The sensation of pain is invisible (Munday et al., 2020). It is private, shifting, and impossible to pin down. So, how do we communicate something so visceral and elusive? The answer seems to lie in metaphor. According to Conceptual Metaphor Theory (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980), metaphors are not just decorative language. They help us make sense of complex or abstract experiences by connecting them to more familiar, concrete ones. Many metaphors are not limited to language — they also appear in visuals, gestures, and animation, shaping how we communicate across media.

Animation, with its capacity for stylized representation, frequently employs visual metaphors to bridge abstract experiences and tangible understanding (Wells, 1998). As the creator of the animated short My Monthly Struggle (Tai, 2024), I utilize metaphors in the visual structure of the animation to externalize the emotional and physical upheavals associated with menstruation. See Figure 1.

Figure 1. Screenshot from My Monthly Struggle (Tai, 2024) of one of the metaphors for the emotional volatility experienced during menstruation, where the visuals express relief through the animation of the character sliding down the petals of what was once a Venus flytrap, now transformed into a flower. Custody of the author.

The animated film results from a need to foster empathy for the experience of dysmenorrhea, which Grandi et al (2012) explain is shared by over 70% of young women worldwide. Even though dysmenorrhea has a profound impact on the daily lives of these women, Bullo’s (2019) study, for example, reveals how healthcare providers’ indifference to their pain leads to frustration, delayed diagnoses, and inadequate treatment. The aim of the animation was, therefore, to help make visible the experience of menstrual disorders, which otherwise remain starkly underrepresented in visual art—a neglect reflected in broader cultural taboos that frame menstruation as something to be concealed, sanitized, or rendered socially impolite. Such as with the use of blue liquid in commercials for sanitary products or the frequent use of frilly pink packaging (Lewis, 2020).

The creative process began with listing common symptoms of menstrual pain and discomfort—cramps, migraines, acne, and fatigue. Each symptom was paired with a visual image or object familiar to all viewers, whether they menstruate or not. A pattern began to emerge: most of the metaphors were linked to naturalistic elements. The body, therefore, became a landscape where these phenomena unfold, reflecting the mutable nature of pain.

Wells (1998) describes the unique power of animation to depict the internal body as a dynamic landscape where outward stillness masks inner turbulence. My Monthly Struggle leans into this notion by externalizing period pain as a silent, chaotic storm. In the opening scene, the character parts her thighs to reveal a river valley that acts as an entry point to her body and the start of menstruation. See Figure 2a.

Figure 2. Screenshots of naturalistic metaphors and the exaggerated body in My Monthly Struggle (Tai, 2024). Custody of the author.

As the flow of water intensifies in the animation, the scene shifts to a visual representation of menstrual cramps animated as two twisting vines (see figure 2b). These vines serve as a metaphor for cramps—tightening, constricting, and painful. Their twisting motion reflects the physical tension that builds up in the body, mimicking the sensation of cramping. As the vines gradually loosen, they suggest the temporary relief that can follow once the pain subsides.

Many educational animations about menstruation focus on presenting accurate medical information clearly and accessibly, rather than conveying the emotional or sensory experience. For example, Period Symptoms and Self Care (Lee, 2022) uses a friendly, conversational voiceover and playful character design, including a cartoon vagina. This lighthearted, informative approach offers practical tips, like tracking symptoms on a calendar app, while using humor and clarity to de-stigmatize menstruation. Similarly, the Dr. Binocs Show (Kidz, 2022) episode on menstruation uses cheerful narration and simplified animation cartoon visuals to explain hormonal changes and the menstrual cycle. In contrast, My Monthly Struggle (2024) uses poetic animations of metaphor to evoke the felt experience of menstruation, conveying pain, tension, and relief through naturalistic imagery rather than direct explanation.

Metaphors and metamorphosis are deeply interconnected in animation, according to the members of the special interest group Figurative Meaning and Metamorphosis in Animation, who discuss the topic at a virtual roundtable published on this blog. Metamorphosis serves as both a literal and symbolic tool for change in the animated short. The body’s transformation is shown through evolving symptoms, whether the character’s form morphs from rigid to fluid, or the visual symbols of pain grow stronger or weaker. These visual metamorphoses reflect the internal journey of pain from discomfort, through despair, to fleeting relief.

Metamorphosis’s capacity to exaggerate forms strongly supports Wells’ (1998) claim that animation expresses embodied experiences through plasticism. Apart from the physical aspect of menstrual disorder, My Monthly Struggle also explores the physiological impact through metaphors, such as the visual expression of anger in terms of the Venus flytrap that the character morphs into. See Figure 2c. This sequence depicts the hormonal and emotional changes during menstruation through the jaw-like snapping of a Venus flytrap. Its shape subtly echoes the female reproductive system, with a yonic form that resembles the vagina.

With the use of metaphorical imagery and metamorphosis, My Monthly Struggle suggests how pain might be understood not as a singular or unchanging sensation but as a series of interconnected and evolving experiences. The incorporation of humor and surrealism in the animated film invites the viewer to reconsider impersonal, often sanitized representations of menstruation in medical media, proposing instead an acute yet poetic depiction of the various experiences of menstruation. This approach aligns with broader discussions in animation studies about the capacity for animation to conceptualize and visualize internal states. By externalizing the subjective experience of dysmenorrhea, the animation contributes to a growing conversation about how animation can render experiences of bodily and physiological phenomena.

References

Bullo, S. (2019). ‘‘I feel like I’m being stabbed by a thousand tiny men’: The challenges of communicating endometriosis pain’. Health: An Interdisciplinary Journal for the Social Study of Health, Illness and Medicine, 24, p. 5. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1363459318817943.

Feyersinger, E. and Hannibal, C. (2021). ‘A Virtual Roundtable on Relations Between Metaphor and Metamorphosis (Part 1)’. animationstudies 2.0, available online: https://blog.animationstudies.org/?p=4137.

Grandi, G., Ferrari, S., Xholli, A., Cannoletta, M., Palma, F., Romani, C., Volpe, A. and Cagnacci, A. (2012) ‘Prevalence of menstrual pain in young women: what is dysmenorrhea?’. Journal of Pain Research, 5, p. 169, DOI: https://doi.org/10.2147/jpr.s30602.

Lakoff, G. and Johnson, M. (1980). Metaphors we live by. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Lewis, J., 2020. Beauty in blood. In: C. Bobel, I. T. Winkler, B. Fahs, K. A. Hasson, E. A. Kissling and T. Roberts, eds. The Palgrave handbook of critical menstruation studies. Singapore: Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 7–8.

Munday, I., Newton‐John, T. and Kneebone, I. (2020). ‘Barbed wire wrapped around my feet’: Metaphor use in chronic pain. British Journal of Health Psychology, 25, pp. 814–830. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/bjhp.12432.

My Monthly Struggle (2024) [online]. Dir. by Crystal Tai. Available online: www.crystaltai.art/mymonthlystruggle

Period symptoms and self care (2022) . Dir. by Lee, S., Amaze.org, YouTube, accessed 27 June 2025. Available online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-6MgBDqK9E

Rajshri Entertainment Private Limited (2022) . ‘Why do girls get periods?, Menstruation, The Dr Binocs Show, Peekaboo Kidz’, YouTube, accessed 27 June 2025. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeL_XtBrOxw

Wells, P. (1998). Understanding animation. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis.

Chung Yee Tai (Crystal) is a Melbourne-based animator and illustrator and is currently pursuing a Master’s in Animation, Games, and Interactivity at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) to expand on her visual storytelling skills. Her work explores metaphors, metamorphosis, and the fluidity of everyday life. With the use of painterly textures, color vibrations, and dynamic transitions, her animations blend humor and intimacy to offer alternative perspectives through vibrant, non-linear storytelling.