Professor of Psychology Tomi-Ann Roberts, along with other co-editors, are hosting a virtual book launch of their new book "The Palgrave Handbook of Critical Menstruation Studies" at 10 a.m. Mountain Time on Thursday, Oct. 8.

The book explores menstruation from nearly every possible angle, including historical, political, embodied, cultural, religious, social, health, economic, artistic, literary, and many more. With 72 chapters, the handbook - the first of its kind - establishes Critical Menstruation Studies as a rich field of research. In addition to editing the "Menstruation as Embodied" section of the book, Roberts also wrote the chapter titled "Bleeding in Jail: Objectification, Self-Objectification and Menstrual Injustice" about her work as an expert witness in cases involving the abjection of incarcerated women.

Roberts describes how in 2015, she received an email from a young civil rights lawyer in Los Angeles explaining that her firm was litigating a case challenging the way female detainees were strip searched and asked whether Roberts would be willing to serve as an expert for their class action. Roberts agreed to write a report based on the psychological science and philosophy of objectification, in which she argued that, among the many psychic consequences of self-objectification can be deeply negative attitudes toward the body's more corporeal features, including menstruation.

During the launch, the editors will provide a brief introduction and a few contributors will share key messages from their respective chapters. The event will end with a Q&A and audience members will be invited to submit questions for specific contributors and editors.

The book launch is free and the book is open-access, so it's free as well. Register for the virtual book launch at http://bit.ly/Handbook-Launch