Culture and menstruation

There are many cultural aspects surrounding how societies view menstruation. Different cultures view menstruation in different ways. The basis of many conduct norms and communication about menstruation in western industrial societies is the belief that menstruation should remain hidden.^[2] By contrast, in some indigenous hunter-gatherer societies, menstrual observances are viewed in a positive light, without any connotation of uncleanness. In most of India, menarche is celebrated as a right of passage.^[3]

A menstrual taboo is any social taboo concerned with menstruation. In some societies it involves menstruation being perceived as unclean or embarrassing, inhibiting even the mention of menstruation whether in public (in the media and advertising) or in private (among friends, in the household, or with men). Many traditional religions consider menstruation ritually unclean, although anthropologists say that the concepts 'sacred' and 'unclean' may be intimately connected.^[4]

^ Knight, C. (1995). Blood relations: Menstruation and the origins of Culture. London & New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 443. Re-drawn after Wright, B. J. (1968). Rock Art of the Pilbara Region, North-west Australia. Canberra: Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies. fig. 112.
^ Laws, S. (1990). Issues of Blood: The Politics of Menstruation. London: Macmillan.
^ Turnbull, C. M. (1960). "The Elima: a premarital festival among the Bambuti Pygmies". Zaïre. 14: 175–92.
^ Durkheim, E. 1963. [1898] La prohibition de l’inceste et ses origines. L’Année Sociologique 1: 1-70. Reprinted as Incest. The nature and origin of the taboo, trans. E. Sagarin. New York: Stuart.

[1] Knight, C. (1995). Blood relations: Menstruation and the origins of Culture. London & New Haven: Yale University Press. p. 443. Re-drawn after Wright, B. J. (1968). Rock Art of the Pilbara Region, North-west Australia. Canberra: Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies. fig. 112.

[2] Laws, S. (1990). Issues of Blood: The Politics of Menstruation. London: Macmillan.

[3] Turnbull, C. M. (1960). "The Elima: a premarital festival among the Bambuti Pygmies". Zaïre. 14: 175–92.

[4] Durkheim, E. 1963. [1898] La prohibition de l’inceste et ses origines. L’Année Sociologique 1: 1-70. Reprinted as Incest. The nature and origin of the taboo, trans. E. Sagarin. New York: Stuart.

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