Culture and menstruation
Encyclopedia
The relationship between culture and menstruation is expressed in many ways. A variety of menstrual
-related traditions exist. One group of authors has even theorized that menstruation may have played a key role in the development of symbolic culture
in early human society.
), menstruation is quite a rare event and a woman's menstrual status is loudly signalled, so that everyone in the locality knows that this is her 'sacred' or 'special' time. Typically, she must neither cook nor permit marital sex to occur for several days until her period ends. A young woman's menarche
is often a time of special celebration and ritual in hunter-gatherer societies. In some cultures, such as that of the Dogon
, women stay in a special hut during their menstrual period.
While these restrictions on menstruating women have been interpreted by some as evidence of male sexual dominance in these groups, other authors interpret these traditions as empowering to women. One example given is Khoisan
women in the Kalahari, who are ritually most powerful when menstruating. In her special hut, the 'New Maiden' is thought to be inviolable – having only to snap her fingers to bring down lightning on any disrespectful male. As evidence of the respect given to menstruation, cultural instances of male induced genital bleeding are offered. Such male bleeding is mythically held to be 'stolen' from women, and is practiced on ritual occasions, including in male initiation rites.
Mystics
have sometimes elaborated "equivalencies", analogising the waxing and waning of the moon
with influences on human menstruation. In this spiritual, moon goddess, or astrological
context some women call menstruation their "moontime". Some ancient views also regarded menstruation as a cleansing of the body: compare bloodletting
as a major medical treatment of pre-modern times.
is reborn from it.
The history of Nepal’s virgin cult is ancient, and the practice of the revering little girls as goddesses there dates back to before the thirteenth century. Kathmandu’s Royal Kumari is a manifestation of the deity Teleju, who, centuries ago, played dice with Nepal’s king. Until he offended her with his lust-filled glances, and she vowed never to return, except in the guise of a young girl.
A Kumari is believed to be the bodily incarnation of the goddess Taleju until she menstruates, after which it is believed that the goddess vacates her body. Serious illness, a major loss of blood from an injury or even a small indication of laughter are also causes for her to revert to common status.
(also known as the Russian, Ukrainian, or Greek Orthodox Church, distinct from the Roman Catholic Church), advise women not to receive communion during their menstrual period.
Other denominations follow the rules laid out in the Holiness Code
section of Leviticus, somewhat similar to the Jewish ritual
of Niddah
.
The traditional Islamic interpretation of the Qur'an
forbids intercourse, but not physical intimacy, during a woman's menstrual period.
During menstrual period, women are excused from performing prayers and fasting. There is no restriction on their entering the mosque or even be present at religious services other than mandatory prayer service. After the period, a spiritual bath required of both partners after sex, Ghusl
, is required before prayer and fasting may continue.
In Judaism, a ritual exclusion called niddah
applies to a woman while menstruating and for about a week thereafter, until she immerses herself in a mikvah
(ritual bath). During this time, a married couple must avoid sexual intercourse and physical intimacy. Orthodox Judaism forbids women and men from even touching or passing things to each other during this period. While Orthodox Jews follow this exclusion, many Jews in other branches of the religion do not.
This is a fairly common practice throughout Greece
and Russia
and other historically Orthodox Christian countries. However in most non-Orthodox countries—especially in Europe and North America—a sizable majority of women do not practice this ancient rule, although a minority of women still do. In fact, many Orthodox Christian women are unaware of the ancient practice of abstaining from Holy Communion due to menstruation.
, as a positive aspect of a girl's life. In South India, girls who experience their menstrual period for the first time are given presents and celebrations to mark this special occasion,. However most of the Hindu girls refrain from visiting temples during their cycle. Also in orthodox families, the menstruating women are asked to stay away from domestic activities for a period of 4 days , indirectly a form of rest during the blood loss period.
Hindus in Nepal have a more negative view, traditionally keeping women isolated during menstruation, when women who are menstruating are not allowed in the household for a period of 3 nights. A recent court ruling in Nepal has abolished this practice.
In Buddhism (Theravada or Hinayana) menstruation is viewed as "a natural physical excretion that women have to go through on a monthly basis, nothing more or less". However in Japanese Buddhism menstruating women are banned from attending temples.
Guru Nānak, the founder of Sikhism
, condemned the practice of treating women as impure while menstruating. In Sikhism, the menstrual cycle is not considered a pollutant. Certainly, it can have a physical and physiological effect on the woman. Nonetheless, this is not considered a hindrance to her wanting to pray or accomplish her religious duties fully. The Guru makes it very clear that the menstrual cycle is a God given process. The blood of a woman is required for the creation of any human being.
‘By coming together of mother and father are we created,
By union of the mother's blood and the father's semen is the body made.
To the Lord is the creature devoted, when hanging head downwards in the womb;
He whom he contemplates, for him provides.’ (Guru Granth Sahib Ji, pg. 1013).
The requirement of the Mothers’ blood is fundamental for life. Thus, the menstrual cycle is certainly an essential and God given biological process. In other faiths blood is considered a pollutant. However, the Guru rejects such superstitious ideas. Those who are impure from within are the truly impure ones.
‘Should cloth be reckoned impure if blood-stained, How may minds of such be deemed pure, As blood of mankind suck? Says Nanak : With a pure heart and tongue God's Name you utter : All else is worldly show, and false deeds.’ (Guru Granth Sahib Ji, pg. 140).
Meditating on Gods’ name is of importance. Whether your clothes are blood stained or not (including clothes stained from menstrual blood) is not of spiritual importance. Thus, there are no restrictions placed on a woman during her menstruation. She is free to visit the Gurdwara, take part in prayers and do Seva. In The feminine principle in the Sikh vision of the transcendent Nikky Guninder Kaur-Singh writes ‘The denigration of the female body “expressed in many cultural and religious taboos surrounding menstruation and child-Birth” is absent in the Sikh worldview. … Guru Nanak openly chides those who attribute pollution to women because of menstruation’.
Woman's menstrual blood is considered to be impure in several important Jain texts. The bleeding that occurs in menstruation is thought to kill micro-organisms in the body, making the female body less non-violent than the male body - although that idea doesn't have any scientific support. Jainism does not permit women to cook or attend temples while menstruating.
In Japan, the religion of Shinto did and still does play a part in their society. The Kami, the spirits they worshiped, would not grant wishes if you had traces of blood, dirt, or death on you. While menstruation is not entirely blood, the ancient Japanese did not know that. As a result, women who were menstruating were not allowed to visit any of the Kami shrines for the duration of their menstrual period. Today the tradition is kept somewhat alive in the belief that the shedding of the endometrial lining is a kind of death. Shintoism is no longer widely practiced but the evidence of the Kami's influence is everywhere. It is theorized that the Kami are the reason Japan is kept so clean and, in many houses, minimalistic.
Women are supposed to avoid intercourse while menstruating. It is believed that sexually transmitted diseases are the results of women deceiving men and having intercourse while they are menstruating. Gonorrhea translates as “disease you get from women” in Sumba; it has become a social problem. When a man would get this disease, they only way they believed a man could rid himself of painful sores was to pass it to a woman, the reasoning being that a woman’s body can absorb infection and purge it during a cycle.
Menstruation
Menstruation is the shedding of the uterine lining . It occurs on a regular basis in sexually reproductive-age females of certain mammal species. This article focuses on human menstruation.-Overview:...
-related traditions exist. One group of authors has even theorized that menstruation may have played a key role in the development of symbolic culture
Symbolic culture
Symbolic culture is a concept used by archaeologists, social anthropologists and sociologists to differentiate the cultural realm constructed and inhabited uniquely by Homo sapiens from ordinary "culture", which many other animals possess. Symbolic culture presupposes more than the ability to learn...
in early human society.
Literature
Menstruation appears in or is the topic of many works of literature including:- Maria Edgeworth, "The Purple JarThe Purple JarThe Purple Jar is a well-known short story by Maria Edgeworth , an Anglo-Irish writer of novels and stories. "The Purple Jar" first appeared in The Parent's Assistant and reappeared in Rosamond...
" (1786)
- Edgar Allan Poe, "The Masque of the Red DeathThe Masque of the Red Death"The Masque of the Red Death", originally published as "The Mask of the Red Death" , is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe. The story follows Prince Prospero's attempts to avoid a dangerous plague known as the Red Death by hiding in his abbey. He, along with many other wealthy nobles, has a...
" (1842)
- Stephen King, Carrie (novel)Carrie (novel)Carrie is American author Stephen King's first published novel, released in 1974. It revolves around the eponymous Carrie, a shy high-school girl, who uses her newly discovered telekinetic powers to exact revenge on those who tease her...
(1974)
- Maxine Hong Kingston, The Woman WarriorThe Woman WarriorThe Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts is a memoir by Maxine Hong Kingston, published by Vintage Books in 1975. Although there are many scholarly debates surrounding the official genre classification of the book, it can best be described as a work of creative non-fiction.Throughout...
(1975)
- Alberto Moravia, Time of Desecration (1980)
- Anita Diamont, The Red TentThe Red TentThe Red Tent is a novel by Anita Diamant, published in 1997 by Wyatt Books for St. Martin's Press. It is a first-person narrative that tells the story of Dinah, daughter of Jacob and sister of Joseph, a talented midwife and proto-feminist. She is a minor character in the Bible, but the author has...
(1997)
Social anthropology
In hunter-gatherer cultures that do not use birth control (other than breastfeedingLactational Amenorrhea Method
The lactational amenorrhea method is a method of avoiding pregnancies which is based on the natural postnatal infertility that occurs when a woman is amenorrheic and fully breastfeeding...
), menstruation is quite a rare event and a woman's menstrual status is loudly signalled, so that everyone in the locality knows that this is her 'sacred' or 'special' time. Typically, she must neither cook nor permit marital sex to occur for several days until her period ends. A young woman's menarche
Menarche
Menarche is the first menstrual cycle, or first menstrual bleeding, in female human beings. From both social and medical perspectives it is often considered the central event of female puberty, as it signals the possibility of fertility....
is often a time of special celebration and ritual in hunter-gatherer societies. In some cultures, such as that of the Dogon
Dogon people
The Dogon are an ethnic group living in the central plateau region of Mali, south of the Niger bend near the city of Bandiagara in the Mopti region. The population numbers between 400,000 and 800,000 The Dogon are best known for their religious traditions, their mask dances, wooden sculpture and...
, women stay in a special hut during their menstrual period.
While these restrictions on menstruating women have been interpreted by some as evidence of male sexual dominance in these groups, other authors interpret these traditions as empowering to women. One example given is Khoisan
Khoisan
Khoisan is a unifying name for two ethnic groups of Southern Africa, who share physical and putative linguistic characteristics distinct from the Bantu majority of the region. Culturally, the Khoisan are divided into the foraging San and the pastoral Khoi...
women in the Kalahari, who are ritually most powerful when menstruating. In her special hut, the 'New Maiden' is thought to be inviolable – having only to snap her fingers to bring down lightning on any disrespectful male. As evidence of the respect given to menstruation, cultural instances of male induced genital bleeding are offered. Such male bleeding is mythically held to be 'stolen' from women, and is practiced on ritual occasions, including in male initiation rites.
Mystics
Mysticism
Mysticism is the knowledge of, and especially the personal experience of, states of consciousness, i.e. levels of being, beyond normal human perception, including experience and even communion with a supreme being.-Classical origins:...
have sometimes elaborated "equivalencies", analogising the waxing and waning of the moon
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...
with influences on human menstruation. In this spiritual, moon goddess, or astrological
Astrology
Astrology consists of a number of belief systems which hold that there is a relationship between astronomical phenomena and events in the human world...
context some women call menstruation their "moontime". Some ancient views also regarded menstruation as a cleansing of the body: compare bloodletting
Bloodletting
Bloodletting is the withdrawal of often little quantities of blood from a patient to cure or prevent illness and disease. Bloodletting was based on an ancient system of medicine in which blood and other bodily fluid were considered to be "humors" the proper balance of which maintained health...
as a major medical treatment of pre-modern times.
Mythology
Mayan mythology explains the origin of menstruation as a punishment for violating the social rules governing marital alliance. The menstrual blood turns into snakes and insects used in black sorcery, before the Maya moon goddessMaya moon goddess
The traditional Mayas generally assume the moon to be female, and the moon's phases are accordingly conceived as the stages of a woman's life. The Maya moon goddess wields great influence in many areas. Being in the image of a woman, she is naturally associated with sexuality and procreation,...
is reborn from it.
The history of Nepal’s virgin cult is ancient, and the practice of the revering little girls as goddesses there dates back to before the thirteenth century. Kathmandu’s Royal Kumari is a manifestation of the deity Teleju, who, centuries ago, played dice with Nepal’s king. Until he offended her with his lust-filled glances, and she vowed never to return, except in the guise of a young girl.
A Kumari is believed to be the bodily incarnation of the goddess Taleju until she menstruates, after which it is believed that the goddess vacates her body. Serious illness, a major loss of blood from an injury or even a small indication of laughter are also causes for her to revert to common status.
Abrahamic
Most Christian denominations do not follow any specific rituals or rules related to menstruation. Some Christian denominations, including many authorities of the Eastern Orthodox ChurchEastern Orthodox Church
The Orthodox Church, officially called the Orthodox Catholic Church and commonly referred to as the Eastern Orthodox Church, is the second largest Christian denomination in the world, with an estimated 300 million adherents mainly in the countries of Belarus, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Georgia, Greece,...
(also known as the Russian, Ukrainian, or Greek Orthodox Church, distinct from the Roman Catholic Church), advise women not to receive communion during their menstrual period.
Other denominations follow the rules laid out in the Holiness Code
Holiness code
The Holiness Code is a term used in biblical criticism to refer to Leviticus 17-26, and is so called due to its highly repeated use of the word Holy. It has no special traditional religious significance and traditional Jews and Christians do not regard it as having any distinction from any other...
section of Leviticus, somewhat similar to the Jewish ritual
Ritual
A ritual is a set of actions, performed mainly for their symbolic value. It may be prescribed by a religion or by the traditions of a community. The term usually excludes actions which are arbitrarily chosen by the performers....
of Niddah
Niddah
Niddah is a Hebrew term describing a woman during menstruation, or a woman who has menstruated and not yet completed the associated requirement of immersion in a mikveh ....
.
The traditional Islamic interpretation of the Qur'an
Qur'an
The Quran , also transliterated Qur'an, Koran, Alcoran, Qur’ān, Coran, Kuran, and al-Qur’ān, is the central religious text of Islam, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God . It is regarded widely as the finest piece of literature in the Arabic language...
forbids intercourse, but not physical intimacy, during a woman's menstrual period.
During menstrual period, women are excused from performing prayers and fasting. There is no restriction on their entering the mosque or even be present at religious services other than mandatory prayer service. After the period, a spiritual bath required of both partners after sex, Ghusl
Ghusl
Ghusl is an Arabic term referring to the full ablution required in Islam for various rituals and prayers. The ablution becomes mandatory for any adult Muslim after having sexual intercourse, any sexual discharge , completion of the menstrual cycle, giving birth, and death by natural causes.Islam...
, is required before prayer and fasting may continue.
In Judaism, a ritual exclusion called niddah
Niddah
Niddah is a Hebrew term describing a woman during menstruation, or a woman who has menstruated and not yet completed the associated requirement of immersion in a mikveh ....
applies to a woman while menstruating and for about a week thereafter, until she immerses herself in a mikvah
Mikvah
Mikveh is a bath used for the purpose of ritual immersion in Judaism...
(ritual bath). During this time, a married couple must avoid sexual intercourse and physical intimacy. Orthodox Judaism forbids women and men from even touching or passing things to each other during this period. While Orthodox Jews follow this exclusion, many Jews in other branches of the religion do not.
Orthodox Christianity
Conservative/Traditionalist members of the Orthodox Church observe the ancient practice of abstaining from Holy Communion during menstruation.This is a fairly common practice throughout Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
and Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
and other historically Orthodox Christian countries. However in most non-Orthodox countries—especially in Europe and North America—a sizable majority of women do not practice this ancient rule, although a minority of women still do. In fact, many Orthodox Christian women are unaware of the ancient practice of abstaining from Holy Communion due to menstruation.
Dharmic religions
Hindus in India tend to view menstruation, especially first menstruation or menarcheMenarche
Menarche is the first menstrual cycle, or first menstrual bleeding, in female human beings. From both social and medical perspectives it is often considered the central event of female puberty, as it signals the possibility of fertility....
, as a positive aspect of a girl's life. In South India, girls who experience their menstrual period for the first time are given presents and celebrations to mark this special occasion,. However most of the Hindu girls refrain from visiting temples during their cycle. Also in orthodox families, the menstruating women are asked to stay away from domestic activities for a period of 4 days , indirectly a form of rest during the blood loss period.
Hindus in Nepal have a more negative view, traditionally keeping women isolated during menstruation, when women who are menstruating are not allowed in the household for a period of 3 nights. A recent court ruling in Nepal has abolished this practice.
In Buddhism (Theravada or Hinayana) menstruation is viewed as "a natural physical excretion that women have to go through on a monthly basis, nothing more or less". However in Japanese Buddhism menstruating women are banned from attending temples.
Guru Nānak, the founder of Sikhism
Sikhism
Sikhism is a monotheistic religion founded during the 15th century in the Punjab region, by Guru Nanak Dev and continued to progress with ten successive Sikh Gurus . It is the fifth-largest organized religion in the world and one of the fastest-growing...
, condemned the practice of treating women as impure while menstruating. In Sikhism, the menstrual cycle is not considered a pollutant. Certainly, it can have a physical and physiological effect on the woman. Nonetheless, this is not considered a hindrance to her wanting to pray or accomplish her religious duties fully. The Guru makes it very clear that the menstrual cycle is a God given process. The blood of a woman is required for the creation of any human being.
‘By coming together of mother and father are we created,
By union of the mother's blood and the father's semen is the body made.
To the Lord is the creature devoted, when hanging head downwards in the womb;
He whom he contemplates, for him provides.’ (Guru Granth Sahib Ji, pg. 1013).
The requirement of the Mothers’ blood is fundamental for life. Thus, the menstrual cycle is certainly an essential and God given biological process. In other faiths blood is considered a pollutant. However, the Guru rejects such superstitious ideas. Those who are impure from within are the truly impure ones.
‘Should cloth be reckoned impure if blood-stained, How may minds of such be deemed pure, As blood of mankind suck? Says Nanak : With a pure heart and tongue God's Name you utter : All else is worldly show, and false deeds.’ (Guru Granth Sahib Ji, pg. 140).
Meditating on Gods’ name is of importance. Whether your clothes are blood stained or not (including clothes stained from menstrual blood) is not of spiritual importance. Thus, there are no restrictions placed on a woman during her menstruation. She is free to visit the Gurdwara, take part in prayers and do Seva. In The feminine principle in the Sikh vision of the transcendent Nikky Guninder Kaur-Singh writes ‘The denigration of the female body “expressed in many cultural and religious taboos surrounding menstruation and child-Birth” is absent in the Sikh worldview. … Guru Nanak openly chides those who attribute pollution to women because of menstruation’.
Woman's menstrual blood is considered to be impure in several important Jain texts. The bleeding that occurs in menstruation is thought to kill micro-organisms in the body, making the female body less non-violent than the male body - although that idea doesn't have any scientific support. Jainism does not permit women to cook or attend temples while menstruating.
In Japan, the religion of Shinto did and still does play a part in their society. The Kami, the spirits they worshiped, would not grant wishes if you had traces of blood, dirt, or death on you. While menstruation is not entirely blood, the ancient Japanese did not know that. As a result, women who were menstruating were not allowed to visit any of the Kami shrines for the duration of their menstrual period. Today the tradition is kept somewhat alive in the belief that the shedding of the endometrial lining is a kind of death. Shintoism is no longer widely practiced but the evidence of the Kami's influence is everywhere. It is theorized that the Kami are the reason Japan is kept so clean and, in many houses, minimalistic.
Bali
In Bali, a ceremony was observed of a lower caste women whose periods had coincided with a religious ritual in 1998. A woman who had started her cycle was brought outside of her home, to a large pile of garbage and forced to walk on it with her aunt. While on the top of the garbage, she was sprinkled with holy water. “Once a month, during menstrual time, a wife’s life is not a happy one”. This expresses that in Bali, they believe that because of her “condition”, it belongs on top of the filth. Along with Bali viewing menstruation as a condition that belongs on top of filth, they have many taboos about menstruation. In Bali, women are not allowed to enter the kitchen to perform her usual duties, nor is she allowed to have sex with her husband while menstruating. She is to sleep apart from the family and has to keep her clothes that she wears while menstruating away from any clothes that she could wear to the temple. One of the most important taboos is that the woman is absolutely not allowed to attend temple while menstruating.Sumba, Indonesia
In Sumba, women keep their cycles secret, which makes men see them as deceitful. Women from Sumba believe that because of their secrecy, they will always have control of the men. “Men will never know how much we really can do to control these things. We have all kinds of secrets, and they should always believe that we can control even more than we really can”.Women are supposed to avoid intercourse while menstruating. It is believed that sexually transmitted diseases are the results of women deceiving men and having intercourse while they are menstruating. Gonorrhea translates as “disease you get from women” in Sumba; it has become a social problem. When a man would get this disease, they only way they believed a man could rid himself of painful sores was to pass it to a woman, the reasoning being that a woman’s body can absorb infection and purge it during a cycle.
Further reading
- Menstruation, A Cultural History ed. by Andrew Shail and Gillian Howie. Palgrave Macmillan, 2005 ISBN 978-1-4039-3935-7