, which illustrate missed opportunities for teachers and students to deconstruct dominant discourses of menstruation using advertising texts. These extracts suggest that students may be more engaged if teachers work with the texts of advertising to discuss menstruation. We propose critical literacy as a powerful resource teachers and students can develop to analyse advertising texts in order to open up spaces for alternative discourses of menstruation to emerge.