1.3.1. Conclusion of background
In summary, there are several market characteristics that are underdeveloped or lacking in the empirical area of menstrual products. One potential explanation is the fact that these products are stigmatized. An illustrative example is standardization, or rather the lack of standardization, which is an interesting characteristic to investigate further in the study, since it is concrete, conspicuous, and significant for stakeholders in the field, in terms of product safety and as a communication tool between manufacturers and consumers to govern in the absence of governmental regulations. Furthermore, despite the effects that a stigma might have on institutional fields, there is a paucity of research on the destigmatization of products and the effects of such a process on the field.
Furthermore, interest in stigma is growing among researchers, and while stigmatized industries as well as stigmatized organizations have been studied from a neo-institutional perspective to some extent, the matter of stigmatized products has been limitedly discussed from such a perspective. As several of the characteristics, as well as the stigma related to menstrual products, seem to be changing in the field, the connection between stigma and institutions builds on institutional change as an interesting concept to address within this scope, especially as there is emergent literature about it.
While previous research addresses the ways in which stigma can affect and be affected by characteristics and cultural constructs in field settings, limited attention has been paid to how norms and values shift over time to cause reductions in stigma. Nor has much attention been paid to the interrelationships between actors in a stigmatized product field and the meanings and pathways through which less stigmatizing ideas become available to the public (Clair, Daniel & Lamont, 2016). One such way is through policies, laws, and standards that are set to address the needs of those stigmatized. While it may be difficult to compare menstrual products to other types of products due to their categorical and biological uniqueness, they can regardless be compared to other types of stigmatized products, such as condoms, sex toys, tobacco, and alcohol and
especially those significantly similar in composition and usage such as incontinence products.
1.3.2. Purpose and structure
The purpose of this study is to increase the understanding of the factors that contribute to the destigmatization of menstrual products. The study contributes to theory on stigmatized products and institutional change. Additionally, a combination of these domains has yet to be explored systematically.
I formulated two main research questions to help me address this purpose:
- What factors are contributing to the destigmatization of menstrual products?
- How are these factors contributing to the destigmatization of menstrual products?
In order to answer these, I conducted a qualitative case study through a multi-method approach. Firstly, I interviewed representatives from different sectors of the menstrual product field to gain a deeper understanding of how destigmatization is occurring and what factors are driving that process.
Respondents included representatives from governmental agencies, consumer organizations, standardization organizations, incumbent manufacturers and entrepreneurs, non-governmental organizations, and a gynecologist. By gaining diverse insights into how respondents make sense of the ongoing destigmatization process, I have gained clues on how the social world where destigmatization is occurring is constructed. Through interpretation of these clues, I was able to piece together a puzzle that ends up deepening our understanding of the factors that contribute to the destigmatization of menstrual products. Secondly, I incorporated aspects of action research and had the opportunity to instigate a change initiative geared at standardizing menstrual products and increase their health and safety aspects. In this process, I searched for answers to my research questions, using action research together with the Swedish Institute for Standards as a means to deepen our understanding of the empirical phenomenon of interest and theorize about it, as opposed to doing action research in order to create theory about social interventions (Greenwood & Levin, 2007). Finally, I complemented these approaches with document studies in instances where I was unable to speak
directly to influential people or movements such as Liv Strömquist and Clara Henry.
In short, this study contributes with a deeper understanding of three main aspects.
First, the comprehensive nature of this study in and of itself is unique in addressing all three levels of society and the multitude of factors and mechanisms contributing to destigmatization in a field setting. In particular, it focuses on menstrual products, which have seldom been addressed in business research, other than in terms of advertisement. Second, previous research on destigmatization of products emphasize the role of government and top-down interventions toward destigmatization (Clair, Daniel & Lamont, 2016). This study demonstrates that destigmatization of products also occurs from the bottom-up, initiated and driven by social movements in combination with consumers and organizations. Third, and finally, this study contributes to a deeper understanding of organizations’ role in destigmatization processes. Previous research has discussed corporations’ role, primarily in terms of avoiding stigmatizing, in particular in their retail function (Mirabito et al., 2016). My study shows that corporations and their innovative capacities as well as the related market mechanism hold the ability to affect destigmatization and institutional change by challenging dominant notions and participating in reconstructing symbols and attitudes associated with stigmatized products.
The audience that this thesis is directed at includes many different actors, particularly, as the matter of menstruation and menstrual products and their destigmatization potentially affects such a large number of people. In another empirical sense, my thesis contributes to a deeper understanding of destigmatization of both menstrual products and, by extension, other stigmatized products, for any actor in such a product field. This includes findings that can aid in developing business strategies geared at driving destigmatization of products.
Additionally, this thesis informs healthcare workers, including nurses, gynecologists, and obstetricians as well as youth center workers about mental and physical issues that menstruating people might be dealing with and how such matters might be destigmatized. In a narrower scope, however, this thesis speaks to scholars researching destigmatization, and in particular destigmatization of products. It also speaks to those researching institutional change, where I argue that destigmatization can be seen as an example of such change.
The thesis is structured as follows. In the chapter following this introduction, I present my literature review. In the following chapter, I discuss the methodological and epistemological considerations behind this study. Next, the findings are presented in four chapters. The first chapter commences with a discussion on the empirical indications of the existing stigma in the menstrual product field and evidence of the first steps toward destigmatization. Following this, three chapters discuss one mechanism each driving the destigmatization process. These three mechanisms consist of reclassifying, framing, and claiming agency. The final chapter provides a discussion, where I emphasize my key findings and contributions. This chapter includes a discussion about the limitations of this study and suggestions for future research as well as a conclusion of the thesis.