My reflection process of talking about athletes and menstrual cycles

Does the conversation of periods and menstrual cycles make you

uncomfortable? How about sports? I chose the article "Elite Female Athletes

Experiences and Perceptions of the Menstrual Cycle on Training and Sports

Performance" from the Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports. I chose

this article because it was a combination of a hobby and interest of mine, along with a

little bit of research regarding the career I may pursue in the future. In the future, I would

like to become a physical therapist specializing in sports and athletes. Reading about

athletes and injuries will help me visualize my future and help me decide if that's

something I'd be interested in doing down the road. I also found the article interesting

because it talks about female athletes. This article spoke to me because I grew up

playing sports, which made it relatable. The reason why I also choose this specific topic

for my genre translation is because both sport and health news in social media has

continually gained popularity with a large audience over time. I knew that by using social

media, my awareness on menstrual cycles and athletes would spread across the

platform, or at least reach my audience.

In the sports world, the ratio of male coaches to female coaches is significantly

different. Male coaches dominate the majority of the coaching industry which is why I

chose to target the male coaches. Male coaches have to gain awareness and

knowledge about how their athletes perform. Many coaches consider "periods" as an

excuse for their athletes and their lack of performance. However, research has shown

that it does cause both physical and psychological challenges to the body. This is why I
decided to reach the male audience, to help them understand the anatomy of our

bodies better to help us work with it and not against it. Coaches play a huge role in the

success of their athletes, and by being able to work and understand with the athletes it

increases the success rate. I'm not only referring to wins, but also personal performance

and health. Menstrual cycles can be an uncomfortable topic for many, including women.

However, it's normal and part of our body's anatomy. It is essential to learn how our

bodies and brain function to take care of ourselves and improve our performance.

I will use TikTok to reach the male coaches' audience for my translated genre.

Throughout a couple of years, the TikTok platform has grown exponentially. It has

personally been my most significant source of entertainment, which is way too many

hours. TikTok has been shown to be a very effective way of communicating information

and resources to the public and its intended audience. For example, many professional

athletes use the platform to advocate and talk about their experiences. TikTok is the

perfect example since they are short videos that quickly get to the point. Coaches are

constantly trying to better their athletes' performance, so by becoming more attentive,

they can plan new training sessions to accommodate their players' needs better. TikTok

would capture my intended audience's attention in a short video. Furthermore, Tiktok

specifically would help me establish my goal because it's all about algorithms. I myself

have used Tiktok to search for specific training techniques or for certain topics of

conversation. Once you search up something once, more videos related to your original

search will eventually start popping on your feed. If a coach is on TikTok and looks up

“sports” or “coaching” my video is very likely to pop up on their feed.

 Social media and Tiktok are filled with tons of different influencers. From beauty

gurus to in this case athletes and sport advocators. An example of this genre in action

would be the following influencer Brittany Wilson; she is a former professional soccer

player. She is a female soccer player who continues to share her experience and

communicate about what it's like being a professional athlete and a woman

simultaneously. What brings Wilson so many viewers is the way she grasps her

audience’s attention. She edits her videos and uses many different elements like color,

text size, sound effects, and subtitles. Since it's her talking in front of a camera her

audience is able to relate to her or seek her opinions. In my own genre translation I

followed a very similar technique. Just like her I stood and talked in front of a camera to

talk to my audience. This way the connection that I’m trying to establish is more real and

taken more seriously. You may also think that this platform would only target women,

but there are also male advocates like James Smith; he also talks about how the

menstrual cycle affects a woman's athletic performance. Furthermore, interviews are

being conducted that give credibility and a visual representation of what a female

athlete goes through and how coaches go about it. By using things like visuals,

graphics, subtitles, and real-life examples, I'll be able to reach my audience.

When reaching my audience, I must use the proper diction. According to "Four

Things Social Media Can Teach You about College Writing—and One Thing It Can't" by

Ann N. Amicucci, it stated, "On social media, we use emoji and stickers to add meaning

to the words and images we share" and "You have to decide how to present

yourself…The genre you're writing in and how much freedom you have within that genre

will guide your choices in constructing your ethos. (pg.47)" This tells us that every
choice I decide to make will impact how my audience takes it or if I'll reach them overall.

This will include things like my music choice, hashtags to get the audience, punctuation,

color, text, and first impression that will be incorporated into my genre translation. These

choices may not seem that important, however, they are key features that capture the

attention of the audience in the first place. Especially on social media, it is hard to pay

attention to everything you see or read.

Another important thing while completing this process was ensuring I wasn't

following a template. According to "Navigating Genre" by Kerry Dirk, “all genres matter

because they shape our everyday lives. And by studying the genres that we find

familiar, we can start to see how specific choices that writers make result in specific

actions on the part of readers; it only follows that our own writing must too be

purposefully written. (pg.254)” With this text I was able to realize that genre is

something that shouldn't be boring, monotone, or restrictive. It should match my

creativity and writing style so that the audience can understand and relate to my content

better. When creating my genre translation, I had this text in the back of my mind. Since

it’s a video I wanted to have something entertaining and eye-catching. I wanted my

genre translation to be unique but also structured to my audience and purpose.

When translating my genre I did run into a couple of challenges. I wasn't sure

what was the right method to capture my audience's attention. I didn't know if it should

be a slide show or something more personal like a personal video. At first I did a

slideshow, and it was not enough. Which I later switched to a voiceover to hopefully

reach my audience on a more personal level. I used bright bold colors to capture the
eye. With this, I also included things like Capitalization and exclamation marks to

emphasize on the information I was providing.

With this translation I was able to not only grasp and gather my audience’s

attention, but I did so in a creative manner. I was able to speak about a highly debated

conversation without having everything written in a long research paper. I accomplished

this by using my creativity and likes/dislikes to accomplish the overall goal. I did this by

combining different elements like lighting, sound, color, visuals, data, and most

importantly creative freedom. To me it was very important to not only express my

concern for this topic but doing so in a way where I was also able to show personality

and a little about who I am. This translation mattered to me because speaking from

personal experience I'm more of a visual learner. I learn by seeing visuals while

simultaneously listening to audios and speakers. A video as my translation felt more

personal and structured to my audience.

 Works Cited

-Amicucci, Ann N. Four Things Social Media Can Teach You about College

Writing—and One Thing It Can’t, vol. 4, Parlor Press, pp. 18–34.

-Brown, Natalie, et al. “Elite Female Athletes’ Experiences and Perceptions of the

Menstrual Cycle on Training and Sport Performance.”Scandinavian Journal of Medicine

& Science in Sports, vol. 31, no. 1, 2021, pp. 52–69, https://doi.org/10.1111/sms.13818.

-“Buy Comfortable Wireless Bras & Seamless Underwear Online.” Knix, knix.com/campaign/

sport-your-period. Accessed 2 Feb. 2024.

-Colette Earley, Dionne Pajarillaga. “3 Athletes Tackle Sport’s Last Taboo.”

“There Is So Much Shame Still Attached To Menstruating,” 31 May 2022, www.refinery29.c

om/en-us/menstruating-and-playing-sport.

-Dirk , Kerry. “Navigating Genre.” Writing Spaces, vol. 1, https://writingspaces.org/past

volumes/navigating-genres/.

-M, Pheba. “Soccer Team Changes Uniforms to Make Women Players Feel ‘comfortable and

Confident’ during Periods.” Https://Scoop.Upworthy.Com, Upworthy, 26 July 2023,

scoop.upworthy.com/soccer-team-changes-uniforms-to-destigmatize-periods-608290.

-Okamoto, Nadya, director. Michelle Betos: Building Training Regiments around Your MenstrualC
ycle.TikTok, Itsaugustco, 5 June 2023,https://www.tiktok.com/@itsaugustco/

video/7241224097013746990?_r=1&_t=8jINbtakVb9&social_sharing=0. Accessed 24 Jan. 2024.

-Victoria Druehl, MS. “Coaching Female Athletes on Their Period: The Physiological and Emotional

Impacts on Performance.” Human Performance Blog · Volt Athletics, Human Performance Blog ·

Volt Athletics, 3 Apr. 2023, blog.voltathletics.com/home/coaching-athletes-on-their-period.

-Wilson, Brittany, director. Things I’ve Learned the Hard Way as a D1 and Professional

Athlete.TikTok, Brittany Wilson , 26 Oct. 2022, https://www.tiktok.com/@brittany1wilson/

video/7158929068715445547?_r=1&_t=8jINGRbJ1Ly& social_sharing=0. Accessed 24 Jan. 2024.

-Smith, James, director.Let’s Talk Periods.TikTok, Jamessmithpt, 29 July 2022,

https://www.tiktok.com/@jamessmithpt/video/7125760510296935685?_r=1&_t=8jINgrrjqwA&so

cial_sharing=0. Accessed 24 Jan. 2024.