Nepali Women at Work: Menstruation in Informal and Formal Workplaces

What the paper says

Women of specific castes in Nepal are socialized to adhere to a range of menstrual customs. Drawing on semi‐structured interviews, we examine the relevance of menstrual customs in informal and formal workplaces in Kathmandu, Nepal. We expand upon Acker's work on gendered institutions cross‐culturally, highlighting its global significance, and employ thematic categories of hypervisibility, invisibility, and need for visibility as Nepali women navigate conflicting expectations associated with menstruation. We engage with postcolonial feminist perspectives to explore how Western‐centric expectations influence formal workplace dynamics. Menstrual customs remain pertinent within the informal employment sector, where paid work caters to the needs of the private domain. In formal workspaces, menstrual customs are not culturally embedded but influence respondents' interactions with coworkers. Informal and formal workplaces in Nepal operate as gendered institutions using women's bodily processes as a form of control and exclusion. Cultural contexts, interactions, and formation of individual identities allow informal workspaces in Nepal to facilitate the production of gender, class, and caste relations. Formal workplaces lack institutional policies to address the needs of menstruating women, instead maintaining a culture of concealment. We highlight the importance of recognizing bodily functions in creating thriving work environments and fill a research gap by addressing the implications of menstrual customs in informal and formal workplaces.