Menstrual Cycles as Key to Embodied Synchronisation

Abstract

The concept of embodiment has allowed philosophical discussions to refer to cognition as the result of a series of interactions occurring both within and outside the organism. The factors that organisms look at when keeping up with that synchrony are defined as timekeepers, elements that set the pace of specific rhythms. In this paper, I elaborate on the hypothesis that, if an all-encompassing sense of physiological and psychosocial synchrony is essential for the enablement of the organism’s cognitive capacity and, ultimately, overall well-being, the rhythm menstrual cycles perform must be considered as a key part of the process of attunement through which menstruating organisms understand reality and access activities of sense-making. Following the belief that lack of academic, scientific, and social knowledge on menstrual cycles has kept menstruating organisms from successful synchronisation and, consequently, the correct articulation of their cognition, I postulate throughout this paper menstrual cycles as a crucial tool for the resynchronisation of menstruating organisms with their physiological and psychological environment.