Date of Award
Spring 5-22-2026
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Industrial Design
Department
Industrial Design
First Advisor
Hannah Chung
Second Advisor
Charlie Cannon
Third Advisor
Greg Mertz
Abstract
This thesis argues that while menstruation is a common life event, experiences related to menstruation are not inherently inequitable for a range of reasons that relate to wider currents that revolve around a narrow idea of the “default” human body. One imagined as non-menstruating, uninterrupted in its activities, or endowed with social, economic, and political agency. This project asks what becomes possible when those usually excluded from this norm are no longer treated as exceptions to accommodate, but as core and central constituencies to design with and for.
Using menstruation as a critical site of inquiry, the thesis first examines how institutions, infrastructures, and cultural norms have normalized the transfer of burden onto menstruators through stigma, concealment, and self-management. It then suggests meaningful and equitable design interventions at the systems level to be more inclusive to menstruating bodies.
Through the design of awareness and accountability, this thesis demonstrates how we can create awareness, education, sensitization, and advocacy for the experience of menstruators in contemporary life, in the United States and beyond.
Recommended Citation
Kale, Rucha, "Beyond the Tampon (Menstrual Equity & Justice Certification)" (2026). Masters Theses. 1542.
https://digitalcommons.risd.edu/masterstheses/1542
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.