Embroidery and menstrual experience: participatory methodology in university students from Interculturality

Abstract

This paper presents the preliminary findings of a doctoral research project in Critical Gender Studies on the menstrual experiences of young and adult women from San Felipe del Progreso, Estado de Mexico. Menstruation is approached as a biological, cultural, and political phenomenon. A participatory methodology was adopted, centered on a textile workshop entitled Knitting Cycles, designed for university students as a sensitive and horizontal research strategy. Embroidery was employed both as a feminist practice of resistance and as a pedagogical tool that fosters collective reflection through the body and affectivity.

The workshop enabled the collection of testimonies related to first menstrual experiences, cultural myths, self-care strategies, and perceptions of dignified menstruation. Participants shared experiences shaped by stigma, misinformation, and symbolic violence, alongside practices of intergenerational support, affective education, and bodily re-signification. Embroidery functioned as a medium for articulating personal and communal knowledge, building support networks, and challenging hegemonic discourses surrounding menstruation. We conclude that participatory methodologies such as embroidery create spaces for agency, empowerment, and the production of situated knowledge. They foster a pedagogy of care that transforms the menstrual experience into a collective, political, liberating, joyful, and empowering event.